We had been hearing about this place for some time, so it came highly recommended. We have also been told that they serve the best sushi in Malta, which did sound a bit of a tall order.

Initially we thought of going for a takeaway, however as soon as we were putting in our order, Paul Peter Azzopardi​ and Kristina Arbočiūtė​ walked in and we all happily agreed to dine together. Unlike us they had been there many a time and even helped us to order a marvelous medley of both sushi and sashimi.

The place is run by couple Nick and his Chinese wife Donna. Being a relatively small place, Nick runs the service singlehandedly, while Donna prepares the food on her own. They were very welcoming and we chatted extensively with Nick, who genuinely did his very best to make us comfortable in every way.

We had an impressive array of very different sushis and sashimi and one just seemed better than the other. Some were rather mild in taste, while others were strong and sharply fishy. We had a big selection with a vast amount of varying, and even often, of original ingredients, which are rarely found elsewhere. There were so many of them and I was enjoying the meal so much, that I did not even try to take note of the names or to memorise them.

But in any case I think that this would have been a rather futile exercise, as all of them without exception were simply delicious. It would only be down to personal taste, if one had to attempt to list them in any form of preference.

I have absolutely no doubt, in my mind at least, that this is by far the best sushi I have tasted so far in Malta. But I will also go a step further than this. I cannot remember having eaten better sushi anywhere, and this easily includes Japan. We were on holiday in Tokyo only a few months ago and ate sushi there on three occasions. You really don’t want to eat sushi everyday and contrary to what many people think, even in Japan this is more a type of food which is eaten on occasion, and otherwise it is very atypical to the rest of Japanese cuisine.

We did enjoy our sushi in Tokyo on each of these occasions, but we really cannot say that it was outstanding in any way. Naturally we can only talk about the three sushi restaurants we sampled, so this shouldn’t be taken as a wide-sweeping statement about the overall standard of sushi in Japan.

But in any case, the quality here at Sushi Ba was on a level of its own.

We had a long discussion with Nick and we all decided that the secret most definitely laid in the rice. The rest of the ingredients were perfect too, but the main difference here was the fluffiness and the consistency of the rice. Usually with sushi the rice is all sticky and presented virtually as a solid block. Here however, although it held together on the plate, as soon as it was eaten it came apart nicely and loosely, making for such a more pleasant texture and taste.

Nick explained all the painstaking care and attention they accord to their preparation, which culminated in the washing of the rice for ten consecutive times, so as to rid it of virtually all its starch.

They really have an excellent product and yes, the very best sushi ever. It is a very informal setting, which is also fine with us, so don’t expect a posh and sophisticated ambiance. And to top it all up, the portions are very copious and their pricing totally affordable. It goes to show that quality does not always have to cost more.