Sushi Panda

With a last few years many small sushi places have invaded Tallinn. It is a very welcomed phenomena but at the same time the quality of a nice sushi (I mean a good fast-food/ take-away style) is very unstable. It seems that many owners/ chefs haven't understood the essence of sushi: quality and simplicity. You don't have to invent a weird and unused combinations. Better stick to the basics and hold a stable quality.

Sushi panda has been for two years (according to their Facebook page). For now they have opened two sushi places in Tallinn (one in Pirita and the other in the city-center). I visited the city-center takeaway in Tartu mnt. 10.

Sushi Panda in Tallinn city- center with modern city panorama look interior.

The place itself has a modern lounge-a-like interior with few tables and open counter. So you can perfectly see how happy or worn-out are the chefs faces who are rolling your sushis.

Anyway, the first impression was quite nice. I ordered a Hiroshima Tempura maki 7.70 EUR, salmon nigiri 1.20 EUR and Tuna nigiri 1.90 EUR to go.

The service was quite fast, I waited for 5-7 minutes. The order was given in a cute paper bag with a Sushi Panda logo and was packed prettily in a heart shaped transparent boxes. But sadly that was the end of the positive impression... 

New entertainment: my cat found a new bag where to hide and play in for a while.

Sweet package!

At home I found out that that there was no chopsticks included. Probable it was just a mistake of the waiter and maybe I should have checked it on my way out but it is not a best surprise to find out later.

Hiroshima Tempura maki was for my taste to vapid and over processed. One or two peaces would have been interesting to try but after that I tasted more like a sweet doughnut (tempura dough mixed with sweet unagy and teriyaki sauce.) It would be interesting to mix it with other maki sets.

Nigiri sushis. In the first row a gary-brow (!?) tuna that tasted unfortunately bad.

Nigiri pieces had enormously much rice, so that the taste balance between fish and rice ball was missing. Unfortunately the worst thing was the quality of tuna itself. It had gone bad, with a rotten taste. So sadly it went straight to the recycle bin. 

RATING:
Sushi Panda

So would I recommend Sushi Panda? "Bases on that visit, no". 

Would I go back to give them another try? "Probable not. Unfortunately the first impression can be crucial. High risk to go back and be disappointed again".

Food: 2/10

Interior: 5/10

Service: 7/10