Gushi Asian Bar & Kitchen review: Tasty Japanese, Korean and Chinese food and plenty of choice

What’s on offer?

Vina Lin came to Ireland as a student from southern China 21 years ago. In 2007, she opened Full House with a business partner, Ireland’s first Chinese buffet restaurant. More recently in 2020, she opened Gushi on Capel Street, a restaurant and karaoke function room that offers a broad range of Japanese dishes and includes specialities such as shabu shabu hot pots. These are not available for takeaway, but there are plenty of other options to choose from. Stir fries, curries, ramen, sushi, fish, chicken wings and hansang (lunch bento boxes) all feature.

What did we order?

California norimaki, dakgangjeong (chicken wings), and unagi donburi (a roasted eel rice dish).

How was the service?

Ordering online is through Flipdish or Deliveroo; we ordered through the latter. It’s easy to navigate. The food arrived hot and in good condition.

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Was the food nice?

The food is tasty and the portions are generous. While the rice on the eight pieces of California norimaki is not benchmark sushi standard – it is too compact and sticky – it is very much the standard that you get around town. There’s a reasonable quantity of snow crab and avocado filling, and it comes with wasabi and pickled ginger. The dakgangjeong, deep-fried chicken wings, made to the recipe of the Korean chef in the kitchen, are crunchy and have plenty of flavour from the Korean sweet chilli sauce.

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The unagi donburi, roasted eel glazed with unagi sauce (similar to teriyaki sauce) is slightly sweet and sticky. It sits on top of rice with some mixed salad leaves, and there is also a lovely seaweed salad in the bowl. A light miso soup with seaweed, spring onions and tofu comes with this dish. There is also a side of chips which are less impressive.

What about the packaging?

There are no prizes for sustainability in packaging here. The bowls and dishes are mostly rigid plastic and a considerable amount of cling film is used. This robust packaging does mean the food arrives in good condition, so it’s a tricky trade-off.

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What did it cost?

€41.84 for dinner for two – California norimaki, €8.95; dakgangjeong, €10.95; unagi donburi, €20.45; and service fee €1.49.

Where does it deliver?

Through Flipdish and Deliveroo within a 5km radius. Open daily, 12pm-10pm

Would I order it again?

Yes. The beauty of this menu is that there is enough choice to suit everyone, including vegetarians and vegans.