The Observer
Food-loving politician-turned-telly personality Ed Balls was the latest guest reviewer for The Observer, visiting a Japanese restaurant opened 21 years ago by the present owner’s mother. Here he witnessed a “truly damascene conversion”, enticing his 86-year-old father to sample sashimi after a life-long aversion to raw fish.
Japanese restaurants are close to Ed’s heart: he and his wife, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, celebrate their wedding anniversary every year at a yakitori bar; he also brought his mother to Shiki for her last restaurant meal before dementia made such outings impossible: “she loved the food and the hugely patient and thoughtful staff”.
Ed and his father chomped their way through plates of sushi, sashimi, edamame beans, “excellent miso soup”, “light, but fabulously crunchy” tempura and “stunning” beef noodles, washed down by “my favourite combination: cold Asahi beer and a small flask of warm and nutty sake. I know the connoisseurs say sake should always be drunk cold. But I’m not a connoisseur and I don’t.” The bill, he said, was “unexpectedly reasonable”.
Ed Balls - 2025-03-30
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