Bonsai

I signed up to Unilocal after having sushi here yesterday. I’m a food lover but really felt after trying this place I wouldn’t want a single person to waster their money eating here.
To start with the positive the waitress was lovely — very friendly and attentive. She also gave me food recommendations and was generally really nice.
Now onto the food… I ordered a selection of sushi rolls, a seaweed salad and miso soup to take away. After trying the first piece of sushi it was evident that this was the worst sushi I’d ever tasted — it was tasteless, the fish was really bad quality and it was over priced! The whole thing came to over £30.
To top it off they’d not bothered or asked if I’d like any soy sauce, wasabi or ginger so this was completely left out of my bag for the take away. Surely this is a standard thing to put with sushi!
I really wish I’d had a better experience and I’d also chose supporting an independently run restaurant over a chain establishment but I would definitely not recommend coming here.

Maybe we went here on a bad time…
What turned me off big time was that the soy bottles on the tables were really gross… Very bad impression while waiting for food at the table. The staff was just hanging out.
The sushi was ‘just ok’. We were unimpressed.
I actually do not know what more to say. We got a nice deal thanks to groupon, but wont be going back…

Filthy cups and utensils, hair on sushi, miso soup so salty it was hard to eat. Staff is nice but doesn’t know the first thing about Japanese food. I still don’t know if quality sushi exists in Edinburgh, but you certainly won’t find it here.

My partner and I come here often. The specials are usually spot on and we have to admit to a few firm faves. In terms of price, you can’t really beat it. Going on what others have said I think it depends on the chef you get? There has been the odd day where our usuals haven’t been up to scratch. It’s a very informal restaurant, your food kinda arrives when it arrives but I’m used to that. If im in a rush for food, in all honesty I don’t go here. I don’t mind recommending here but will always do so with the aforementioned points!

I love sushi. No two ways about it.
I never always loved sushi, on account of not liking fish. As it turns out, I don’t like fishy fish. You know, the strong fish flavour that makes you want to gag?
It also turns out that raw fish doesn’t taste like fishy fish as one might expect, and it’s also incredibly delicious! So now I love sushi. And I do love Bonsai.
I’ve been to this particular location about a dozen times now and all but one visit were lovely.
The staff are very hands off, they take your order promptly, deliver the food and see whether you want any more drinks (typically). They are also pretty friendly.
The food is always prepared fresh and it’s generally really good quality. There is a good selection and a specials board that offers some more exotic things that I wouldn’t touch with a 10-​foot pole (squid!) I particularly like the California and the Rainbow rolls. I’m still pretty tame when it comes to sushi.
The last day I went wasn’t my best experience. It was a lunch time around Christmas and the place was virtually dead… I think there was one other couple there. The waitress was really friendly, however was a bit too hands off when our drinks were empty for some time. Also it seemed that anyone who worked it the place disappeared for 15 minutes, and it was just me and my dining companion wondering if we’ve entered a time warp.
Regardless the only thing I took particular offence to were the scallops on my sashimi (I think it’s called). They were really squidgy and gross. I was very disappointed and couldn’t finish one (out of 2!) roll. I have had better scallops from there, so I have faith. Just that day, not so much.

My boyfriend and I were in the mood for something different than pub food so we thought Japanese might hit the spot. Well to be frank — it was a big disappointment. We arrived later than usual dinner time (around 8pm) and ordered just some tap water for drinks — the waitress said she would wipe the table for us first… Though she went and got the waters and then proceeded to wipe other empty tables before ours (just strange)?
At about 8.10pm we ordered the mixed plate of sashimi, tempura prawn sushi rolls and the teriyaki salmon with steamed rice. And then we sat and waited. And waited. And waited. We received no apologies (nor did the surrounding tables), no top ups for our water or anything — we were just ignored. It seems that they did not consider to bring dishes out as entrees, the whole front of the restaurant was served in a very slow succession of tables which made it so painfully predictable to watch. After 45 minutes I wanted to leave, but we knew that we would just have to wait again at one of the surrounding restaurants — and we were still clinging to the idea that it would be there soon…
When our order was finally placed on our table at 9.19pm after over an hour of waiting we were not excited. We had what seemed to be mini size sushi rolls (which looked okay with the avocado on top but the tempura prawns inside were cold), two flat skinny pieces of teriyaki salmon (which tasted very fishy and were only hot on the side touching the cast iron serving plate that was sitting in a pool of very watery sauce), a small bowl of sushi rice (that was cold and stuck together) and a limp plate of sashimi which included 4 micro size prawns (honestly never seen such small prawns), two halves of one scallop and then 2 pieces each of tuna, salmon and another fish which was okay.
Honestly by the end I just couldn’t believe we sat there and waited all that time for such a disappointing meal and experience. I understand what it’s like to work in a busy hospitality establishment and maybe the kitchen was really short staffed or something — but it was the combination of the crappy service and average meal for £23.50 that left more than a bad taste in our mouths… Not a great way to end our trip to Edinburgh, but atleast our hotel has free cookies for dessert.

Back to where Sashimi & Sake had previously been great…
For a change, this time round, I tried the Wakame Soup for starter as I had not done so in the past. I loved the combination of Sesame Seed and Seaweed, it made for a most appetising soup indeed.
For my main course I went for my usual dish, Assorted Sashimi, as, I wanted to see how it compared to Bonsai in West Richmond St. It was better, but, sadly, not by much. The portion was smaller than my previous visits here and it was presented on a different style of plate (to mask the smaller portion perhaps?). The quality of the Sashimi left a lot to be desired. There were 2 pieces of Scallop (1 big one cut in half), 2 very small (nano?) Prawns, 2 pieces of fish I didn’t recognise. These were served with Radish Noodles, dressing and Wasabi. The Wasabi was not fresh and also, there was no slivers of pickled Ginger to cleanse the palate as there has been on previous visits. The Sashimi clearly was not fresh (I’ve had it straight off of the boat, so I should know), and sadly none of it rang my bell.
The Chicken Yakitori and plain, boiled rice was jolly tasty and just oozed with flavor. The presentation was, way better than the Sashimi.
This was all washed down with a half bottle of the house Sake, a sake that’s exceptionally balanced between sweet and dry.
With the one exception of the ever effervescent waitress Michelle, this was markedly so downhill from my previous visit here just a short while back that I would have to think twice before returning to Bonsai as opposed to going elsewhere.
Proceed with caution, if you do go, ask for Michelle to serve you.
I’m sure there’s Japanese restaurants a plenty out there and Bonsai need to pull their socks up before it’s all too late.

Food was good — I had a bento box and although it seemed a wee bit wee it filled me up well. Definitely felt it was good value for money.
Felt a bit disappointed with the service — the restaurant was quiet when I ate there and the two servers were yakking away not 10 feet from me. Were v noisy and not the most professional. Spoiled my dinner a bit.
I prefer the other Bonsai but this is probably a good choice if you need to get your Japanese fix around the Broughton St area. Worked for me!

Being completely untrained to all that is sushi, my level of experience rested between «Tesco/Sainsbury’s» and «Is that the one with the peppers in it or the meat?» so it was safe to say when I went along to this restaurant I knew I wasn’t going to have a clue about anything that was on the menu.
Thankfully a few of the good people I had with me knew what was going on and without embarrassing myself I was able to pick up the way the menu worked and what was supposed to happen.
Having ate a 2ft baguette (don’t ask) for lunch I decided I would take it easy so I ordered the salmon maki and the tuna maki and both were lovely. Most of the maki is served in 6’s so, as Cressi pointed out, the best way to visit this place would be in a group and have everyone order a few different dishes.
I tried a bit of everyone’s and all were wonderfully prepared (and in a few cases cooked). They tasted fresh, sometimes sweet and perfectly filling. Forgive my ignorance on the spelling and pronunciations of the dishes, but I can vouch for what I tried that it was lovely.
If I could take a moment to bow my head in praise for the wasabi and pickled ginger, at one time I had tears come to my eyes with the initial heat of the wasabi that was rolled beautifully in to a little ball, which of course means it is made right and isn’t that funny pasty stuff you get in the supermarket packs.
Perfectly welcoming little restaurant if you fancy a small evening out of throwing a few tables together and going in a group. Bonsai has definitely encouraged me to try all the local sushi bars in Edinburgh.

The menus are battered and the new waiter, bless him, had to peer at where I was pointing on the menu to work out what I was asking for when I said «umeboshi» (although maybe that’s my quiet voice and poor pronunciation at work) but my, my, that’s some good sushi.
I ordered the umeboshi (waaaaaa!!! PICKLY!), six salmon and cucumber maki, and two red pepper nigiri, which altogether came to £10.50. Because the maki come in sixes, I think the best way to do it is to go in a group and order a bunch of stuff between you rather than just get one type each.
The umeboshi were super-​pickled in that face-​twistingly sour way — yum! The nigiri and maki were spot on — fresh-​tasting, good cohesive rice, sweet and filling. I loved the weeny wasabi rolled into a little teensy blob-​ball on the side of my nigiri. Too cute! That little green globe is going to be all I can think of when I hear the words «wasabi pea» from now on.
Being technical, I really should give this place three stars, because it’s A-​OK and I had a fine time here — but it gets a fourth star mostly for the gorgeous manga on the wall. Also, the benches are comfy to sit on.

Sainsbury’s was my go get sushi when I was younger. And then i suppose it’s lost it’s way in my food world. Just because i would choose other cuisines over it — nothing against sushi at all.
If I’m on Broughton Street, it’s usually in the day time and I usually pass this place without really thinking about it.
It has a few tables at front and at the back of the premises. The décor is red and black.
I choose the «dragon», which has eight pieces of rice roll with a tempura prawn, avocado and something creamy on top. It was nice and worked well with the thinley cut slices of ginger and I had alot of ginger. To top if off i could not resist the scallop — nigiri-​zushi (2pieces)
seasoned rice with topping. I love scallop and this is my cup of tea. I had a taster of Cressi’s ordered a portion of pickled plums and offerend us to try. Boy … that made me make some faces! Way too sour for my tougue! I loved the pork dumplings and the pancake type almost like an tortilla — quite delish too.
I might give sushi more of a try in the future as I like fish and the rice is a nice filler.

I love Sushi and Japanese cuisine but after repeatedly being told that Edinburgh just doesn’t ‘do’ Sushi, I never really investigated further. Until a couple weeks ago when the craving became too much. I had heard that Bonsai was one of the better choices in town and after passing on Broughton Street, thought i’d give it a go. And i’m very glad I did!
We were seated with a friendly, welcoming greeting at the front of the restaurant in a nice and bright window bench. It’s a modern, clean and quite minimalist place but very comfortable and well laid out.
The menu is a brilliant example of Japanese food but also balanced with plenty dishes suited to more ‘European’ palates.
Drinks were up first, there were the usual soft drink options: green teas, a few Japanese beers, a small but well selected wine list and the ubiquitous Sake. I opted for a glass of the Pinot Gricio and very nice it was.
To eat I had the tako salad, scallop and tuna sashimi, sunomono salad and kim chi. The Scallop didn’t taste quite as fresh as it could have but everything else was delicious. The tuna was generously portioned, a little thickly sliced but fresh and served with radish noodles (I think) and a dressing almost as nice as the tako salad. The tako salad was the highlight for me. Lovely, juicy octopus with diced tomato and an incredible yuzu dressing. I could have drank that dressing by the pint. Maybe. The wakame salad was crisp and refreshing with a lovely nutty aftertaste and not at all oily, as I had feared. A little bowl of perfectly spiced kim chi cut through the fishy, salty goodness a treat. My companion dipped in and out of what I had ordered but went with the miso soup to drink. She was pleasantly surprised by how much nicer it was than her previous encounter with the ‘horribly fishy’ version at Wagamama.
No, you’re never going to get Tokyo standard sushi in Edinburgh but having tried a number of other sushi places since, my preference would most definitely be for Bonsai.

As good as the original in terms of both service and food, just in larger and more central premises.

Not the best Japanese cuisine I’ve had, but certainly not the worst. The menu is pretty varied from sushi to hot noodle dishes to french fries, but things seemed fresh. I had sushi and while some of the flavor combos weren’t what I’m used to, it wasn’t a bad meal. The service was alright, if a bit slow. Price-​wise, it was on the higher side for Edinburgh, but we had a nice lunch out at Bonsai.

Affordable lunch specials for £5, and good quality food. Portion sizes are less than you would expect, so between the two of us ordered two other dishes for a £20 bill!
Flavors nice but thought it was odd to eat Japanese food without a Japanese person in sight! Would probably still come back.

Popped in here on a whim while looking for somewhere to have post-​work dinner after post-​work drinks.
It was really nice. A bit cosy for our party of 5 but we managed and the food was lovely. I had the prawn tempura (the prawns were huge), gyoza pork, which was nice and something else the name of which I can’t remember.
I opted for the Kiri beer which was the only thing I didn’t like, but I’d never tried it before and wasn’t to my taste, can’t mark the place down for that; it was a gamble that didn’t pay off. I’ll have a Sapporo next time.
The highlight had to be the banana tempura dessert, though. I’m not normally a fan of cooked fruit but this was just amazing.
The whole lot (3 dishes, a beer and a desert) cost me a very reasonable £21. Worth every penny.

I ‘ve been here for more than a dozen times for lunch and each one of them I was completely satisfied. In fact I strongly believe that this place deserves its rating of 4,5 stars, the food is awesome and the prices are good enough, if one utilises the lunch or the box deals.
Yet today I decided –unfortunately– to go there for dinner, for my first time, and the service was horrible. There was only one poor girl running around for more than 10 tables inside and outside and I waited for 40 minutes just to order and exactly an effing hour to eat. They should just hire another waiter for the evenings or remove some tables but that situation today was unacceptable, thus the –1 star in the rating and my recommendation against visiting Bonsai for dinner in case you are hungry, even more now that the festival is approaching.
(The food was again exceptional, but what gives?)

This new Bonsai is very much a reproduction of the previous Bonsai (which is no bad thing). An identical menu, served up in near identical fashion. As far as sushi goes, it’s totally «A-​OK» as the Unilocal 3-​star rating suggests.
I’ve had many things on the Bonsai menu before at the old branch, and from what I tried here the quality is the same if not slightly lower. Between three of us we ordered the Dragon Rolls, the Rainbow Rolls and the Crab Rolls.
The Rainbow Rolls were the favourite, the Dragon Rolls ok but the Crab Rolls a little disappointing. The ‘tempura prawn’ in the dragon rolls was tough, and the Crab Rolls had hardly ANY crab in them. All three rolls weren’t very well made and fell apart quite often, with the toppings falling off, and the crab rolls especially were very messy.
The restaurant itself is quite nice inside — lighter and brighter than the original Bonsai in Old Town. The staff seemed a bit confused both taking our order, and delivering it. We had to ask for wasabi and the waiter kept stumbling over what he was trying to say. I just felt like they weren’t very ‘with it’ but it is a new restaurant and they may still be finding their feet.
It was some of the ‘messiest’ sushi I’ve had in Edinburgh, not very well made although the fundamental flavours were still there. The rice was still a teeny bit warm too, which may be why it fell apart.
I like sushi and there isn’t a sushi bar at this end of town so I would go back to get a sushi fix. But it doesn’t come close to Kanpai on Grindly Street.

I have been a fand of the newington based Bonsai restaurant for a long time now, so I have been looking forward to the latest incarnation opening up for some time. Leith has been crying out for a suchi restaurant for ages and now I can have my sushi fix this end of town. Yarrr!
Wandered in here around 9ish for a table and the place was resonably busy for a Friday night, I am guessing that this will be short lived and once more people are aware of this place then it will be bookings only on Friday nights very soon. The décor is great, contemporay asian I guess with a few antiques placed here and there. The friendly waiter showed us to our table and made sure we knew what we were ordering etc, which I thought was great as many of my friends are intimidated by Japanese food so someone willing to go over the menu was nice.
This time round I didnt order any of the meat or fish dishes my dining partner for the evening is veggie so I though lets get an array of things we can both eat. Everything was excellent and served quickly. The list of food we ordered is below:
agenasu — aubergine with chilli miso sauce
avocado & red pepper maki
vege tempura — in a light crispy batter with soy broth
vege california — egg, avocado, cucumber, mayo & sesame
okonomiyaki — traditional Japanese vegetable pancake (Never tried this before but it was excellent)
All in great service, amazing food and nice atmosphere… we had a great meal out.

First visit to the new Bonsai, the first one being in the South of the City at Newington. It was only the second day of opening and I was there around 4:30 in the afternoon so it was pretty quiet. The atmosphere is similar to the Newington version and the food is just as good. The lunchtime specials are great value with a Sushi selection, bowl of miso soup for £4.90. Great to have a cheap and tasty japanese in the north of Edinburgh. Highly recommended!