Review of Okimari IV: 2 nigiri / temari, 2 gunkan maki, 2 cake, 6 hosomaki, 8 uramaki wrapped and 10 futomaki at Youmiko Vegan Sushi by travellingweasels

🌱 from our pre-corona travels 🌱 Vegan restaurants Warsaw all seem to have a few things in common - firstly, there's a lot of self-serving going on, which I love, in many places its: order at the counter, pay there, wait for your food, go and collect it, take your plate back. No waiters. Why do I love it? Because it speeds shit up and you don't have to wait around for the cheque. Secondly, none of them seem to do air-con very well, making most of them pretty uncomfortable to eat inside during the summer. Luckily, they do seem to have got the memo about outside seating - but make sure you get there early to nab a spot. Thirdly, as I said earlier there is a surprising lack of Polish vegan foods. The vegan Warsaw food scene really is amazing but it's a lot of Italian, Japanese, Mexican and Israeli. For you (just for you, not for me at all haha), I tried out a mix. ➡️ Vegan sushi is probably not the first thing that springs to mind when you think of Polish vegan food and, at first, I was sceptical. But man was I in for a gastronomic treat! Youmiko vegan sushi is authentic, aesthetically pleasing and above all, delicious. I loved this restaurant! We opted for the Okimari IV - large diverse set for two, which included 2 nigiri / temari, 2 gunkan maki, 2 cake, 6 hosomaki, 8 uramaki wrapped and 10 futomaki. The futomaki were filled with fresh and fried vegetables, the uramaki were filled with asparagus and sweet potato, the tomato-y onion-y salsa added to the top was weird but this is one of the beauties of vegan food - fusion food. World, meet European vegan sushi. By far my favourite course though was the first course! These sushis were all amazing, some were filled with green beans, some with radishes and beans, some looked like fish (was actually) sweet tomato flesh. Another one - omg - gets its own paragraph seeing as it was the best sushi I've ever had - including incredible sushi I had in Australia before I was vegan anddd even including incredible sushi I had in Japan as a vegan. It was avocado topped rice wrapped in aubergine. It was heaven. This large Okimari IV set that we had cost 99 zl (about $25). It was perfect. Okay on the menu it said that there would be 2 cake, and it turned out that was another sushi, not an actual cake. But I'm not a sweet tooth so I don't care. All in all, this was my favourite out of the vegan restaurants Warsaw. ➡️ Here are some things that we are defo gonna write to (+poke) them about: do they have any organic plant-based meals? We think there would be a market niche for that... like basically anywhere (the legal differentiation of "non-organic" and "organic" produce is basically an euphemism for "poisonous" and "a bit less poisonous"... which is an outrage! All fruit & veg (+any plant-based food) should be organic, everywhere, not just the privilege of wealthy citizens who can afford to buy the more expensive stuff). Also: were the agricultural workers that produced the plants paid well, in a fair trade fashion (and are they employed as wage labourers)? Is the restaurant a democratic workplace (a worker coop)? If you liked my review, you can follow me on @veganvstravel on Instagram or Facebook. I wrote a whole blogpost about vegan restaurants and eating out in Warsaw here ➡️
https://www.veganvstravel.com/2018/07/your-guide-to-vegan-warsaw-where-to-eat.html
🌱 Go vegan - for the animals & for the 🌎✌🏻