Vida Sushi Bar & Lounge
This sushi bar & lounge is the latest baby from Manso Group who have an impressive range of restaurants from JFK to El Barrio. Upon it’s launch a few months ago, Vida received a great deal of attention despite opening during the peak of the pandemic because it featured renowned sushi chef, Chef Ozawa, previously from Yamayu Santatsu.
Despite launching while restaurants were not allowed to open, Manso Group were resourceful and quickly set up their own delivery service for their own restaurants including Vida. The food delivery service, ondemand.lu also features their steakhouse, Terra, which promises premium high quality cut steaks to your door.
Having ordered Vida delivery several times, we’ve always been impressed by the quality of the sushi that arrives (a little less by the time it takes…). The sushi has always been fresh and authentic so I must say I was a bit surprised to hear that the aesthetic of the restaurant itself is a bar, club vibe. Nonetheless, I was open minded and keen to try it!
The restaurant’s location is a little strange, but kirchberg’s restaurants in general do stick out a little in the sea of corporate offices. As soon as you enter, the restaurant is buzzing, the first thing you see is the open plan bar with a bartender whipping up signature cocktails. The lighting is a little off, it’s very bright and the “whiteness” of the light is jarring against the backdrop of comfy couches and cozy nooks. I would say they need to dim the lighting slightly to make it less of a canteen feel and that would then create the ambiance needed for the sexy sushi bar atmosphere they’re trying to create.
Onto the food: the menu is great, think modern sushi grounded with the classic selection too. Whether it’s takeaway or eating-in, I highly recommend their flamed and normal nigiri selection. There are Japanese inspired tacos and bao buns which are great appetisers. The skewers were a little less tasty, I say stick to the Japanese sushi dishes.
The service was slow on the Friday evening, from sitting down until we got our food it took about 1.5 hours. The food itself isn’t the slow part, the service is friendly but slow. Nonetheless, I value their good customer service and a warm welcome! Just be patient once you’ve sat down, the cocktails help take the edge off too!
It’s a great new restaurant and it is a cool place to hang out and sip cocktails and people watch. It’s a shame the restaurant isn’t in a more pedestrianised location, it feels strange that it is this buzzing little spot beside cold and empty high rises and a main road. But none of this will keep us away from the quality sushi they are serving. We’ll certainly continue ordering from them too!
