By some cruel, cosmic joke, my fellow reviewer and I have the power to put a curse on good sushi. If we have the good fortune to come across melt-in-your-mouth nori, succulent rice and orgasmic fillings, we unwittingly start the inevitable and rapid decline almost instantly. Unfortunately, Top Sushi on Queen St is one of these many, sad examples.

I must preface this review by stating that Top Sushi, upon opening, was incredibly good. Within the first couple of weeks, they were even offering free taste tests outside their restaurant, a la Brumby's. This struck me as both generous and extremely confident, as if they were proclaiming to the world, "You guys just taste how good our sushi is right now - fer NOTHIN'." Drawn into the shop, my wallet begging to be unfolded, I bought my first lunch from Top Sushi. And it was delicious.

All of this means nothing now, six months down the road, as I walk into Top Sushi once again. Over the course of those few months, the quality has been slowly dropping, the nori becoming noticeably tougher, the rice becoming a little drier, the fillings following the lead of both. I secretly hoped that today would be different. It was not. Although they have added many new flavours and fillings to their already extensive sushi line-up, the overall satisfaction is no longer there.

I feel that my rating will say more than my scathing words, so I present it along with a wish and a hope. Please, Top Sushi, return to your former glory and become a place I would be proud to recommend once again.

Taste: 29/40

Rice: 13/20

Nori: 13/20

Presentation: 3/5

Value: 13/15

Score: 7.1

ps. Strangely, long-grain rice was mixed in with the sushi rice. What the hell?