Doring Sushi Bar

Great value delicious sushi a 20 minute walk from my front door? Sign me up!
My friend came to visit and requested sushi because sushi is what you eat while on holiday according to her, and so I jumped at the chance to try Doring for the first time.
We grabbed a table outside — beware the love seat, it is not very comfortable — and set about planning our feast. I can’t remember everything that we ordered but we had some gyoza and edamame to start and then had an array of sushi and sashimi. All delicious, and the portions are pretty generous for the price. I was worried that we hadn’t ordered enough, my friend was worried we had ordered too much, but it turned out to be a pretty satisfactory amount.
We shared a bottle of house white wine which was perfectly fine. We also had some sake which I didn’t love, though maybe I am just spoiled after the recent Unilocal event featuring sake.
The service was not great. Our waitress was very nice but seemed totally flustered. Thankfully as we were there for a nice leisurely meal this didn’t bother us too much.
Overall I really rate this place and I’ll be back!

What a gem! I’d heard really mixed reviews about this place — mainly about the service being really slow — but came along for dinner on a weeknight and was very impressed.
Sushi has a bit of a reputation for being overpriced, mass produced and really small portions, but Doring is the opposite. Their prices are so reasonable, and you get lots of sushi with each dish. All freshly prepared to order, with delicious seafood and lots of ginger, spring onion and veg.
They do the usual sushi fare — dragon rolls etc — but they also do a few more usual dishes like scallop sushi. Meanwhile, there’s plenty of main dishes to choose from, including noodles, curry and fries rice.
It got really busy during our meal, and whilst the service wasn’t lightning fast, it was friendly and warm. Sushi can often be a grab and go kind of meal, so it was nice to pace it out.
Décor leaves a lot to be desired… But isn’t that a sign of a REALLY good place?!
Highly recommend — oh and they do takeaway too!

I had high hopes for this! After reading a review of the place and food photo staking their Facebook page, I just had to try this local sushi bar. Just as the review had said, we found Doring Sushi still operating out of what used to be Crazy Wendy’s on Barlow Moor Road, physically of course, but in spirit as well! There was a temporary banner with their name secured over Crazy Wendy’s sign, the décor inside was exactly the same except for the new menus and a makeshift sushi bar set up in front of the bar area — but because of the height of the banister, you could see the chef’s handy work, so there really isn’t any point setting up there. Especially because he was the only one preparing food and had to run back and forth to the kitchen at the back.
The service was slow. There were three waiters and none of them had clear roles or clear ideas on what they were meant to be doing regarding table service. The menus and glasses and the crockery were greasy and looked like a mucky kid had been playing with them before. Whilst we were there, many of the restaurant guests waited a long time to order or got their food orders wrong. I’m sure they’re going to get this bit right soon, because they’re only going to get busier as their sushi WAS very good and value for money.
We ordered Karaage Chicken — deep fried marinaded chicken pieces, and Agedashi Tofu — that delicious lightly deep fried silk tofu in sweet greasy soy were not good here (nowhere near Oishi Q standards — I went here recently and was very impressed by them). Here, the chicken looked like Quorn pieces and were not crispy enough. The tofu they used in the other starter was the wrong type — they used firm instead of silky so this was not great either. However, I did say their SUSHI was good and it’s true. We ordered 4 rolls (each was 8 pieces for less than a fiver each so we weren’t expecting giant rolls). They can beautifully presented, albeit on greasy plates. The rice was well seasoned and the fish tasted fresh. Each roll was rolled to order which meant you had to wait a bit with the one chef but it also meant you didn’t get soggy seaweed.
Next time, we will order just sushi for take out, and collect at the beginning of the even service when they are less busy. I look forward to revisiting later on in the year once they’ve ironed out their table service, give the place a lack of paint, throw out dirty liking carpets…

Cheap and good sushi, what more could you ask for?
This was previously (and briefly) part of an attempt at a chain of 2 restaurants by Crazy Wendy’s Thai in West Didsbury. Doring Sushi Bar has had a temporary sign up since opening at the tail end of last summer but I hope they are here permanently.
I love sushi and I especially love low priced sushi! I had a platter of mixed sushi for £10 which I thoroughly enjoyed and didn’t have left overs as I planned. My friend got salmon with edamame and rice and gave it a good report back. They also have the usual Japanese fare of chicken katsu, gyoza, etc on offer.
I went on a quiet Wednesday lunchtime but I imagine this place us doing well in the evenings as Chorlton needed a sushi place, I now realise.
The service was very friendly and the right level of attentiveness. There was an 80s mix CD on with the likes of A-​ha and Cyndi Lauper which also pleased me.
So, basically, I was a happy lady and I will return very soon.