First look, menu and prices at Sunderland's new Miso House Japanese restaurant

After converting a former shop unit in High Street West, Miso House opens its doors today, Tuesday, April 28, and it’s set to fill a gap in the city for a dedicated sushi and sashimi offering.

With Nudo closing some time ago opposite the train station and the news that plans for The Muddler had been scrapped, the city has been lacking a restaurant dedicated to the Japanese delicacy.

The team at Miso House have already had success with other Asian offerings in the city, including Bar Shu Impression Chinese restaurant and neighbouring Korean Spoon, which opened in autumn last year in Fawcett Street.

Both have proved popular and, after recruiting a specialist chef and creating a kitchen that meets the requirements for preparing and storing raw fish, the team has launched Miso House, over the road from its sister restaurants.

“We wanted to bring something a bit different to Sunderland,” said Hani Nguen, social media manager at Korean Spoon and Miso House.

“With the other restaurants selling Chinese and Korean food over the road, we decided to bring an authentic taste of other Asian food to Sunderland and it means there’s a corner of different types of Asian food now.”

Sushi is hand-rolled fresh to order in house, with various types of sushi and sashimi on offer, as well as ramen and curries.

“Miso House has taken longer to open than Korean Spoon, but it’s a larger site and the owners really wanted it high quality and to get the kitchen right for making sushi,” added Hani.

“They’re really aiming for authentic Japanese food at a high standard.”

Earlier this year, Sunderland also welcomed a dedicated Japanese noodle bar inside Jacky White’s Market.

*Miso House, High Street West, is open seven days a week from 12pm. Walk ins only for now.

What’s on the menu?

There’s a soft launch menu running for the first few weeks and here’s some of the highlights.

Starters and snacks: there’s a range of starters, snacks and sides, including edamame, king prawn tempura, miso soup, octopus roll and gyoza. Prices start from £3.50 for edamame, ranging to £9.95 for soft shell crab tempura.

There’s also a choice of salads, priced from £8.95.

Maki: choices include seafood or vegeterian options, with fillings including tuna, salmon, cucumber, grilled eel and more. Prices start from £3.95 for six pieces.

Uramaki (inside out sushi roll, with the rice on the outside): a range of seafood fillings, priced from £6.90 for eight pieces.

Rolls: classic sushi rolls with options like California, mango crispy prawn, grill eel and more. Prices start from £9.90.

Curry: steamed Japanese rice with rich curry sauce and a choice of topping, from £10.95.

Noodles: ramen, yakisoba and udon options, ranging from sweet tofu to super spicy, priced from £11.95.

Futomaki: thick suchi roll of 10 pieces with a choice of fillings including seafood or vegetarian, priced £12.95.

Temaki: hand-rolled sushi cones, priced from £4.30.

Gunkan: sushi topped with roe or salad, from £3.95 for two pieces.

Nigiri, tataki & sashimi: priced from £3.95 for nigiri and from £7.95 for sashimi.

Sushi and sashimi sets: priced from £13.50.