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
Average

Review date: September 6, 2021

The post GO by Steffen Henssler – Upscale Sushi Takeout in Düsseldorf, Germany appeared first on Sushi Guide.

Omakase Style Dinner

Even though the restaurant has no sushi bar to enjoy witnessing the preparation of the sushi, I was happy to see that the menu offered chef selected options. I decided to go with an omakase style plate of their finest and started the meal off with some ika geso yaki (grilled squid tentacles). Even though presented as a small starter plate, it was a large dish that made me worry about the rest of my selection. The squid tentacles were excellent and a great start for a fulminant meal.

The main sushi plate came with a small bowl of ikura (salmon roe), which easily ranks among the best I ever tried. There were 8 nigiri pieces, maguro (tuna back), ika (squid), karuma ebi (tiger prawn), sake (salmon), hotategai (scallop), hokkigai (red calm) and hamachi (yellowtail). It is hard to pick what stood out from this selection. All of them were outstanding. The ika and hotategai were really delicious and the usually average maguro (tuna back) was of outstanding quality and texture. It made me curious about other tuna cuts they had on the menu as well. The plate was rounded of with a maguro (tuna back) maki (roll), which was also surprisingly nice.

Looking at the specialties of the day, I decided to go for another place of 4 nigiri pieces. I chose anago (conger eel), which was amazing and a worthy alternative to my usual favorite unagi (freshwater eel). The did not have any unagi, so this was a great substitute. Another special of the day was katsuo (bonito fish), which is a rare find in Düsseldorf, and it was also excellent. Most impressive however, was the bluefin tuna cuts they had on the menu. I chose one piece of chu toro (medium fatty tuna belly) and one piece of otoro (fatty tuna belly). Even though I usually prefer chu toro over otoro on most occasions, I have to say that the otoro at Hyuga was outstanding and tanks among the best in Düsseldorf. Fort his alone, I would come back any day.

Sushi Guide Verdict

Hyuga is an amazing restaurant and rare find among the many Japanese places to choose from. It is so small and easy to overlook even when walking by frequently. Based on this night’s experience, it now ranks among my favorites and is one of the best in Düsseldorf without any doubt. The atmosphere is elegant, yet authentic and the staff was super nice and made the meal a very nice experience. The menu options are extensive and the quality and taste of everything I had was outstanding. The drink menu is ok, but a bit basic for a sophistic dining experience. This is usually not a big issue for me as I like to focus on the fish. All in all, this is an amazing restaurant and I can recommend it without hesitation for any sushi aficionado.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: June 17, 2021

The post Hyuga – Minimalistic Japanese Dining in Düsseldorf, Germany appeared first on Sushi Guide.