Petite La Sushi at Nali Patio

Tom O’Malley | Jan 20, 2010 3:00 pm | 6 comments | 2180 reads

Toro, the highly prized underbelly of bluefin tuna, is the big catch at this petite Nali Patio sushi joint. It’s flown in fresh from Tokyo thrice weekly, so if you’re not short of a few kuai (RMB 280 sashimi, RMB 80 sushi), the luxuriously fatty flavor and ethereal mouthfeel is truly a revelation.

For the rest of us, their hamachi (or yellowtail, a fish similar to bluefin) is a fine substitute (RMB 120 sashimi, RMB 20 sushi). A range of sharing-sized sushi and sashimi platters featuring abalone, tuna, octopus and more (from RMB 198) all come with freshly grated wasabi and delicious miso soup.

Landlubbers should try the wasabi beef fillet (RMB 70), a quality cut seared for mere seconds in the pan and swamped in a creamy-hot wasabi sauce.

Daily 11.30am-midnight. 2/F, Nali Patio, 81 Sanlitun Beilu, Chaoyang District朝阳区三里屯北路81号那里花园2层

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tomomalley's picture tomomalley Submitted by Guest on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 13:08

I've amended the print version of this article to reflect your valuable comments, thanks. And all the more reason to go for the cheaper Yellowtail, which is largely farmed - unlike the tuna.

Click here and your wildest dreams will come true.

tigerer's picture tigerer Submitted by Guest on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 11:16

Seriously.

Have you genuinely not seen the controversy that this has been kicking up over the last years, or decided to overlook it as a question of non-judgmental policy? Either way, to actively encourage readers to go and eat a critically endangered fish, as your review does, is outrageous.

It is highly irresponsible for restaurant owners and diners to continue to blithely serve up and consume bluefin tuna (be it southern, pacific, atlantic- check out IUCN Redlist etc). For reviewers to skip over these issues is likewise inexcusable.

Perhaps an article on sustainable sourcing of seafood is timely? Responsible dining criteria is still missing from Beijing's dining scene, and given the high number of establishments surely there is a progressive bandwagon here? As this is customer driven, magazines have a crucial role to play, especially as the market for endangered animals and fish in China can only grow...

Ps- just to keep you in the loop, there was a major news-splash this summer on the recently featured Nobu continuing to serve bluefin, despite celebrity boycotts and general furore. Any interest on what there Beijing branches policy on this might be?

I generally enjoy your magazine, but things like this really shake your integrity.

dalavett's picture dalavett Submitted by Guest on Thu, 01/21/2010 - 23:37

Yeah, in this country with its history of "questionable" eating habits and population of locals and expats with a pretty free-for-all, me-first attitude, this kind of place doesn't help.

See this link

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?fid=281

andrew_s's picture andrew_s Submitted by Guest on Thu, 01/21/2010 - 10:45

Agreed. I hope Beijing's magazines can do a bit better job about encouraging responsible dining. Why are we promoting something so unsustainable? Congratulations on experiencing "ethereal mouthfeel", but that feeling is fleeting compared to the accompanying moral hangover one should experience for having contributed to this beautiful animal's demise.

Or we could all just carry on not thinking about anything but ourselves...

bixx's picture bixx Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/20/2010 - 17:27

Bluefin tuna has become more expensive has it has become endangered. From Scientific American (search "endangered bluefin tune" for many more citings:)
"Scientists warn that continuing to fish the bluefin at current levels will push the population to 94 percent below the size it was before commercial exploitation began, effectively collapsing the fishery and putting some populations at risk of extinction."

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