Seven Seas a step up for sushi

Seven Seas Sushi and Thai

Where: 262 Florida Road, Durban

Open: Daily until 9am

Call: 063 954 0326

The Glass Guy felt like sushi. I suggested we try the Seven Seas in Florida Road because it offered a vast range of interest for the person who wasn't into sushi as well - that’s me.

Well it’s not that I’m anti sushi - it’s just so often the sushi one finds is just the same old - no different from any other place that offers sushi around Durban. Even the range of offerings is completely predictable with little or no imagination. I often end up with that paint by numbers feeling.

But here we were pleasantly surprised. There’s a firecracker roll which is a tempura prawn roll topped with a crab and sriracha mix. There’s a deep fried cheese roll, a star roll which is a fashion sandwich topped with bang bang sauce and caviar.  Even the deluxe roses topped with tempura prawn and avalanche sauce sound interesting.

Besides that there’s the usual maki, California, and hand rolls, plus nigiri, fashion sandwiches and a variety of platters. Our waiter apologized that they were out of tuna that evening, but everything could be had with salmon and veg.

In addition there’s also a Japanese teppanyaki menu featuring hake, kingklip, calamari, prawns, beef, chicken, salmon, or lamb chops - or any combination thereof. There is also a Thai menu with an array of curries, phad Thai stir frys , soups and salads. And then a small Chinese inspired menu with dumplings and crispy dishes and basic stirfries like chow mein or chop suey.

The restaurant may look a little like a takeaway and there were certainly plenty of people coming in for takeaways - and a goof few MR D delivery guys, but there are a few rows of comfortable and stylish tables along the window. And waiter service once you sit down. And the service is quick and very efficient.

Seven Seas is also halaal, so no alcohol, but we were happy to sip on lemon iced teas.

We start from the Thai menu with crispy chicken and prawn wonton (R45) with a good spicy dipping sauce. And the prawns in a crispy blanket (R65) with a decent sweet chilli. We were more than satisfied.

For mains I tried the kung pao Szechuan chicken with spicy veg (R105) which I really enjoyed. It came with a good chilli spike and plenty of interesting veg - and it was a big meal.

The Glass Guy made up a sushi platter of Salmon roses  (R99), prawn avalanche (R109) and salmon sashimi (R105). These were advertised as four per portion but we didn’t realise there was a two for one special on so eight arrived. It was more than he could eat so I had to help out.

The sushi here was nice and freshly made, the ingredients generous. He was more than happy to get his fix.

I’ll be back to try one of their Thai curries next, and the tom yum soup. I also liked the look of their black pepper Thai beef stir fry.

Dessert consists of deep-fried ice-cream or deep-fried bananas. Neither really took our fancy, so instead we popped into the Pick n Pay behind the restaurant for a chocolate bar. Naughty.

Food: 3 ½

Service: 3 ½

Ambience: 3 ½

The Bill: R588 for 2