Sushi Wa

“My nigiri tells a story,” says Yoshimi Hayakawa, the chef-proprietor of Wa Sushi, in Galway’s Docklands. In fact, Ms Hayakawa’s sushi tells many stories, not least the tale of how she has crafted something unique in the creation of Galway-Mae sushi, which means Wa Sushi only uses fish and shellfish from Galway Bay. The emotion of the story stems from the fact that a meal in Wa Sushi is a spiritual journey, a journey that tries to reveal the greatness of small things – a tiny piece of fish, some grains of rice, a swab of wasabi. The finesse of squid noodle, or john dory kobujime, is artfulness incarnate, but Yoshimi can also finesse a western-style creation like scallop with sake, miso, butter, and artichoke, and she brilliantly re-imagines a grab-and-go staple like takoyaki octopus ball. This is serious cooking, and it’s also fun.