When your daughter’s home from university and wants to eat ‘proper sushi’ where are we going?

There’s something about the prospect of eating raw fish that makes us a lot more picky than we are when popping to the pub for a scotch egg. There was only one place in the city that winked at us vigorously and you’ve probably been going there for years. Sushi Passion.

What started life as a five-seater stall in the indoor market relocated to Great Western Arcade in 2012 and moved to a bigger space in the Arcade in 2022. The interior is as you’d expect – simple, minimalist, typically Japanese, including seats on the floor. Although if you’ve creaking limbs don’t panic – there are tables and chairs!

A small open kitchen of chefs making sushi fresh to order was a thing of beauty while every plate of food should have been in a gallery. We’re not going to describe each dish we ate as we’re not experts and it would take all day, but there were three stand-out dishes that deserve a mention. We both adored the Inari Pickled – a twist on the usual Inari which is essentially a tofu pocket stuffed with rice and various flavours usually wasabi and seaweed. This version had pickled ginger, radish and kanpyo and tasted off the scale incredible. Spicy Hamachi – yellowtail, cucumber, avocado, spicy mayo, lemon zest and green tobiko (fish roe) was super fresh and zingy with a nice kick of heat. Last, but not least, the salmon teriyaki futomaki was a richer dish with a katsu sauce and mayo and crunch from fried onions – proper sushi we both agreed.

While Great Western Arcade is a stunning bit of architectural magic, it’s probably not big on passing trade so it might not get the love it deserves. We’ll be back again to work our way through the menu and we highly recommend.