Sumo

I’m generally not a fan of all-you-can-eat concepts, as they encourage chefs to mass produce and diners to overeat. But new Japanese restaurant Sumo has taken a more elegant approach to what is essentially gorging yourself for a fixed price.

The concept works like this: for €18.50 at lunch and €26.50 at dinner, diners can order as much as they want from an impressive number of options. The price difference between lunch and dinner relates not only to the amount of time you are given – an unhurried two hours and 2.5 hours respectively – but also to the choice: the lunch menu is slightly less extensive and does not include dessert. Each person is also required to order at least one drink.

You can order a maximum of five items at any one time. This is undoubtedly to ease the pressure in the kitchen, but the restaurant also has a strict waste policy: unfinished dishes incur a 'fine' of €1-€2.

I started with three pieces of salmon maki with wasabi mayonnaise. The wasabi was undetectable, although that didn't really matter because extra wasabi was brought to the table.

The tuna nigiri had clearly be prepared in advance, perhaps a little too far in advance because the fish had a slight odour. The hot (and freshly made) dishes were better: the chicken yakitori was served with a sweet soya sauce reduction, and three gyoza dumplings were fried crisp and golden on one side and left soft and pale on the other.

Round two included vegetable tempura in a slightly clumpy batter, a simple salmon and avocado hand roll (with odourless fish), and another tasty hot dish: strips of grilled beef with slippery udon noodles stir-fried in smoky oyster sauce.

Restaurant Sumo’s dim interior is dotted with red lanterns and ceramic ‘vases’ almost as tall as me, sprouting plastic cherry blossoms. The black-clad waiters, who almost disappear against the dark walls, are efficient but have adopted an approach that favours whisking empty plates away wordlessly and without making eye contact.

Despite the restaurant's name, portions are small and I left full but without feeling as if I had just ingested the sumo wrestler on the logo. A good option on a strip of mostly mediocre tourist joints for generally light, fresh fare - and lots of it - for the same price as a main course in many other Amsterdam restaurants.

A Rembrandtplein branch of Sumo restaurant is expected to open soon on Vijzelstraat 26.