Not so sushi, Collingwood

Our visit to Not So Sushi  started with Sylvia discovering that they were selling vegan deep fried burger sushi that weekend.  In a city where sushi is sold widely, this was an unexpected novelty.  Who could resist!  What followed was full of delicious crispy sushi, surprising good cucumber in a soda, and a peanut allergy fail that was totally our fault.

 

We got there before lunchtime in case they sold out.  Not so sushi was pretty quiet when we arrived and there were plenty of beautifully presented sushi in the display cases.  By the time we left it was much busier.

The sign on the wall reading "not so sushi, no rules, just rolls" proclaimed this as a place of innovation rather than tradition. It was an exciting change from the same old rotation of vegan hand rolls fillings in food courts.  It is usually, vegetables and tofu, avocado and cucumber or seaweed salad, which the occasional tempura fritter or slices of tofu fillings.

The sushi in the display cabinet looked gorgeous with the unusual drizzle of flavoured mayo on top.  The signs were very clear with ingredients and allergens.  We had to wait for our deep fried sushi to be freshly deep fried.
  

Once we had our sushi we went to the condiment station where we helped ourselves to chopsticks and small dipping bowls.  We bypassed the most interested sounding sauces - such as chilli honey, miso hot sauce and lemon myrtle & yuzu ponzu - and filled our bowls with the standard soy sauce and pickled ginger.

The drinks came in these transparent "cans" which look amazing.  I just wish that I could recycle them but don't think that I can with the metal lids fused onto the plastic bodies.  In the spirit of trying new things, I chose a Fizzy Cucumber & Mint Iced Tea - with blueberry puree ($9).  It was so good; the cucumber juice being a refreshing addition foil for the sweet drink.  I would definitely have this again.  Sylvia was also very pleased with her Blueberry Matcha (also $9).  We even got instructions on how much to shake each one when they were served.
 

There were so stools at benches inside but we decided to go outside and sit on the footpath.  It was a nice enough Winter's day and we were glad to sit under a big umbrella in case it rained. You can see below that we had a great view of the busy intersection between Smith and Elgin Streets and the 19th Century buildings on the corners.

There are our deep fried sushi.  We got two of the Vegan miso mac sushi roll ($5.20 each), at the right in the above photo,because Sylvia was so excited about them.  The grilled mock beef patty with onions sand pickles were crumbed, deep fried until they were crisp andf drizzled with miso mustard mac sauce,  She loved them but I found them rather a lot of mock meat (not my thing).  I was far more impressed with the deep fried vegan falafel sushi roll (left in above photo).  Unfortunately I didn't not note down the ingredients but I think it might have had hummus and pickles.

We also had a couple of chilled hand rolls: a Beetroot & Wasabi roll with beetroot, confit garlic wasabi mayo, cucumber, avocado, and a Broccoli & Edamame roll with roasted broccoli, smashed edamame, roasted sesame dressing.  They were really good.  Sylvia is not a lover of beetroot but loved it with wasabi.

After finishing our sushi, Sylvia fished around in her purse for an antihistamine pill.  She wasn't feeling great.  This was her second visit her and on the first she had felt really sick after the her first one.  When trying to work out what it could be, we found in the sign by the Broccoli and edamame sushi that clearly stated it contained peanuts.  We are usually pretty careful with Sylvia's peanut allergy but had missed this.  Perhaps because the ingredients seemed so unlikely to have peanuts.  I asked inside and was told that there was a small amount of peanuts in a pre-made sauce that goes into the roasted sesame dressing.  

I am relieved that it was only a small amount of peanuts and that Sylvia didn't have an anaphylactic reaction (because it is possible for her allergy to get worse).  It is her first known exposure to peanuts since she was diagnosed at the age of one with a peanut challenge test.  This was a reminder to us to be careful in looking out for peanuts in future.  Most of the sushi in Not So Sushi does not have peanuts so we hope to return but will check the labels more carefully next time.

Not So Sushi
334 Smith St, Collingwood 
Open: ​​Tues- Sun: 11am - 4pm
https://www.notsosushi.com.au/