BLOSSOM'S BACK & HE WHO WALKS BACKWARDS

There are few people in life more scary than my friend Gavin. Like a cross between The Childcatcher, Uriah Heap, Julian Sands and Dr Who of the William Hartnell era. It’s the hair, I think, long and thinning at the same time, that makes young children hide in terror behind the skirts of their mothers.

So, it was little surprise, when I arrived at The Jerusalem Tavern to find he had managed to carve out a space all to himself in an otherwise packed bar as people cowered from him in fear of losing their souls.

Still, it meant a quick trip to the bar and a quiet pint before we went off in search of Sushi

Someone had told me that my old haunt, Blossom had reopened back in Hoxton Square so, off we toddled.

Well, they were there all right, but not quite as they had been. Blossom City Point, it appears, has retained all of the sushi chefs and this branch now specialises in cooked food from Japan and Korea

What does remain the same, however, is the quality of cooking.

We shared an array of starters. Gyoza of pork and prawn were crispy and stuffed with a tasty filling, Katsu prawns were so good I ordered a second portion. Edamame peas were, well peas and crispy squid was perfectly cooked, crispy as advertised and served with a fiery sauce.

While Satan, I mean Gavin seemed to enjoy his black cod bento box, my Bibimbap was as good as I have tried. Chunks of fresh raw rib eye, strips of courgette and carrot with lots of chilli. Of course, there was a raw egg to be mixed in while it was all stirred and served in a sizzling hot stone bowl.

For £60 all in including service and four bottles of gassy beer, it was a hugely pleasant way to spend an evening. Now, if only we could get Gavin to stop asking if they have any spare bottles of virgin’s blood and then giggling fiendishly.