I grew up in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where great sushi can be found in every corner store. But this is not the case in most other cities I have visited around the world (except Tokyo and New York), where sushi is usually ho-hum at best, and at worst, inedible. So I was a bit skeptical about what I’d find at YuMe, the sushi bar that had been highly recommended to me. Well I can happily report that it was fantastic and really felt like one of my favorite haunts from back in LA or San Fran.

The bar seating area has a sushi conveyor belt that you can pick any item off of, if you like the look of it. You can also order off the menu: “fashion” sandwiches, noodle bowls, tempura vegetables, chicken teriyaki, ahi tuna “burgers” and other innovative, fun fare. A whole section of the menu is devoted to vegetarian and vegan dishes, which YuMe calls “Vegenese.” Then there is the dim sum, and the desserts.

Being a sushi veteran, I opted to forego the basic rolls and go for something a little more inventive: the “versushi roll,” which melded springbok carpaccio with avocado and parmesan, and was topped with a raspberry balsamic. The flavors didn’t seem to fit together intuitively on paper, but in practice they were surprisingly well-matched. I also tried the “pony tail yakuza roll,” which consisted of soba noodles, cooked salmon and peanut sauce. This one wasn’t as good as the previous, but nevertheless was quite satisfying. I washed it down with a tall glass of toasted coconut milk with ice — refreshing!

Also worth a mention are the desserts: the kawasura rolls are spring rolls stuffed with strawberry, hazelnuts, and both dark and white chocolate. Occasionally the sushi chefs also whip up unique dessert items, such as the Nutella and rice roll I saw riding the belt for a while.

This fun and funky chain has three locations around Joburg. I plan to become a regular at all three.