Sugarvine

Etsu is an amazing restaurant with great service and excellent dishes prepared lovingly by the chef. It's not a big place, so a reservation is definitely necessary for weekend dining.
Nice selection of vegetarian options and the Sake is delicious.

Having eaten Japanese food in a number of cities (Vancouver, London, San Francisco) but never in Japan I am always unsure of how authentic the food is. I can only say that Etsu serves the best Japanese food I have ever tasted and it all seems very authentic and true to the Japanese tradition. My wife and I asked the owner/manager to surprise us and left the choice to him. We enjoyed an absolutely superb choice of food which was presented faultlessly by really friendly staff. Every dish was a revelation and the whole meal was memorable. The damage for two people with beer and wine based on 6 or 8 decent sized plates was £50.00. If only all Liverpool restaurants were this good. Can't wait to go back and can't recommend it too highly.

Etsu
The current food trends do not favour Japanese food. At the moment people are supposedly looking for seasonal, local, sustainable and above all cheap food and it doesn't tick those boxes. The conveyor belt restaurant thing never worked for me. You are never sure of what half the dishes are or how long they have been out and while the individual plates seem cheap when added together it is a pricey meal. There are better ways to eat Japanese food, like Etsu.
Etsu is near to Albert dock but on a side street. It is easy to miss, even though it is has a little Japanese garden and there are smells of ginger and soy wafting out. Inside there are about a dozen tables so it is a good idea to book. The decor is not over the top oriental kitsch but the room does suffer from having very little natural light. In order to confuse customers the toilets are unisex, so you really feel that you have wondered into the wrong section.
The menu has starters, mains courses and desserts , which is unusual as Japanese food normally consists of lots of little dishes brought to the table together. My dining partner loves sushi and I have never seen him happier than stuffing his face in the sushi bars of San Francisco. We didn't order starters and he charged into the sushi list ordering prawn California rolls and three types of Nigiri sushi; pickled mackerel, barbecued eel and raw scallops. He also went for a mixed sashimi (raw fish) selection. I ordered a chicken katsu which is chicken in tempura batter and served with sticky rice and salad. I don't often order chicken in restaurants because it is impossible to tell what kind of life it led. I have no idea what they did to this chicken but by God it was tender. It was as far removed from a frozen, battered chicken piece as a roast rib of beef is from a fast food burger and I loved it. The sauce drizzled over it tasted of barbeque sauce and was too sweet. My partner was served the most exotic California rolls I have ever seen. Usually they are a bit of avocado, cucumber and either prawns or roe, surrounded by pickled rice and wrapped in seaweed. Here the seaweed was in between the rice and prawns and rolled in sesame seeds. This sort of inside out sushi is uramki-zushi, according to a book I consulted . My partner didn't say if he preferred this style but he ate it with a blissful look. I tried a bit of tuna sashimi, it was fresh but cut too thinly, I like the density of oily fish. The serving of scallop was very pretty but tiny . Overall he was delighted. Despite having eaten enough to feed a regiment he still wanted a pudding. I declined; desserts are not traditional in Japan so they are never the chef's strong point. The dessert special was a sort of coffee flavoured sponge roll . He said "It was bloody delicious"
The staff were efficient and polite. I thought the waitress was very helpful, telling us what each dish was, however my partner thought she was just a little patronizing. She told us, with pride, that all the fish was flown in from the Indian and Pacific Oceans daily. If you want to cut down on food miles avoid this place. According to some grim estimates tuna will be extinct within 20 years but as rice and seaweed are plentiful vegetarian sushi has a future.
The greatest dsiappointment of this restaurant was the wine list. There is an extensive list of bottled beers but like all bottled beers they are pricey. There are about 4 whites and 4 reds, all of which were brand names available in supermarkets for £10 or less. As a restaurant they should have something more imaginative. They do have a range of saki both by the bottle and in little flasks. My partner had a 125 ml of the house saki and thought it served too warm but otherwise liked it served warm and very much liked it. The bill was £53.80 for two with one bottle of house white at £9.95 for a meal this good, in pleasant surroundings with good staff it excellent value. Japanese food is never and it was my choice to go with a bottomless pit.

There are very few restaurants in Liverpool that offer vegetarian food beyond the standard 'roasted veg' - however, Etsu is fabulous and incorporates a range of vege food as part of their standard menu. We have been to Etsu twice in the past week - they serve tasty, fresh, beautifully cooked food with a really well chosen menu of meat, vege and fish. I am honestly looking forward to going back.

This really is one of the best restaurants I have ever been to, and Ive been to a few!! The food was absolutely amazing and Im not that big of a fan of Japenese food. Truly authentic, full of flavour, and reasonably priced, what more can you ask for.

Me and my boyfriend went on Friday, I had mixed temperura to start, OH MY GOD !! Amazing, then sirloin steak with rice and salad. He had a soup to start and a tuna steak for his main. he said he had never tasted anything as nice!

2 starters, 2 mains and a bottle of Rose came to £60. I think this is excellent. I would of paid alot more as it was that good! The staff were so nice and helpful and made us feel really welcome. I cant wait to go back.

I've been going to Etsu since it first opened and have ever since. The staff are brilliant and very friendly. I always suggest Etsu at every opportunity and everyone that I've brought with me always enjoys the food. It's definitely one of my favourite restaurants in Liverpool and I'd go everyday if I could!

brilliant food, so fresh! Attentive staff, will go back again!

I've spent about 10 minutes sitting here trying to word just how brilliant I think Etsu is! All I can say is that you MUST go and try it for yourself!

I've been going there for many months and I can't fault it at all. The staff are very friendly and we now like to act as guinea pigs for any new dishes they've come up with! My Mum particularly enjoys the Gyozas and Edamame and gets 'withdrawal symptoms' when we haven't been for a few weeks. If you are a fan of sushi, I also highly recommend the chefs special platter. It's very clever and so tasty!

They have clearly put alot of thought into their food, and I don't just mean the visual presentation; they have also tried to keep it close to Japanese tradition. I recommend Etsu for to anyone :)

Went to Etsu for the first time at the weekend. I was so impressed. A real nice, cosy family atmosphere, you genuinely get the impression the staff want to provide you with a good service, and they did.
The selection of Starter/ smaller dishes is varied with all tastes catered for, (get a selection of them between you, guaranteed not to be disappointed).
All meals within the group were beautifully presented and fantastically fresh, and the price is amazing considering the quality of the ingredients.

All in all Etsu is a fantastic little restaurant that I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone and everyone who enjoys fantastic food, excellent service and great prices.

We had a lovely meal here one evening but we arrived quite late and it was emptying out by 9pm and so we felt like we ought to leave although is was so early. However, I love Japanese food and this place was fabulous, excellent food, service and decor was lovely, would definitely go again.

I went to Etsu on Saturday with my girlfriend and what a fantastic find this little Japanese restaurant is! The service and staff ,particularly the waitress that served us, were consummate professionals and had a genuine passion for their job and the cuisine that they served. My girlfriend had not tried sushi before and is now a convert, due to the high standards of taste that were delivered. I had the seasonal recommendation of white tuna in a ponzu sauce, which was by far the best fish dish I've ever tasted. We'll be returning to Etsu and recommending this gem to our family and friends.

Have been to Etsu twice,and really enjoyed it.Can highly recommend the red snapper and the steak.Service is friendly and attentive,and the price is really reasonable.A hidden gem!!

Liverpool has now caught up to the rest of the world with this fabulous little place.. Just what we needed, food is very authentic Japanese style and was very fresh.. I will be frequenting here a lot from now on.. 10/10 say no more... MP

I had a lovely meal at Etsu last week and was very surprised. I have eaten sushi in a lot of places around the world and I can honestly say that it is delicious at Etsu.

The service was very good, attentive but not too much. The atmosphere is relaxed.

I would definitely recommend going here! Price vs quality is excellent.

PS: Try the chef's platter, it is gorgeous!

having read the recommendations on sugarvine I decided to book a table..the only available slot was 6pm ... too early I thought (dead time of the night, no atmosphere etc)well I like to be surprised (don't we all) the restaurant is low key in decor .. but very high key in attentive service & food quality.You will not find any better or fresher sushi in the northwest ..the presentation alone is fantastic the mix set of Nigiri sushi for two represents amazing value. The mains are equally amazing ..again expertly cooked very well presented & totally moorish..you have to try the ice creams be brave & go for the black sesame ..it's the most bizarre taste ..at first a bit uggh but as it melts in your mouth you get the most wonderful nutty almost peanut brittle taste developing ..The staff are really good ..from the two ladies who served us .... I asked about saki to go with my sushi and was given a very informative & helpful response..product knowledge again was fantastic ..I spoke to one of the owners who was warm & enthusiastic & so friendly The biggest surprise was the bill I had budgeted for about £80-90 including wine & tip.Total bill for 2 with wine ..fantastic food ..fantastic friendly service...£52 WOW ..It may be small but it's got a big future..

Sushi is a risky proposition when eating out. Pizza, even when done poorly, is usually edible. Bad sushi can ruin your whole week. Good sushi, well, that's what I had a Etsu, outstanding in fact. The restaurant itself is quite utilitarian, with the typically, slightly spartan, clean lines one associates with Japanese culture. That said it's still a very friendly atmosphere and the owner seems to feel passionately about providing an authentic experience of high-quality Japanese cuisine at a very reasonable price, rather than the usual dog and pony show that accompanies often overpriced, greasy food at a typical Teppan-Yaki restaurant. The party I was with had a wide variety of Sushi and Negri, shiro misu (soup), curry and interesting desserts. Given the often poor quality of Liverpool dining I would say that this is a definite departure from the norm. The staff were knowledgeable about the menu and were able to make informed recommendations. The quality of the Sushi is amongst the highest I've ever experienced anywhere, being neatly and tightly made, fresh and delicately flavoured. The choice was excellent and, considering the price, superb value for money. The quality of the ingredients was obviously high. A good marker of a chef, in my experience, is how they handle a simple dish like a soup. In this case, the simple miso soup (beancurd, bean paste, spring onion etc) was delicious. For a desert, we tried: Green tea ice cream - refreshing; a pear tart - delicious; and a purple, roasted sesame ice cream -- weird, nutty, sweet, creamy, very more-ish!
Overall, the meal for four was excellent value for money and represented a refreshing change from typical eating out in Liverpool. If I were to be critical at all, I'd say the portion sizes were on the large side for some things. I mentioned this to the manager who told that they had started out even larger! They are also authentically Japanese in their liking for high-tech. They have an electronic toilet that does some interesting things and the loudest hand dryer in the universe that dries your hands instantly. The attitude of "customers come first" is evident and provided that Liverpudlians want a true experience of Japanese cuisine performed as it should be then Etsu should do hugely well.

I have recently discovered a little gem of a find for sushi lovers.
When i arrived there was a friendly welcome with good lighting and a well designed lay out. the staff were very friendly and the service was exceptional and don't let me mention the food which i have got to say was out of this world i cant begin to tell you what to try its all fantastic but i will mention the chef special its so unique you cant go without trying it and all of this at a great price YOU JUST SIMPLY HAVE TO TRY IT.

I was impressed as soon as i entered the restaurant, It had a really relaxed ambience. the staff were very friendly and were more than happy to assist the diners in our party who were less familiar with the menu. The food was delicious and very well priced. There were 2 Japanese chefs working there, who create every sauce from scratch (i was told by the charming waitress who assisted me on one of my visits) i have been back a couple of times since and have been just as impressed each time.
I know it's not polite to talk about toilets but you got to try them out, i'm like a child who has to go each visit somewhere new, ha ha.
I can't wait for better weather and enjoy the outdoor terrace, it looks so inviting!
you must give ETSU a try

If you like a relaxed atmosphere, excellent service, reasonable prices and great quality fantastic food. Then like me you will love ETSU, because simply it is all that.
Try it! Once you go once believe me, you will be back for seconds. (i have)And the toilets WOW.

i have eaten in Etsu now a few times and have got to say i think i'm addicted i have thoroughly enjoyed the warm welcome and relaxing atmosphere and the food is spectacular if your new to it like i was try the Kara Age and the tonkasu tori they are fabulous although i am trying to work my way through the menu and make sure you try the sushi it out of this world