Tobiko

Tobiko is an independent sushi counter on Garrick Street, the short road running between St Martin's Lane and the Covent Garden piazza, and one of the few in the area that keeps strictly to weekday lunch hours. It is run by Tobiko Limited from the Garrick Street shop, with a tagline that half of your taste is in the memory, and a promise to focus on the sushi rather than the trimmings.

The operation is built around daily-changing fish. The Executive Set is a chef-selected assortment that changes with what is available, and the Chirashi Don layers seven kinds of fish over rice with tobiko, the flying-fish roe the shop is named after, finished with cress. Nigiri and sashimi selections, maki and a handful of hot items complete the board.

Sushi takeaway on Garrick Street

Lunch service runs from 11.30am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, followed by a happy hour from 4pm to 5pm when remaining sets are discounted until they sell out. The shop is closed at weekends. Orders can be placed online for collection, with a text message sent when the food is ready so there is no queuing, and a ten per cent collection discount is advertised on the website. Delivery is offered on larger orders within about half a mile, which takes in most of Covent Garden and the Strand.

What to expect on a visit

Expect a compact counter geared to office lunches and pre-theatre bites, with the last orders taken at 4.15pm. Leicester Square and Covent Garden stations are both within five minutes. Tobiko sits among the takeaways in Covent Garden, and for a poke bowl instead of nigiri, Poke House on New Row is a short walk south.