Visiting Reading and love sushi so I chose Sen Sushi based on the good reviews. I sat in the bar which has a clear view of the both the kitchen and 2 chefs cooking and preparing sushi. Initially the environment did not not appear clean, with cooking pans dirty and walls in need of attention. Fillets of salmon were wrapped in cling film above the fridge for some reason. It seemed normal if it were a kebab shop, but when dealing with raw fish I expect cleanliness to be a higher standard. Despite this I decided to try the following Nigiri:

Salmon Tuna Grilled Salmon (Chefs Special) Arctic Surfclam

All items were prepared in front of me, hygiene again was a concern as the chef would wash hands then use knife/scissors that had not been washed - if there is any contamination on the utensils they would have been immediately transferred back to his hands, which he then used to mould rice. Portion size was generous, both in fish and rice. It was in fact too large to eat the pieces in one bite, but this can looked at as a positive as well as you get more for your money. The salmon was OK, smelled fresh (no fish odour) and was the most enjoyable part of the meal. The tuna looked washed out and didn't have the rich red colour expected from good quality tuna, it was chewy and was disappointing especially as this is usually my favourite fish in sushi. Grilled salmon much the same as the raw salmon, just grilled slightly with a blowtorch. Artctic Surfclam was a new experience for me, but did not impress, it was a rough texture but again did smell fresh.

I also had flying fish roe gunkan. The roe came from a pre-packaged container and was absolutely tiny. It tasted fishy and was not enjoyable so I didn't finish it. I would usually have eaten much more sushi but after this I decided to leave the meal at that point.

Unfortunately the restaurant does not live up to the good reviews.