GO by Steffen Henssler is a takeout and delivery outlet serving upscale sushi. It is associated with Steffen Henssler, a German cook, cook book author and TV personality. Apart from his career in national television in Germany, he is most known for his high end sushi restaurant in Hamburg, called Henssler & Henssler. It ranks among the few outstanding contemporary sushi restaurants in northern Germany, so I wanted to try the takeout menu of GO by Steffen Henssler.
The website looks super nice, all black with high quality photos of varies dishes and sets to choose from. The menu sees extensive and evolves mainly about preconfigured sets to choose from. Upon taking a closer look, most dishes are somewhat identical and use the same base ingredients – mostly salmon, tuna back and shrimps – mixed up with different dressings. Presentation is everything with Steffen Henssler, so the options on the website certainly also delivered on that promise.
I made some choices and received a call shortly after the order was made. Some items were not available and I was suggested some alternatives to choose from. I was quite happy with the service and curiously waited for the delivery. The sushi came in simple but beautiful packaging, matching the high quality look of the website. Even the chopsticks and soy sauce came in nice black packaging.
The meal started out with two amazing pieces of sake (salmon) nigiri, which made me really optimistic about the rest of the menu. I then tried the spicy maguro (tuna back) futo maki tempura (fried big roll), which was also nice but not as impressive. Also until here, I was also quite happy with the presentation and the overall experience.
The main package contained my individually configured set. Even though I can appreciate the intention behind the overall setup and design of the package, the unpacked food looked far less appealing as I expected it to look. The rolls looked quite messed up and pieces moved around in transit, leaving greasy traces across the glossy package. It’s not relevant for the culinary experience per se, but certainly dampened the mood as I had higher expectations.
The set cam with maguro yaki (grilled tuna back) sashimi, kappa (cucumber) uramaki (inside out roll) with sake (salmon) topping, ebi tempura (fried shrimp) uramaki (inside out roll) with sake (salmon) tartare and caviar topping. The cucumber roll was really not that amazing, the shrimp roll was better but due to the distinct taste of the salmon and caviar. Overall, the pieces were covered in sauce, all of which were not bad, but took away any taste of the fish. The dish also came with three pieces of maguro (tuna back) futo maki tempura (fried big roll) with maguro (tuna back) tartare and tobiko (flying fish roe) topping. It sounded better that it was. Also here, the tartare dressing took away most of the distinct taste of the tuna, rendering the sushi experience a bit mute in my opinion.
Certainly, the overall look, quality and taste is quite nice. It is certainly above average sushi, but it comes at a really upscale price, resulting in higher expectations in terms of taste, presentation and mostly variety in the dished. Overall, the pieces that I got, based on staff recommendation, are all quite similar and lacked any surprise.
Sushi Guide Verdict
All in all, I am happy with the presentation, menu options and service offered when ordering at GO by Steffen Henssler. However, even though the menu looks very appealing, the variety is highly limited and mainly uses salmon, tuna and shrimp as base ingredients, basically the most standard of all sushi components. In combination with the heavy use of sauces and dressings, it seems as if the menu caters less to sushi aficionados than I hope for. The quality and taste of the food is quite good, it is just not very close to anything that I expect from a sushi experience. The site offers limited drink options, but for takeout food, it is certainly sufficient. All in all, I am undecided if I would order there again. If dining in a large group, the offered sets are good options, for a nice Japanese dining experience, I would definitely look elsewhere.
Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Review date: September 6, 2021