We check out the latest addition to Devonshire Road

It would appear that the wishes of local sushi lovers have been granted with today’s (1st August) opening of Makoto Sushi Bar on Devonshire Road.

The new owners have transformed the tiny premises into a fourteen seat sushi emporium opting to keep the décor simple with pristine white walls and dark floor tiling leaving the food as the main event. And what a delicious event it is!

I went for lunch arriving just over an hour after they had opened for business and already it was packed, unsurprising considering how long Chiswick has waited for such a place. There was also a brisk trade being done in take-aways with a steady flow of customers continuing throughout the hour or so I was there.

A seat at the counter provided me with front row view of a skilful demonstration in the art Japanese cuisine from accomplished chef Komai. It was mesmerising to watch him create each dish to order as if every one were a work of art almost too good to spoil by eating it. Thankfully I was so hungry I got over that predicament with embarrassing haste and tucked into my sushi and sashimi lunch special.

£9.80 bought me nigri sushi, inari, salmon rolls, sashimi, rice, a bowl of miso soup and a dish of pickles and was worth every penny even if I hadn’t been so entertained watching it being produced. The inari sushi was particularly good as was the tuna sashimi.

Feeling adventurous, I chose a glass of Plum wine (£5) which turned out to be a sort of sweet sherry like liquid quite delicious with a few cubes of ice to take the edge of the alcohol.

One of the things I enjoy about dining on my own, particularly in such a place as this, is that you get to talk to other diners like the gentleman enjoyed telling me how he had travelled from Mayfair to Chiswick just to have Komai make him lunch. “He’s the best sushi chef in the country,” he enthused before declaring Chiswick to be such a lovely place he was going back to Mayfair to convince his wife to swap W1 to W4.

If their opening lunch is anything to go by, the trio at Makoto (meaning truth; sincerity; honesty and faithfulness) should do well. They need to remove Quattro’s canopy outside to avoid confusion and get their card machine up and running (it’s cash only at the moment) but otherwise it would be hard to find fault.

Emma Brophy

August 1, 2008