Ebi Sushi

Located between a gig venue and a late-night off-licence, this restaurant was originally created to feed workers and management from Derby’s large Toyota factory. Since then, it's found a bigger audience who come here for well-crafted sushi and other Japanese staples, served in sparse surroundings with Japanese TV on the plasma screen adding to the authenticity of it all. Wooden tables are spaced around a small counter where the chef calmly builds platters for the assembled company.

The menu is a simple two-pager, split between assorted sushi and a short carte (cold appetisers, grilled and fried dishes, donburi bowls, and so on). After a free mini potato and cauliflower salad, we ordered the deluxe sushi selection – seven different pieces of nigiri, and a gunkan maki topped with salmon roe. Each morsel was perfectly balanced with melt-in-the-mouth nori around perfectly seasoned 'temperate' rice and just the right amount of fish. We also ordered some natto (slimy and sticky fermented soy beans) with radish. Our vegetable tempura was unfathomably light, the delicately flavoured vegetables pleasingly lifted by a sweet soy dip, while a dish of cold soba noodles had their characteristic chewy elasticity.

Desserts included a 'double fromage' cheesecake from the specials board, or you could opt for a scoop of ice cream (perhaps green tea or black sesame). This is not rarefied omakase, it’s no-frills Japanese dining (and none the worse for that), made even better with a bottle of Japanese beer, a cup of sake or something from the minimal wine list.