Sticks 'n Sushi Canary Wharf - Canary Wharf, London

Sticks N Sushi, some of Britain's finest sushi and yakitori, came to London by way of Denmark. When the Copenhagen based restaurant group first touched down in Blighty, they chose Wimbledon as their forward operating base. Whilst we love Wimbledon, it was a bit too far from W1 for us to make the journey, but we heard great things and our curiosity was piqued. Soon after, they moved things inland to Covent Garden, a much more palatable trip from the offices, and we loved the concept, vibe and especially the raw fish. Now Sticks N Sushi has covered the Far East End with a restaurant in Greenwich and a brand new launch at Crossrail place in Canary Wharf. We decided to hop on the Jubilee Line to do some recon on the latter. 

This newest restaurant is their largest venture to date, with a cool 190 covers. However, on a Tuesday evening it was nearly booked to capacity with a buzzy din and clamour. The dining room borrows design inspiration from its countries of origin, which is to say it is stripped back minimalism at its best. Soft woods and lighting are counterpoised by the sleek industrialism of the room, which boasts a plethora of exposed iron beams, girders and ventilation tubing, pendant lighting and frescoes on the walls with contemporary abstract illustrations. Loud, compelling house music played over the speakers. By the time we were led to our table we were thoroughly smitten with the space. 

We ordered a carafe of sake and took a gander at the menu. It's padded out with pictures but not in a naff way, and for any sushi neophyte would be a great resource. We opted to choose a selection from the a la carte, kicking off our meal with tenderstem broccoli chargrilled to perfection on the robata with a shower of goma - a spicy sesame dressing. What followed were some of the most delicious small plates we've tried of late. Ebi bites were miniature mouthfuls of crispy tempura shrimp that detonated under tooth, arranged six in a row on a slate, each one topped off with lime, chilli and a single leaf of coriander. 

The sushi was wonderfully precise. A rainbow roll jettisoned nori in favour of a jacket of salmon, tuna, Hamachi and shrimp, with a centre of shrimps with kewpie mayo, masago and snow pea. The black cod dragon roll would potentially convert Nobu or Hakkasan diehards. The fish is miso marinated and paired with avocado, cream cheese and tsume soy, then rolled in sesame. We also shared a salad, which turned out to be quite substantial, packed with (take a deep breath) marinated duck breast, grilled chicken and leek, soy marinated egg, lettuce, tomato, snow pea, cucumber, edamame, red onion, radish, quinoa, ginger, chives, daikon and pumpkin seeds, with a wasabi Caesar dressing (okay now you can exhale).

Dessert was potentially the most amusing and playful of the courses. You could pick from a variety of small bits so as to get a broad range of flavours. We enjoyed a moreish crumble with yuzu curd and meringue; a dark chocolate fondant with a chocolate caramel and peppermint heart, topped off with crunchy hazelnut brittle; and a marcel chocolate cake with crystallised white chocolate.

Sticks N Sushi is without a doubt one of the finest additions to Canary Wharf and could even give Roka a run for the money.