We found out more about a pop-up sushi and Japanese supper club in Bury St Edmunds.

As I talk about British sushi to Japanese native and Bury St Edmunds resident Kaori Dawson, she recoils. “No, no, no,” she laughs, “that’s not sushi.”

It turns out everything we Brits know and love about Japan’s most famous export is a load of old tosh.

“It’s too dry,” the cook continues, adding that in Japan sushi’s never served as a street food, and it would be almost blasphemous to suggest making it in advance. The ornate parcels of raw fish and rice should be quick, cheap, a la minute food that’s destined to go from blade and board to table in minutes (not the day or so we’ve come to expect from supermarkets and service stations).

Each month Kaori and husband of 23-years Guy, showcase what it really means to eat Japanese in their bijoux terraced kitchen close to Bury town centre. Guy plays host, while Kaori works her magic on a melee of seafood, vegetables and exotic ingredients.

The idea sprung a few years ago after friends nagged and nagged Kaori to serve them proper sushi. Word-of-mouth spread, and soon Kaori found herself not only opening her home to diners she’d never met before, but also setting up a market stall in Bury and supplying platters of freshly made sushi to Petrus wine bar in the town for Sushi Night on the first Wednesday of every month.

The region Kaori is from (her home town is Kanazawa) is found in the middle of the Japanese seaside, and inspires every event the cook hosts.

Choose from sushi or Japanese supper night where specialities could include nigari, maki, tempura prawns, crispy fried lotus root or, as last week, pork, slow-cooked in black vinegar.

Guy says Kaori’s sushi is to be tasted to be believed. But what makes it so special?

“It’s the whole thing,” Kaori advises. “Proper Japanese rice and proper mixed vinegar, fresh nori seawed and of course fresh fish. I get the fish from the market here so sushi night has to be on a Wednesday or Saturday.”

Kaori’s favourite dish other than sushi is ‘grandmother’s chicken’ made for her by her mum, who in turn was cooked the platter of marinated, fried chicken thighs in a tangy, spicy sauce, by her mother. “But it’s nothing like sweet and sour chicken,” Guy hastens to add.

Japan is not somewhere you’d associate with dessert, but the menu served by the couple does include a sweet option – most recently green tea pudding. Yum.

The meal is £30 per person and has to be booked in advance via the Suzuki Supper Club website. What do you get for your hard-earned cash?

Well, a recent sushi supper offered: edamame beans, lotus root crisps, tofu salad, Japanese omelette, seasonal tempura, nigari, hoso-maki, miso soup, chocolate mousse and tea or coffee.

If you want to try the real deal, without paying London prices, Bury St Edmunds it appears is the place to be!