With the weather, finally, getting warmer I've definitely been feeling like now is the time to switch our stodgier Friday night takeaway options to something lighter, cooler and that might help with feeling healthy as we head into summer dress and swimsuit season.
In our house, that's usually sushi. If there is such a thing as a healthy takeaway then, for me, sushi feels like it. Freshly made, full of wholesome ingredients, with minimal preservatives and plenty of vitamins and minerals including the all-important Omega 3 from all that oily fish it feels like a virtuous and decadent choice.
But when we busted out Uber Eats last weekend to get some of our favourites we were surprised, although perhaps we shouldn't have been, to find that our usual choices had gone up to an eye-watering £44 for two of us since last summer, which for a takeaway just felt a bit over the top and made us start rethinking our choices.
So when I was offered the chance to try some supermarket sushi, despite my usual suspicion of it, I was more than willing to give it a go - and I'm very glad I did.
Sushi Daily has very quietly come in and filled a gap between standard supermarket sushi that sits in the takeaway lunch aisles alongside sandwiches and salads and the higher end sushi takeaways. They have fresh sushi counters inside more than 100 Waitrose and Asda branches nationwide where in-house chefs make shoppers' sushi fresh throughout the day. You can click and collect, order through food delivery services like Deliveroo or just pop along and choose what you like the look of from the counter. The sushi chefs can even talk you through what they make if you've always fancied trying it but don't know your sashimi from your nigiri.
I was also excited to discover that they have recently launched a range of Taiwanese bao buns alongside their existing sushi and yakisoba ranges meaning we could try some lovely hot options as well.
We went home with a Hikari mix platter (£27), a chicken gyoza yakisoba (£7.50) and two of the three available flavours of new bao buns (£3.75 each).
I was also excited to see that they do Bibimbap and have decided next time I pass my local Waitrose I'll nab one of those - I just knew I couldn't do it justice with the epic pile of food already in my bag.
The bao buns launched a few weeks ago and currently come in three flavours, panko chicken, sweet soy chicken and a vegetarian friendly spicy tofu bao made with katsu tofu and Sriracha.
The panko chicken was sold out but I was blown away by the other two options, especially the katsu tofu. I'm always a bit wary of tofu, often I find the texture off-putting but the katsu gave it a bit of bite and a lovely flavour. There was further crunch added with a generous amount of pickled carrot and spring onion while fresh coriander and spicy mayo gave it some zing.
The soy chicken bao was packed with shredded chicken in a sweet but also slightly tangy sour sauce.
We had to warm everything up briefly in the microwave which I worried would leave the bao chewy, but they were pillowy and soft and the bread gave a slight sweetness that offset the spice of the tofu filling in particular.
Tofu is never my first choice of foodstuff, but I'd genuinely consider picking up a box of these buns for a lunchtime treat - at £3.50 for two it's a perfect serving size and just packed full of flavour in a way my midday sandwich or soup doesn't often manage.
The chicken gyoza yakisoba (£7.50) would be something else I considered for lunch, although at that price point as a rarer treat. Five tasty gyoza sat on a bed of yakisoba noodles mixed with mushrooms, edamame and crisp cabbage floating in a delicious clear broth.
Onto the sushi. We split the platter into two generous platefuls (see above) - more than we'd usually expect in our takeaway of choice. Having snaffled an avocado maki while I putting everything onto the plate I realised that the cold from the fridge was a bit off-putting, so we left everything on the side for ten minutes or so just to let it settle to room temperature and take the edge off the chill before we dug in.
While initially the idea of supermarket sushi costing £27 felt a bit pricey, I soon realised as I started getting it out that it was surprisingly decent value. For the price we got almost a whole kilo of sushi, with 36 pieces including salmon and tuna nigiri, California, salmon and avocado maki and a delicious veggie crunch roll topped with a dragon sauce and crispy onions.
The only thing I was less keen on was the salmon and cream cheese rolls. I'm not a massive fan of cream cheese at the best of times and am unconvinced it belongs on sushi, but was able to swap them with my husband for some avocado maki.
Overall though, I'd definitely switch my usual takeaway for a Sushi Daily platter. I love that there was no cucumber to be seen - always seemingly a staple of supermarket sushi - everything was fresh, portions were generous and the rice was sticky and delicious.
* Sushi Daily is available at Waitrose and Asda stores nationwide.
