Sushinho

On my way to meet my lawyer friend, who has visited both Japan and Brazil (I've been to neither), I puzzled over how such a marriage could possibly work - trying to reconcile images of austere rectangles of sushi and the earthy sensuality of Brazilian cuisine.

Actually, according to my friend, it isn't such a bizarre mix at all, since Brazil has the largest proportion of expatriate Japanese anywhere in the world. Sushi bars abound beneath the South American sun and you can eat dainty portions of rice and raw fish, while outside beautiful people flirt, salsa and play football.
King's Road has its fair share of beautiful people but the English are too cool for flirting and there was certainly no football or salsa on the day I was there. Never mind, thick blossom was clothing the trees and the waitress at Sushinho was so wonderfully welcoming that it felt like being admitted into her home.

Sultry music pulsated through the room - it really does make you want to dance - and my guest was already at the table, slurping down her first caipirinha, which is Brazil's national cocktail of cachaça, sugar and mint. She said that it wasn't nearly as potent as its South American equivalent 'where they use about half a bottle of alcohol in every glass' - but that was probably a good thing since she had an early start the next day.

The décor is curiously cool and understated. I suppose I was expecting hot pinks and sizzling scarlets but instead the walls are coloured a sombre slate grey and the hessian-seated chairs come in muted shades of green and beige. Austerity is interrupted slightly by the large plants - including a Swiss cheese plant that reminded me of a Eighties bedsit I once visited in Chalk Farm.

We began with wasabi prawns, spicy crispy baby squid and seafood tempura. The prawns were huge, juicy beasts and the squid came in neat little circles, piquantly spiced. These were accompanied by doll's house-sized dishes of dark sauces for dipping - though I'm never quite sure which one is intended for which. The seafood tempura was delicious, but let's face it, this dish is basically just a posher and more manageable portion of battered fish and a guiltfree way of liberating your inner chip shop.

Our main course of sushi was sublime. Just perfect. Sushi is now so ubiquitous and (usually) mediocre that it's quite startling to taste a version that's authentic and properly good.

The restaurant's Portuguese influence can be seen in some of the main courses, such as feijoada, a slow-cooked stew of beans, pork and beef. It's hefty and robust; a real peasant mishmash of a dish and probably the antithesis of sushi. It's more of a rugby player's dinner. Or a footballer's, maybe.

Only the puddings left us rather dazed. Or rather, just the thought of them did. Who on earth came up with passion crumble, toffee ice cream and sesame tuile? Or marble cheesecake, Chambord jelly and raspberry sorbet? It was as if someone had been playing lucky dip with recipes from an out-of-date cookery book.

But I'd thoroughly recommend a visit to Sushinho - not just because the sushi is so good and the atmosphere so entrancing, but because it's unlike any other restaurant you'll find in London at the moment.

Sushinho, 312-314 King's Road, SW3 (020 7349 7496; sushinho.com)