A marvellous sushi spot
On a notoriously difficult street for hospitality businesses
People often ask me what my favourite type of food is and it’s a question I struggle to answer succinctly. I am a sucker for the big, punchy, layered flavours of India and Mexico but I adore the fresh, herby, pulse-heavy citrus and olive oil-drenched food of places like Lebanon and Palestine.
I’m also hugely into Vietnamese, Thai and Japanese food. There’s something irresistible about the lighter touch with bursts of pungency from things like lime leaves, chilli, fish sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.
I love a carb but not too many in one sitting. I prefer lightness in food but not down to any kind of austere, calorie counting, diet culture nonsense. There is an electric fence between me and that world. No, it’s probably because, with light food, you can eat more of it without feeling uncomfortably full.
The one thing I will always order on any menu ever is raw fish. Whether that’s the citrus power chord of Peruvian ceviche or the fragrant elegance of Italian crudo, or the alarm clock for the tastebuds that is Larb from Lao or Thai cuisine.
And it was a dish of raw fish that made me realise how truly wonderful a restaurant we have in Sushi Marvel.
I’d been before and had my head turned by those sensational hairy prawns. If you go with a friend, whatever you do, order two portions of these or risk falling out. I’d fallen in love with their fat sushi rolls too, which are just on the right side of quirky with names like Surf n Turf (fatty rib-eye steak, crispy prawn, asparagus, cucumber, chives, red wine sauce, sea salt, and red pepper flake) and Spicy Spider (whole crispy softshell crab, avocado, cucumber, togarashi and tobiko). But on my last visit, I ordered their special hamachi and tuna carpaccio and honestly almost wept.
This little place with its jet-black exterior on Bridge Street is one of those you could walk past every day without ever realising it was there. And that could pose a problem. Previously, it housed the dreadfully named Exclsve - a restaurant owned by investors with no passion for anything but money, from what I gathered when one of my old team at a previous workplace reviewed it - more of a flash in the pan than a hunk of beef destined for carpaccio.
Opposite, was once Neon Tiger and then Juicebox, both hipsterer-than-thou places run by people with extensive hospitality experience but they both closed almost as quickly. I don’t want Sushi Marvel to go the same way. It’s too good.
What’s the story behind Sushi Marvel?
Sushi Marvel is owned by Yorkshire-born Katie Lau who has been in the hospitality industry since her teens, having helped out in her Chinese family’s successful businesses in the summer holidays while studying fashion and textiles at uni. Her creative spirit is evident in both the food and the decor which she designs herself.
Before Katie set up Sushi Marvel, she ran a restaurant you may remember in Chorlton called Yakisoba. But turning 30 heralded a new era, she wanted her own place. She’d always been a fan of Japanese culture and its delicate cuisine, “Everything is very clean cut and meticulous, which actually reflects my character,” she tells me.
So in 2017, Sushi Marvel was born.
“I called it my shoebox as it was so tiny: 9m x 3m, which I managed to design and make work very efficiently,” Katie says proudly.
With just six seats for customers, it got crazy busy. A second site in Ancoats followed in 2019 and when lockdown hit, her local community supported her with huge demand. But in June 2022, Katie closed her Chorlton site followed by the Ancoats one the following June so that she could put everything into her newest, much bigger site on Bridge Street, just off Deansgate. The plan was always to keep growing their offering for their supportive customer base.
Katie says Bridge Street is going better than anticipated, which is good to hear.
“It is still early days and very unpredictable at times but I am grateful for the wonderful team and all their hard work and dedication,” she says, “I am very blessed to be able to work alongside such wonderful people. I could not have done it without them. They are the reason Sushi Marvel is bigger and better and forever improving and developing.”
What to order at Sushi Marvel
You know what my favourite dishes at Sushi Marvel are but I want to know what Katie herself recommends.
“Honestly, everything! It really depends on what mood you're in.” she says, explaining that they have created the menu to have a perfect balance of dishes. She reels off a bunch of favourites including the King Dragon roll with panko king prawn, tuna, avocado, and grilled eel, the Truffle Rainbow Roll with king prawn, asparagus, avocado, chives, raw salmon, seabass, tuna, black truffl e oil, Kewpie mayo and caviar (!) and their “famous” Spicy Karaage Don because who doesn’t love a bowl of sticky rice topped with spicy, crispy chicken with a soft ramen egg, veggies and spicy mayo?
She also gives props to hamachi (aka amberjack or yellowtail) which features in several ways on the menu, and those aforementioned hairy prawns.
“Oh and our lovely spicy pink miso soup and homemade kimchi,” she adds, “I can't choose!”
She tells me her go-to, time-saving comfort meal at home is a bowl of rice in miso soup topped with kimchi with salmon sashimi on the side.
Katie also makes a point of telling me that everything on the menu is made fresh and adaptable to your tastes. Don’t want mayo in your roll? No problem. Prefer less spicy flavours? That can be adapted for you too.
And you can even bring your dog. Sushi Marvel is pooch-friendly. Katie is a huge dog lover with two German Shepherds of her own so your canine companions are welcome to lounge and so, Katie insists, are you.
“We like everyone to be comfortable so if you just rolled up after gym, or in your PJs after a nap with sushi cravings - it's okay!”
If you like sushi and sashimi, I urge you to put Sushi Marvel on the top of your list of food places to visit, you can even go in your Spiderman onesie so you’ve really no excuse not to. If you don’t love it, I’ll be astonished.
Sushi Marvel, 67 Bridge St, Manchester, M3 3BQ