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Sushimania is a perfect name. The idea of having unlimited ‘all you can eat” sushi fills me with such glee at the thought of being able to chow down sushi with no limits or boundaries.

The restaurant has been open in Cambridge for 8 years now but somehow it has managed to escape me. Tonight, however, I was finally able to visit and see what makes it stand out from the competition…and what competition! Cambridge is blessed with some superb sushi joints, so I know that Sushimania would have to work very hard to win me over.

It is a pleasant venue that perfectly fits the description of a Japanese restaurant. It consists of two floors with lots of glass for maximum light. Sushimania is also spacious with a flat floor leading into the restaurant, making it good for wheelchair users.

You can order dishes individually but the biggest selling point of Sushimania is the ‘all you can eat’ menu. This is set to £26.80pp and that also gives you access to non-sushi Japanese food. You are limited to 6 orders every 15 minutes to prevent waste (not that they needed to worry about that with me 🤣).

Dishes are available ‘a la cart’ that aren’t available on the ‘all you can eat’ menu, so make sure you check out both if there is something you are specifically after.

I started myself off with a glass of Kirin beer on draft and my first 6 orders. We started with the sushi before moving onto the other side of the menu.

Apologies for the photo quality during this review. I visited in the evening and the restaurant had dim lighting. This made it very atmospheric but it wasn’t great for photos.

Sushi time!

The sushi came out in good time and was presented on charcoal coloured plates. Unusually, the sushi roll was not cut into huge portions. This made it incredibly hard for my guest to eat in one bite (and likely any other normal person) but I was able to heroically fit one in my mouth in one go…but it was a struggle. My guest ended up deconstructing hers on her plate to be able to eat it.

I was quite taken by the duck sushi in hoisin sauce which stood out as a particular favourite. None of the sushi served this evening offended me in any way but it didn’t particularly inspire either…but that’s ok. As for just under £27pp, this was still a good deal.

I know there are many sushi puritans out there who would never sacrifice quality over quantity but there is always a time and a place for it. I can see this being a perfect place to learn about Japanese food by exploring different dishes without having to worry about breaking the bank or for uninhibited Sushi addicts with no self control, like me.

Traditional Japanese menu

We then ordered from the other side of the menu, consisting of non-sushi Japanese dishes. We picked miso grilled-chicken noodles, katsu chicken curry, dumplings, tempura king prawns, and edamame beans.

The dumplings were nice and crispy with a decent amount of filling. They came out in a portion of 5 with some teri aki sauce for dipping.

The katsu curry looked very sad by eye with a measly dollop of curry sauce on the side. Despite this, the chicken had lovely crispy breadcrumb skin with a unexpected tenderness that really took me by surprise. Granted, it isn’t going to win any awards (especially for presentation) but I ended up enjoying it.

The edamame beans were…edamame beans. They’re quite a hard thing to get wrong but I love them and the portions are really good.

The grilled chicken miso soup was probably my least favourite dish of the evening. It felt quite watery and lacked much flavour. It didn’t look overly inspiring either. You can’t win em all!

The tempura king prawns came out in a portion of 5 and were incredibly light and crispy. The prawns were a reasonable size but not overly meaty.

Conclusion

Sushimania is a nice restaurant that serves sushi to an adequate standard. It isn’t going to keep up with the likes of Sticks & Sushi but it is also a hell of a lot cheaper. I can see this being a great place for youngsters looking to explore Japanese cuisine or people that are willing to put their budget before quality. The service was really warm, friendly, and actually quite fast.

Sushimania fits in nicely with other sushi joints in Cambridge, by offering its own dynamic that doesn’t tread on anyone else’s toes. If you want to explore on a budget then this is the place to be.

Thanks for reading