Little Tokyo, Leeds

Many of my blog entries seem to begin....”We were meant to be going to_______, but it was closed/full, so we ended up going to ________” I am aware it makes us sound a bit hopeless at organising/planning our dining experiences, and maybe we are! But I was not hopeless this morning when I printed out a voucher for 29% off at Yo Sushi (fantastic deal!) and headed off into Leeds to enjoy an hour of maki, hairy prawns and sushi rolls at the top of Harvey Nichols.

Except when we got to the top of the 4th escalator, we were faced with a boarded off area – “sorry for the appearance of this area, it is being refurbished”– What????? So they are doing up Yo Sushi in Leeds – I suppose it is starting to look a bit worn. Meanwhile, Yo Sushi head office are sending out e-mails to regular customers, inviting them to take advantage of their “ScorchYO” discount offer – something to do with taking the summer temperature at a given point in the week (i.e.29 degrees) and then having that number as the % discount for the following weekend– a nice idea, apart from the fact that our local Yo Sushi is closed! But like the troopers we are, instead of banging out a snotty e mail to Yo Sushi discounts department and billing them for the cost of the diesel and the car parking, we hatched a new plan. So I shall begin this post again......

We were meant to be going to Yo Sushi, but it was closed, so we ended up going to Little Tokyo. Can you see the theme developing? The thing is, once A gets his heart set on something he is going to eat, he cannot under any circumstances change direction. Japanese food was on his mind and that was what he was going to get.

Little Tokyo is a favourite of ours anyway – their sushi selection isn’t great but we ordered some nigiri and vegetarian rolls to share for starter.

We followed this up with bento boxes – literally a box with little compartments in it for the different dishes. A bit like the trays you might get in a prison but much nicer*. The bento includes a compartment for rice, tempura vegetables, salad, fruit, soy sauce and then whichever main dish you order – I had battered king prawns and A had fish balls. Both bentos were really good. I particularly like the tempura vegetables – aubergines, sweet potato, carrots and beans.



The place was busy for a Sunday. Maybe they were mopping up diners from the Yo Sushi fallout. There was a bit of held-hostage moment at the end, waiting for the bill, but it arrived – about £38.

And Little Tokyo has a coy carp pond inside, with a bridge over it. When you walk past, all the fish come to the surface with their mouths open. A nice touch.

*I have never been to prison, by the way, but I was an avid fan of Prison Break before it became crap.