Our friends booked the table at Sushisamba in the City, we hadn't heard of the place, but were happy to try this interesting fusion restaurant. It's not often you combine Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian cuisines, culture and music. They offer Kobe beef on the menu, which I suppose for a beef lover is a big thing. I don't know much about it and have never had it.

I did find out that the New York West Village SushiSamba was featured in a scene of Sex and the City where Samantha threw a Dirty Martini to some dirty bastard's face in one of the episodes. Our experience was much more mellow.

The tree in the outside bar area

At arrival we had a drink in the bar while waiting for our table to be ready. The restaurant is set over the 38th and 39th floors so the views over the City are amazing. After we were taken to our table, a lovely and gorgeous young man looked after us, explaining how it all works and answered any questions about the menu. The service throughout the evening was flawless!

Sushisamba has a lovely outside area with a bar, which now with the freezing temperature and wind speed of 250 mph was empty apart from the odd determined smoker and people taking pictures of the amazing tree. But it must be a lovely place to have dinner on a mild summer's eve. Oh how far away they seem now!

My husband and I decided to share the shrimp tempura for a starter. The prawns were fantastic - succulent and tasty, served with pea shoots and a spicy mayo. I could have had the whole thing myself easily.

I love sushi and rarely get a chance as my husbands not really into it, so I never make it myself. I sometimes get some for lunch from John Lewis or Itsu, or might pop in to Yo Sushi on a shopping trip. But this was a real treat, so I ordered a selection of samba rolls. Hubby ordered the lamb chops. I had a little taste of his and they were absolutely wonderful, but the portion was very small. Which he kept pointing out to his friend like it was his fault :)

Samba rolls

We had a fun evening with good friends, we were well looked after and everything tasted great. In a city of hundreds of fantastic restaurants that we'll never get to visit, we probably won't go back. We can warmly recommend it though, just make sure you order enough!