When I arrived in Berlin a couple of years ago, it was already past 8 pm. As it was cold and dark, I ordered food via the most popular food delivery service, Lieferando.de. The restaurant where I placed my order was Sushi Yana on Berliner Str. in Zehlendorf. The tofu fried rice tasted okay.
It is not generally economical to order a quick meal, given the delivery fee and tips. However, Sushi Yana charges no delivery fee for any order above 7 euros. Whenever I am too busy to cook, I order from it. Sometimes it is a few pieces of salmon nigiri; at other times, duck/chicken/beef fried rice. I do not normally order drinks, though. I have rarely visited the place in person despite living nearby–It is certainly a lovely, affordable place: I just have too many options when I can afford to eat out!
Why a blog post about this place? Because it is run by lovely people. Not long after I arrived here, I made a second order, which arrived in half an hour. When I answered the door, the food was out there but the delivery person had gone before I could pay him. I shot an email to the delivery company. Within 3 minutes, I received a reply from Lieferando saying that the restaurant owner would come to my house directly to collect the money. The reply also thanked me for my “honesty” and offered me a 10% off voucher for my next purchase. The guy owner thanked me profusely for my “honesty” as he collected the cash from me and handed me two free bottles of orange juice! It was such a cute and kind gesture. I believe that almost all people have their greedy moments. Even assuming that every man has a price, one has to set it as high as possible.
(It was not the first time that this had happened to me. At a stationery store, I found out that I forgot my debit card and so could not pay for the photocopies I made. The shopkeeper allowed me to take home those copies, wrote me a receipt, asked me to pay the next time I drop by. I returned the next day and planned to make the payment for both the copies and a notebook. The shopkeeper, as if to reward me for my honesty, allowed me to have the notebook for free.)
The fried rice at Sushi Yana is also good and more filling than sashimi and nigiri. One thing that made the takeout orders vastly superior to those in Canada has nothing to do with the food itself, but the way it is packaged: the rice dishes all come in bio food containers tightly sealed by aluminum foil covers to ensure that the food is safe from bacteria and dirt at least during its delivery (in Canada, the aluminum foil covers would be rather rare: cardboard or plastic covers are far more common.)
***
My love of Japanese/Asian food led me to have lunch at Susido, an Asian restaurant at Teltower Damm 26, Zehlendorf. It is located in a half-secluded corner right next to a cluster of physicians’ and dentists’ offices. The décor and service were top-notch. The chicken and fragrant rice with soup was about average. This, together with a small bottle of ginger ale (Schweppes), cost 12.5 euros.
As is typical of many Asian restaurants in Berlin, this place does not accept debit/credit cards. It might cause a small inconvenience to those who did not read the sign, or were not told upfront when they made the booking on the phone. (Germany is a cash-free country meaning almost every business accepts cards only; some small businesses accept cash only and for some likely reason I would rather not mention here…)
The ginger ale drew a bee, which would not let go of my drink. I waited and waited for the bee to take a break from it and grabbed my glass. I ended up having to grab the glass and bottle indoors to finish my meal.
***
You might wonder why I love sashimi and (raw) salmon/squid nigiris so much. My favorite fish-related dish has always been Cantonese steamed fish. I prefer eating warm food. Raw and uncooked food, no matter how hygienic the cooking process, is said to be less healthy (sashimi and ice-cream, for example, are known as “raw cold” food from a Chinese doctor’s perspective). There is supposed to be some scientific basis to this belief: food closer to our body temperature is generally easier to digest, and food too cold or hot will cause excess in some bodily “elements.”
However, there is unique pleasure in eating sashimi and raw fish cannot be obtained from cooked fish. My taste buds went hyper as the raw, tender flesh of salmon rolls and glides against my tongue and mouth muscles. The freshness remains long after the thing has slid down my throat and entered my stomach.
I am not especially picky when it comes to restaurants. I generally avoid purchasing any raw food from convenient stores, as tempting as it may be. My favorite sushi/sashimi experience took place at Harrod’s in London (in my motherland 🙂 where we watched the chef prepared the food. Berlin is not famous for Asian food (except Vietnamese), but all sushi/sashimi I have tasted here have been excellent.
Back in Hong Kong, my family frequented Japanese chain restaurant in our neighborhood (that is said to be blue aka pro-government and has been boycotted by many so-called activists). The food there is good too, considering that it is very affordable. Mom usually avoided raw food and ate only the Udon noodles. She never dared to try sashimi and raw salmon.
I do not eat raw salmon every day because I do not dare to prepare it by myself. I do steam fish in the Cantonese style occasionally. I most frequently buy wild salmon from Edeka. I heat the salmon up to the point where it is safe to eat, but still fresh and tender enough so that it retains the texture that is so gratifying to the taste. Beware: do not buy freshwater (bred) salmon, which is far cheaper (almost half-priced) and less nutritious.