Last night Mrs MSE and I headed out to use the 40% off Yo! Sushi deal from the restaurant vouchers list. When we got to the restaurant in the Whiteleys Centre in Bayswater, frustratingly it was closed for a private function.
As the voucher’s only valid on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, I asked if it was possible that they could stamp it for a different night, as we were missing out. The girl at the reception gave me a strange look and told me she would go and get the boss.
Thirty seconds later a lady walked round the corner and said, “Hi, my name’s My Ly I’m the marketing manager for Yo! Sushi. It’s great to see you here Martin – we’d love you to come in” (I hadn’t said my name).
By bizarre coincidence we’d stumbled upon the opening party for the refurbishment of that branch, and trial of its new experimental menu. She actually told me that they had thought about inviting me but (correctly) knew that I don’t go to such dos.
As we were there it seemed like a good idea, yet I was slightly concerned about the photographer. The last thing I want to do is be in the marketing brochure so anyone would think there was an implied recommendation. Yet she was happy to have the snapper leave us alone.
Once in I felt like a child in a sweetie shop: I love sushi – it’s my favourite food – so the ability to simply take whatever dish I wanted (and as many as I wanted!) was fantastic. Even though I’m lucky enough to be able to afford to get whatever I want when I am usually there, there’s a freedom when it’s totally free that’s just different.
Better still, Yo! sushi normally does the bill by counting up the number of different coloured plates you’ve had. Yet here they were clearing away the plates so there was no evidence, making it much more comfortable to over-scoff in luxury.
The only downside was that we had planned to play Scrabble over dinner, and as the place was full of cool designers and we were guests that felt a little rude. Still, the new food was good, and My introduced us to the history of the place, as well as chatting about what future vouchers would be coming up (watch this space).
It’ll be interesting to see if they introduce the salmon beetroot maki roll, which tastes a lot better than it sounds, as a regular.
