56 Princes Street
Jizo has, hands down, the best teriyaki chicken sushi that I've ever tasted. When I first tasted Jizo’s ‘original teriyaki chicken’ sushi, they were delectably warm and absolutely melted in my mouth. What immediately struck me was that the teriyaki chicken pieces were juicy, tender, and well sauced. They obviously cooked the chicken to order, quite unlike the standard fare that you get at 'express' sushi places where the chicken would have been cooked early in the day and left sitting around to dry out. Also, unlike standard teriyaki chicken sushi rolls, which are usually made up of some chicken, carrots, and cucumber rolled up in rice and a layer of seaweed, these were cute little domes of perfectly cooked vinegar rice, with a generous dab of creamy avocado 'dressing' cushioning the succulent teriyaki chicken topping. Smooth, warm, deliciously divine! Every time I introduce someone to these works of art, the second they pop one in their mouths, I wait for the same inevitable pause, the widening of the eyes and the "Oh-My-God!" moment that I experienced. If you haven't already tried this, you must! There are four different varieties of this sushi – chicken, salmon, tuna, and tofu – with four different dressing options – avocado, sweet chilli, tartar and pumpkin. My favourites are the chicken and salmon with the avocado dressing.
You might think I'm just nit-picking here but the magic is in the details. In stark contrast to the mushy, clumpy, and/or burnt rice that I am sometimes served at other establishments, the rice served at Jizo has been perfect every single time. With their sushi rice, specifically, they have struck the fine balance between tasteless and 'can't-taste-anything-else'. You will immediately notice the sour-ish and almost faintly sweet presence of the rice's flavour, but it quickly blends with the taste of the other components of the sushi and becomes the lovely accentuating backdrop to the headliner.
Some of my other favourite dishes are the delicious karaage chicken, the grilled kushiage tofu (with a tasty caramelised coating of either teriyaki or miso sauce) and the lovely, refreshing salmon, avocado and mango sushi. Most of the mains come with a salad with four dressing options, i.e. Jizo mayonnaise, spicy miso, garlic, or original, which are all great. Whenever I order the karaage chicken, however, I opt for the Jizo mayonnaise dressing because I like dipping the lovely crisp, tasty, succulent chicken in it, even though it comes with plain mayonnaise. If you’re thinking that Jizo sounds like it's far more expensive than the average Japanese restaurant here – it's not. The prices on their menu are actually about the same as the other Japanese places, and cheaper than some, and that is why it’s my favourite Japanese restaurant in Dunedin.
Jizo
