Before I move on to all the new sushi shops I visited in Tokyo, I just have to share these few images from 7 chome Kyoboshi (see the full review here). Until recently it was the only tempura restaurant in the world to hold 3 Michelin stars, but this year it has mysteriously disappeared from the red guide.
Some people consider it’s not worth paying serious money for tempura omakase, but for me 7 chome Kyoboshi is more enjoyble than some of the Tokyo’s top kaiseki places. 63 year old Shigeya Sakakibara has mastered vegetables and fish frying to perfection. His tempura batter is so thin and so fine, it is almost transparent, and, Sakakibara-san himself is a very cool personnage. I’ve never seen his 10 seat counter restaurant in Ginza full – it could be I guess, if the prices were slightly adjusted and if Sakakibara-san cared… This time he introduced us to some totally new ingredients,such as chestnut and waguy, never seen before at any tempura restaurant in Tokyo…
28 year old Takao Ishiyama is the new darling of bloggers, instagramers and Tokyo sushi connaisseurs. His 8 seat sushi shop in Ginza is called Sushi-ya, which literally means “sushi shop” in Japanese. Apparently Ishiyama-san used to work at Kanesaka and Saito, thus you can experience the same sushi making style throughout the omakase.
Slicing the maguro
Striving for excellence can be felt everywhere,starting from the perfectly seasoned rice and top notch neta, finishing with the impressive skills of Ishiyama-san. I am not going to elaborate too much on the meal, (over-analyzing your food sometimes takes away the pleasure of the moment), just that the visit to Sushi-ya was a great revelation and would probably make to my 5 top sushi experiences in Tokyo.
P.S. Please read a brilliant post on sushi in Japan by “kayoubidesu”. Very useful and informative, especially if you are acquainted with Tokyo sushi world.
Shako (mantis shrimp)
Flounder
Baby squid with egg yolk sauce
Oyster
Katsuo (bonito)
Nodoguro (black throat sea perch) “stuffed” with spring onions
Aside from my usual Tokyo sushi spots like Harutaka , this time I was after sushi shops I’ve never been before. I’ve posted already about the exellent Sushi-ya, which quality and chef’s skills wise reminded me greatly of the great Sushi Saito. Now it’s the turn of Tokami. One Michelin starred sushi Tokami (http://sushitokami.3zoku.com/13menu.html) is run by a young, new generation chef Hiroyuki Sato. His father is a sushi master. Prior to Tokami, Hiroyuki-san himself used to be a waiter at a French restaurant. What sets Tokami apart is not only the fact that the chef speaks very good English. It’s that the rice is so different from the rice served at other high end sushi shops in Tokyo.
Hiroyuki Sato uses red vinegar, thus, the rice is stronger flavored and, well, more vinegary. Sushi Tokami is partly owned by a tuna broker and red vinegar goes very well with maguro. That might be the explanation for this particular vinegar choice. Before my dinner at Tokami someone had warned me that such rice can be too overpowering for your palate, however, I thought it was not. When sushi rice is concerned, it’s all about the personal preferences and I guess mine are more leaning towards Sukiyabashi Jiro style (very vinegared rice), rather than Mizutani‘s ( mildy vinegared). The absolute highlight of the omakase at Tokami is tuna collar hand roll, rolled just after the otsumami and before the nigiri.
Some other highlights:
Crab
Antique Korean chest, used at Tokami for storing tuna
Octopus with fava beans
Abalone
Maguro
Mild tasting onion was served instead of the usual gari (ginger)
Making of the tuna roll
Flounder
Squid
Lean tuna
Medium fatty tuna
Fatty tuna
Tamago “brûlée” , another bite that Hiroyuki Sato does differently from other Edo-mae style sushi chefs in Tokyo.
I have special sentiments for Sushi Kanesaka as it was one of the first fine sushi shops I’ve been in Tokyo. When I started travelling there for eating, food tourism, how we know it, was still in its infancy phase in Japan. Things began to change when in 2009 Michelin guide opened the curtain of secrecy and, by awarding endless amount of Michelin stars to Tokyo restaurants, showed the world how extraordinary Tokyo restaurants scene is. Suddenly the world media flocked the Japanese capital (and,later, Kyoto too) marvelling about the beauty of kaiseki or the perfect nigiri. Soon the so called “foodies” followed.
Kanesaka’s -san long term assistant Sanpei-san
Of course, there have been always people travelling to Japan and eating there, but I’ve never seen so many foreigners dining independently at the upscale Tokyo restaurants like nowadays. This comes with its good and its bad. Good, because 6 years forward since I first ate at Kanesaka, even the most hidden Tokyo gems are more open to the international visitors. Bad,because gaijins have brought with them some bad habits too. Not bothering to cancel restaurant reservation and simply not showing up would be one of them. Thus, more and more restaurants in Japan ask for a credit card as a guarantee. Like one can imagine, for a 8 or 10 places restaurant no-shows can result in big losses, especially that all the products are freshly bought for that particular meal.
Being ignorant should not considered as “bad” per se, but when someone asked for a cheese course last time I was at Harutaka, I wondered why pay so much money for a meal (over 30 000 Yen per person) and still not even try to understand what it is about. (Harutaka-san dealt with the request in a typical Japanese stoic way. “No,sorry”,- was the answer.)
What brings us back to Kanesaka. Does dealing with foreign tourists and business travellers on the daily basis (who surely are less demanding than Japanese) made Kanesaka-san more lax and less dedicated to his craft? Or is it his rapid business expansion to blame, with already two locations in Singapore, Tokyo (Palace hotel) and, soon, Macau (and.. an extra table in the original shop). Either explanation might be, my omakase meal at Kanesaka lacked consistency and attention to detail. Some pieces like hairy crab sashimi or medium fatty tuna nigiri were very decent, but the overall experience was chaotic, yet premium priced (what one would pay at the best Tokyo sushi restaurants). Like many foreigners, Kanesaka’s -san friendly attitude was what first attracted me to his restaurant, but as Tokyo becomes more and more open to foreign diners,I think one should judge sushi-ya by its quality rather on how well does the sushi master speak English.
Yakiniku or “grilled meat” is the simplest way to enjoy beef in Japan. Small bites or thin slices of various parts of beef (and sometimes pork) are grilled on a griddle over woodfire or gas. The job of grilling is usually done by guests themselves, so the experience can be fun too. Even if the origins of yakiniku in Japan are debatable, it is considered as Korean dining. Such Korean staple foods as kimchi will most likely accompany your meal.
Jumbo yakiniku has been topping Tabelog.com best yakiniku in Tokyo lists since a while now. I believe, there are 4 Jumbo locations in Tokyo. I went to the one in a quite residential Shirokane area. Jumbo Shirokane pride themselves in using only A5 grade Japanese black beef. One superior cut (marinated in their signature pepper sauce) was exremely striking. It was so fatty that you needed just few seconds to grill it on each side. Fatty yakiniku tip: roll it into a green salad,so the fat doesn’t drip, and, well, you feel less guilty eating it.
Photos from one Michelin starred sukiyaki (hot pot) restaurant in Tokyo Nihonbashi. It’s been operating since 1935 and must be one of the oldest beef restaurants in Tokyo.
Below is a slightly modified and adapted to my blog presentation I gave at “Made in Japan” conference in Vilnius on October 24 2015.
When you think of Japanese food, what come into your mind ? A glistening red and white striped prawn draped over a wedge of vinegared rice? Or perhaps a bowl of cloudy miso soup with tofu cubes settled at the bottom? When Japanese food is concerned, sushi,ramen or tempura have become clichés in the Western world. That doesn’t always communicate the depth of the Japanese cuisine and doesn’t answer the following question : why foodies and chefs from around the world have been so inspired by the Japanese cooking traditions?
I was first attracted to Japan for its exquisite food, but my enduring attachment developed through a passion for the country’s culture, language and people. As I discovered different elements of Japanese cuisine, I realized that what fascinated me as much as the food were the people behind it, and their hard work and dedication. Like Masaharu Morimoto says, “Japanese chefs believe our soul goes into our knives once we start using them.” I’ve come to believe that all good cooking is a reflection of the chef’s spirit. Likewise,every restaurant, every dish and every ingredient has a human story behind it.
For me,one of the best ways to discover a foreign culture is through eating. Each country or region’s gastronomy reflects not only the climate, nature, or terroir of that place, but also its history and social customs. The Japanese idea of kaizen, or continuous improvement, is a deeply rooted social concept that can be felt even in the kitchen: chefs will spend years perfecting a single technique before they will allow themselves to be considered good at it. Just for an example, a sushi master apprentice will only be allowed to perform low kitchen tasks for years before he is allowed to handle the fish. A discipline reigns as well, ensuring that each task is given the time it deserves to be appropriated.
Kenji Ujiie
Shigeya Sakakibara
By specializing in certain techniques and committing to continuous improvement, Japanese chefs manage to achieve world class results with even the most commonplace foods, like chocolate cakes ( the best runny chocolate cake I’ve had in my life was at Ken’s café in Shinjuku),coffee or simply deep fried vegetables. I’m talking about 63-year-old Shigeya Sakakibara, the chef-owner of a tiny tempura counter in Tokyo called “7 Chome Kyoboshi”. A few years ago, his tiny establishment received three stars in the Michelin guide.(This year “7 Chome Kyoboshi” mysteriously disappeared from the guide). How did he manage to do that with deep fried food? By specializing and practicing his craft for most of his life : by mastering the temperature and duration of deep frying required to bring out the best in each ingredient; by painstakingly selecting only the freshest, highest quality products; by perfecting his batter, which is so thin, it’s translucent.
Besides of the specialization, excellent ingredients and respect to them is a critical element of Japanese cooking. Japanese chefs go to extreme lengths to celebrate the changing seasons. And how one can do that better than through kaiseki, a multi-course meal that has its roots in 16th century tea ceremonies. Modern kaiseki combines several forms of Japanese haute gastronomy, that of the Imperial court, Buddhist temples, the aforementioned tea ceremony and samurai culture. A kaiseki menu is based on a series of bite-sized appetizer-like dishes, which each highlight local, seasonal ingredients, providing a showcase for the chef’s talent.
Visionary chef René Redzepi has even moved his whole restaurant to Japan for a period of few weeks in 2014.
Kaiseki and omakase (“leave it to the chef”) concepts have enormously influenced chefs and restaurants around the world. More and more restaurants in Europe and the United States have obliterated their à la carte menus entirely and are instead serving multiple-course tasting menus crafted from fresh market produce.
Quite a few Western chefs consider that they can learn a lot from the presentation and cooking techniques used in the Japanese art of gastronomy. Many travel to Japan just to get an inspiration…
Japan’s attractiveness to the Westerners has grown in the last several decades also perhaps because Western society is becoming more and more health conscious and is returning to a foundation of fresh, seasonal and light cooking that Japanese cuisine has maintained for hundreds of years. For if Japan has played a key role in the history of great food, it is also shaping its future, which we have the pleasure to see unfold with every fine meal we eat.
Many thanks to Mrs Mimi Kobayashi, my “fixer” and interpreter, who made this interview happen. Mimi-san can be your best guide in Tokyo! https://www.instagram.com/kobayashimimi2/
Yukitaka Yamaguchi is, without any doubts, a very important man at Tsukiji market and one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever met in Tokyo. If you have ever been to Tsukiji market,you might have seen him in his blue uniform, focused slicing tuna, making calls and serving such sushi masters as Takashi Saito as well as many other top chefs in Tokyo. Thirty five years ago, Yukitaka Yamaguchi’s father, himself a tuna broker, asked his twenty-year-old son if he would like to start a company. Together, they built the Yamayuki Group. At first, the company worked mainly with frozen tuna; today, 70 to 80 percent of the fish Yamayuki handles is fresh. Under Mr. Yamaguchi’s leadership, the group has grown to include several companies: Yamayuki, a tuna wholesaler; Tsukiji Daitoyo, a general fresh fish retailer; Nozomi, a high-end fresh fish retailer for top restaurants; Yukiya, a fish retailer at the Tsukiji outdoor market; and Yamayuki Oota Shiten, a fish processor and distributor. The group opened its first restaurant in August 2017, in Azabujuban.
Mr. Yamaguchi kindly took time out of his incredibly busy schedule (he only sleeps 3 hours a night!) to share his insights into eating and buying tuna today.
Fresh tuna at the early morning tuna auction at Tsukiji market
Has it always been your plan to expand your business, including to the international market?
I’ve always dreamed of growing my business. And I really love tuna! I’m 55 years old, but I eat at least two bowls of tuna don every day with leftover shari (vinegared rice) from the restaurants I supply.
So, what got me interested in Japanese tuna?
To learn more about tuna, I tasted it. I even worked at a sushi restaurant. As I tasted tuna from all over the world, I wondered why Japanese tuna caught close to shore are so tasty. As I travelled around Japan tasting tuna, I also discovered that tuna tastes different depending on where it was caught. I began to understand that tuna’s flavour is determined by the food it eats. For example, at this time of year, tuna is caught in Canada. Canadian tuna feed on fatty herring, so you will detect the smell of herring when you eat it. I realized that Japanese tuna is flavourful because they feed on small, delicious Japanese fish. These differences intrigued me and sparked my lifelong interest in tuna.
For me, the taste of tuna is what matters the most. Of course, eating involves all five senses—visual appeal, sound, smell, mouth-feel—but how something tastes is more important than what it looks like. This has been my belief since the beginning. But at first, nobody understood why I placed more importance on taste rather than appearance. Kyubei (one of the legendary sushi masters from Tokyo) might have been the only one who agreed with me. Still, I was sure that one day, people would come to understand this, too.
Sushi culture has evolved over the last decade. Today, people go specifically for the sushi and not just for an evening out with friends. The way restaurants serve sushi has also changed. Shari used to be sweetened with sugar; now akazu (red vinegar) vinegared rice is more common. The rice base has more structure, which means the fish on top has to be more flavourful. My tuna is a good fit for this and has gained more attention the last few years.
Fresh tuna auction at Tsukiji market
So, you focus on Japanese tuna?
Of course. However, because part of our business is as a tuna broker, we provide the kind of tuna that our customers ask for, and that can be farmed or wild Japanese tuna. We could not survive by handling only wild Japanese tuna, it’s too risky. For example, in February, we lost about 30 million yen purchasing and selling tuna. We have to diversify our product range. That’s why we handle frozen and farmed tuna in addition to fresh. But we asked ourselves, what added-value can we bring to this market segment? Some customers do business directly with tuna growers. But, remember, tuna farms are fixed in one place, and the tuna is only at its best at certain times of the year. So, we have developed relationships with many tuna farmers in order to be able to always buy the best quality tuna, be it from Mie Prefecture or Amami Oshima.
But of course, we are most passionate about wild Japanese tuna.
Frozen tuna auction at Tsukiji market
Do you think wild tuna tastes differently than farmed?
Yes, for sure, they taste completely different. The quality of tuna fat is different depending on whether it is farmed or wild. For example, as we head into winter, tuna from Oma on the Tsugaru Strait will become really fatty. You can see the difference on your knife: if the tuna is wild, the fat washes away easily with water but not so with farmed tuna, which clings to the palate. This is why it is difficult to taste the subtle umami of white fish after eating farmed tuna. Aroma provides umami, while fat provides sweetness. Sometimes sweetness is mistaken for aroma. But if you drink green tea after eating Japanese otoro (wild tuna), all you will taste or smell as you drink the tea is the pleasant aroma of fish. Wild tuna fat does not disturb the palate or ruin the taste of other food.
There are many places in Europe where tuna is farmed. In Spain, they have almadraba from Andalucia. These are wild tuna. What is your impression of wild Spanish tuna?
Oh yes, that tuna is caught with a purse seine. Tuna farming in Europe is done by growing wild tuna that are then caught in the Mediterranean Sea when they return to lay eggs. They catch the tuna and then put them in farms [the tuna are thin after their difficult swim up the Atlantic and must be fattened up before sale]. Spanish tuna may be wild when it is first caught, but the quality of the flesh changes completely after being fed in captivity for a year or so.
Japanese tuna is a gift from nature. Japan’s topography is what makes it so delicious. The Japanese coastline is surrounded by shallow water, and there are many places where fresh water flows into the sea. There is a lot of plankton, which attracts the small fish that the best tuna feed on. An abundance of minerals encourages seaweed growth. Sea urchin and abalone are flavourful for these reasons, too. I really think Japan’s marine resource is one of the world’s richest.
Tuna at Yamayuki stand
How do you evaluate the quality of frozen tuna?
Most frozen tuna comes from Ireland. Quality-wise, they are very good because the fish are caught at the best season and frozen on the spot. But personally, I prefer Japanese tuna. Tuna prices are determined by supply and demand. No matter how high the quality, when there are many fish on the market, the prices fall and vice versa. Of course, I never buy bad tuna. I look at the quality, not the price. But because of this pricing mechanism, sometimes frozen tuna is sold at higher prices than raw tuna. Some people prefer frozen tuna because it ensures the same quality all year round. But the fact that the tuna always tastes the same takes away from the enjoyment of eating. Personally, I like tasting the difference between summer tuna, which is less fatty, and winter tuna, for example. Japan prides itself on the four seasons, so we should enjoy what they offer.
Where else do you buy frozen tuna?
We buy from tuna farmers in Croatia and Spain. At Tsukiji, we buy Bluefin tuna from Ireland and southern Bluefin tuna from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. We also buy bigeye tuna from Sydney, Australia.
What percentage of your sales comes from fresh tuna?
Seventy to eighty percent of our sales come from fresh tuna. Today at Tsukiji, thirty tunas were available for purchase. We bought twenty of them. I buy when I like the quality of the tuna. If it doesn’t meet my standards, I won’t buy anything at all.
What is the smallest tuna you would purchase?
I don’t have that as a criterion. Taste is what matters, not size.
Yamaguchi at work
How do you allocate parts tuna to shokunins and restaurants？Also, how do you satisfy all your customers?
I provide tuna that pairs well with each restaurant’s shari (rice). Strong shari needs strong fish. At Saito’s (Sushi Saito) restaurant where the shari is soft, I provide soft tuna with a subtler flavour. I dine at all the restaurants we work with to find out what they are looking for and suggest tuna suited to their shari. Today, I pay special attention to soft tuna, which was not as popular in the past when sashimi was more common. Eighty-five percent of our customers are sushi restaurants and each restaurant has a different type of shari. Some use akazu (red rice vinegar), some komesu (rice vinegar), some use sugar, some don’t, some use lots of vinegar others don’t. I also provide tuna for those serving sashimi. We probably do business with about 1000 restaurants around the world.
Yamaguchi at work
Do you age tuna, too?
We never provide aged tuna to sushi restaurants. If we provided tuna when it’s at its peak flavor, the restaurants would have to use it immediately. We provide different size blocks of tuna to each restaurant according to how long it will take to be use, so that the last piece of tuna served will still be at its peak.
Not all tuna is fit for aging. Umami decreases as water leaves the flesh. It doesn’t matter how the tuna was killed, it depends on the quality of the flesh and how much water it loses as it ages. With tuna, you don’t know how good it is until you cut it open. But I judge by checking each tuna. I take responsibility for the tuna we provide up until the last bit is used. If the tuna somehow goes bad, I take the piece back. I do this because tuna is often the most popular ingredient at restaurants. A person may only dine at an expensive restaurant a few times in their life. If they are excited about the experience, it would be a shame to disappoint them with anything less than the highest quality tuna.
As long as the tuna is good for ageing, it can last up to 30 or even 40 days. The surface oxidizes just like beef, but the interior will be fine, as long as the tuna is properly conserved to prevent water from evaporating from the flesh.
Does the surface of the fish need to be trimmed before it oxidizes? There’s no need to trim tuna. The surface will blacken, but as long as the tuna itself is fit for aging, the oxidization will not penetrate the flesh. What matters is what the tuna fed on. If you age tuna caught from the deep sea, it will give off smell of animals and oxidation. If the tuna fed on good quality fish from shallow coastal areas, it will not smell.
Yukitaka Yamaguchi at his office
What is your typical day like?
I wake up at 2:30am, arrive at the market around 3:20am, start the auction at 5:30am, work at the market until 2pm or 3pm, have meetings from 5pm to 6pm and dinner meetings from 6pm onward. I get home after midnight. I enjoy playing golf on my days off and travelling overseas during long holidays.
What is your vision for the future?
I hope one day that I will be able to sell only the very best tuna. There are only about 20 really extraordinary tuna caught a year. I would like to then provide that to restaurants I like. That is my dream. I would like to step down as CEO when I am 60. I would like to encourage my successor, whoever that may be, to pursue his or her dream. As long as my successor sticks to the principles I have established, they will be fine. But they will have to maintain this business model, which enables us to sustain losses of about 10 million to 20 million yen through tuna brokerage by ensuring stable profits in various other businesses. When we start thinking, “We should not buy this tuna today because we will lose money”, then it’s time for us to quit. I can teach my staff what to look in order to spot good tuna, but they have to learn to think like managers. One of my goals for the next 5 years to increase our sales to 10 billion yen. Then I would like to retire.
Images from my visit to Sushi Sugita last October. Some older articles I’ve written about Takaaki Sugita can be found here, here and here. He is a sushi master with a soul, who never ceases to evolve and is definitely my favorite.
Pictures from introduction only Kawamura steakhouse, which is known for one of the most difficult reservations in Tokyo. It was the season of Alba truffles in October, but we decided to go for the “student” menu, which still cost us around ¥100 000 per head without wine. Full review here.
“As fresh as it can be” is one of the most common pre-conceptions about sushi. Sushi masters in Tokyo have the world’s greatest seafood market to buy their fish, but often, depending on the fish or seafood they would mature it before serving to their guests. Yet few of the chefs take such extreme lengths like chef-owner Kouji Kimura, who is a pioneer of fish aging. Some of his neta (sushi toppings), like blue marlin are aged for up to 2 months. I’ve known him since 2013, but only last October I had a chance to talk to him about his exceptional approach to his craft. It was a big honour for me, especially that Kimura-san rarely gives any interviews and only sleeps for 3 hours per night.
Kouji Kimura is a third generation sushi chef. His father died when he was 20 years old and it’s his grandfather, who served Edomaezushi ,where salt and vinegar was used for preserving purposes, was the biggest influence for him. When he first opened his restaurant, he did not advertise at all because he had the confidence of serving good sushi. He was confident that customers would come. When fresh sushi trend came, he switched to fresh style sushi thinking that his grandfather’s sushi was too old fashioned. His sushi restaurant became a sushi restaurant without any characteristics located in Futagotamagawa. Because he never advertised, only locals came.
For about 3 years, his business was ok, but the number of customers started to decrease after that. The restaurant was completely empty several days a week. There was a famous sushi (3 Michelin star) restaurant in Kaminoge, one station away from Kimura-san place, run by Araki-san who is now in London. So it was no point competing with his sushi restaurant serving tuna. There was also a restaurant called Irifune in Okusawa which is very nearby. He knew, that competing with these restaurants with the quality of tuna sushi would not be a clever strategy. He did think of following his grandfather’s style, Edomaezushi style. But he was already in his 30s without any skill that would attract customers who are already satisfied dining at Edomaezushi restaurants in Nihonbashi and other central parts of Tokyo.
Salted and fermented viscera, egg, and flesh of morotoge shrimp (shimaebi no shiokara)
Sometimes Kimura-san would end up having a block of white fish worth more than 20 thousand yen. There were days he had to throw away those expensive pieces because no customers would came to his restaurant. He thought it was such a waste and cut it into half to see whether there were any edible parts left for him to eat. The surface was all gooey. It just happened that meat around the spine had not turned black. When he tasted it, it was delicious. It did stink a lot because it was rotten, but taste-wise, it was something he had not tasted before. He thought then that if he could gather this kind of fish meat and server customers, they might come and dine at his restaurant. Then Kimura-san realized that sushi chefs are taught how to maintain the freshness of fish but never learned about the process through which fish rots.
So, he decided to teach himself. He started by observing how a fish rots, whether it is from gall bladder or the heart, for example. Then experimented how the rotting process goes when he removes organs that rot easily. The result was that fish lasted longer. The texture and taste of fish became something he has never tasted before. This is the kind of aged fish other sushi restaurants provide. It is actually not properly aged but result of enzymolysis just before rotting. He could detect subtle unpleasant aroma when he put the fish into my mouth. He wondered what caused this aroma. Then he came to realize that it is the blood or the moisture in the fish flesh that caused fish to go bad. So he studied to find ways to get rid of the blood and unnecessary moisture. He tried to remove innards, blood from dead fish… trying various methods as much as he could. He only had few customers coming to his restaurant, so he had time. When he was able to remove blood the stinky aroma was gone, and when he was able to control the moisture content of a fish that is one of the causes of rotting, he was able to bring out umami through aging that was different from the rotting process.
Cuttlefish ruibe. Fresh guts of cuttlefish are salted for a week, desalted for over 6 days and dried, pickled in miso (mixture of Shinshu miso and red miso) for a week, wrapped with cling film and kept frozen.
First rumors spread that Kimura-san was aging fish. Around that, he stopped purchasing tuna. He abandoned tuna which was one of the main ingredients of sushi omakases around Tokyo and concentrated on purchasing the most delicious fish in Japan other than tuna and age it into the most delicious fish in Japan. This rumor also spread in Tsukiji. People thought he gave up purchasing tuna because he was lacking money. Those handling other types of fish also refused to sell him their fish saying that he would only turn their fish into something “soggy, gooey and half rotten”. He endured that. Despite such situation, there was one middleman wholesaler who sold him his fish. So he asked him to come and dine at Kimura-san restaurant. The wholesaler was shocked when he ate his sushi because it was something completely different from fresh sushi that was popular then. He talked about his experience of eating aged sushi to his friends in Tsukiji then people got interested. Other middleman wholesaler came to his place and they told chefs (their customers) about his restaurant. Chefs then came to eat his sushi and told their customers about my unique sushi. Customers gradually started increasing. Michelin inspectors came and rated Kimura sushi. Mr. Nakazawa of Sushisho in Yotsuya, currently in Hawaii, introduced his restaurant as a sushi place he goes privately at one of the TV programs. Thanks to this media exposure as well as the Michelin star the restaurant received, customers came back to Kimura-san restaurant.
Sea urchin from Amakusa in Kyushu area and soba. Sea urchin has been pureed and mixed with dashi of soba.
What Kimura-san is pursuing through fish aging is an ideal form of sushi. Delicious fish on its own will not make delicious sushi. His rice is hard. Even after it’s been cooked, it is quite dry. But this is why vinegar is absorbed into the centre of the rice grains. The surface of rice grains remains dry even after absorbing vinegar. Soft and moist fish flesh would be a good combination with this hard kind of hard rice. So it is not only fish Kimura-san is thinking about.
Shari (rice) is the base for every sushi. He also have to think about how to bring out umami in shari. Then he adjusts the condition of fish to the shari. If he pursues tastiness of each fish through aging, he would have to adjust the rice by, for example, changing the hardness of rice. Basically, sushi restaurants prepare only one type of shari. So he adjusts his aging to rice, also through the thickness of each slice and the way he cuts each piece. Basic rules are to avoid crunchiness or hard texture of sushi. Soft and moist is ideal so that fish mixes well with rice in a way that clings onto each rice grain in the mouth when eaten.
Sardine dumpling in clear soup with thinly sliced leek and a bit of ginger.
For Kimura-san crunchiness is kind of texture absolutely unnecessary in sushi, because sushi is not sashimi. If it’s sashimi, what you do is put a slice of sashimi in your mouth and also rice in your mouth and eat them together. Sushi is about harmony of sumeshi (vinegared rice) and fish. That harmony cannot be realized with crunchiness or slightly hard texture. This pursuit of harmony was the culture of sushi in the olden times, but somehow, sashimi type of sushi where freshness was everything became popular. This is why sushi masters became lazy in treating fish. In the olden days, though, the techniques used by sushi masters were preserving rather than maturing. They intentionally increased the sodium content of the fish by, for example, salting it, dipping it into soy sauce or sandwiching with kelp. In the modern world, however, we have fridges. So more focus is on how to make fish tastier. He believes that we are at a stage where techniques to realize this are just about being established. Matured sushi techniques would never be possible without the existence of fridges.
Shirako (milt) risotto with matured pepper.
Kimura-san has been experimenting with fish aging on trial and error basis since 10 years now and says the main difference between aged or rotten is…. if it stinks or not. Many aged sushi restaurant serve fish that have started enzymolysis and that is just before the rotting stage. This is not aging, it’s just keeping. Stinky smell is unavoidable during the aging process. It’s up to good treatment to remove that or avoid that. Because he works alone at the restaurant and has no apprentices, he used “to test” the matured fish with his mother as he couldn’t afford to get sick. He has worked on this so much though, that he doesn’t make any mistakes now.
Sushi becomes really delicious when aged properly and matches perfectly with shari. But because it is such a risky thing, not many people want to do it. It’s difficult to acquire the skill. Each fish is different in character so you just have to learn what to do for each fish. He cannot say, this many days of aging for this type of fish. Some ask how to salt a certain type of fish, for example, but he can never give them the right answer without observing the fish. He can’t specify the amount of salt needed. Unless the person is willing to waste maybe 50 fish just to get aging right for one fish, he would advise that person to give up acquiring aging skills.
10 days aged mehikari (round greeneyes). Head, inners and the tail of mehikari are removed. Dried in the shade for 4 days. Shuto is made from the inners and mixed with sake, boiled down then smoothened. Semi dried flesh of mehikari is soaked in the shuto soup and dried for further 6 days.
Kimura-san believes one can never love a restaurant from the bottom of his/her heart unless it’s his/her own. For example, when he cleans the toilet he doesn’t mind using bare hands. He doesn’t think you can be this committed if the restaurant is not yours. He believes if he employed someone, he would have to do everything all over again himself. Also, working hours at his restaurant would be very long, maybe about 22 hours per day. It would be against the law, so he cannot employ anyone.
The only day off Kimura-san has is on Mondays. He goes to Tsukiji to buy fish though only when they call him to tell him they have good ones. In that case, he goes and buys fish in the morning, then treat fish before noon and take the rest of the day off.
I asked how is it possible to do such work with only 3 hours of sleep and Kimura-san said that it is possible, but he thinks he would die young. He said he has no stress and loves working on his own. He is a happy man when he is holding his knife, but in order to do everything himself, he has to cut his sleeping hours. This is less stressful than employing someone. If he finds some other method that makes this aging process easier, maybe he could work for less hours.
Leftover soup with a slice of baguette.(fish and vegetables)Very thinly sliced, one week matured squid6 days aged tilefish (kawahagi) and its liver3 weeks matured red snapper6 days matured bonito3 weeks aged salmon roe (ikura)Mantis shrimps from Kanazawa.One month aged amberjack.10 days aged sardine.2 month aged blue marlin.Conger eelFishKimura sushi exterior
Thank you Mrs Mimi Kobayashi, my “fixer” and interpreter, who made this interview happen instagram.com/kobayashimimi2/.
Kimura sushi
3-21-8 Tamagawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo Tel. 03-3707-6355
As most of you might know, ramen is originally from China. The first ramen shop opened 1910 in Tokyo and spread around all over Japan after World War II. Almost every region or city has their own style of ramen. It has become a deep part of the Japanese culture.
Japanese are known for adapting something from another culture or country, refining it and making it better where it originally came from. The same happened with ramen and Tokyo is the only city in Japan, where you can try various types of ramen.
Since people around me know that I at least go to 100 new ramen shops a year, they always ask me for recommendations. “Which is the BEST tonkotsu or miso ramen restaurant in Tokyo?” or “Which is the BEST ramen shop in Shibuya?”, which is actually a tough question to answer because everyone has a certain preference when it comes down to ramen.
Also, the better ramen shops in Tokyo are usually not in the popular areas where tourists stay or go to. One of the reasons why is because of the high rent of these areas. A simple bowl of ramen is somewhere between 700〜800 yen (US $7 or € 6) in any area, so it’s not a smart business decision to open a shop where the rent is so high.
The normal ramen shokunin (chef) would want to spend more money on the ingredients rather than the rent. So, if you want to have a good bowl of ramen, you would normally need to take a good train or bus ride from where you are staying at.
Here is a list of my top 20 ramen shops in Tokyo excluding one’s with a star from Michelin:
Everything here is handmade by owner/chef all by himself. Ramen inspired by the famous Higashi Ikebukuro Taishoken but took it to the next level. Shoyu ramen with rich broth using pork, chicken, dried sardine, dried bonito and vegetables.
Main store is in Nagaoka city, Niigata prefecture. Called Nagaoka style ginger shoyu ramen. Uses large amount of ginger for broth. Thinly sliced chashu. soft menma, flat wrinkled noodles and a bit of MSG.
Owner is trying to create the pinnacle of simple Tokyo style shoyu ramen, which he has. Nothing seems special about this ramen but have a sip of the soup and you know that this is not your average Tokyo style shoyu ramen.
Opened end of 2018 serving tsukemen with noodles soaked in konbu (kelp) water. Sensitive shoyu dipping soup, which perfectly matches with the flat thin whole wheat flour noodles.
This is the sister shop of the famous Higashi Ikebukuro Taishoken, but the broth is richer and much tastier than the original shop. Side dish of MENMA CHASHU are a must order as well.
Broth is similar to Dotonbori but uses much more katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) and a bit richer. Most customers order tsukemen but their ramen is as good as well. Excellent meaty chashu.
Famous for their delicate Shio ramen. Before starting his ramen shop, owner chef was executive chef of the one of the largest restaurant groups in Japan.
Serves Hakodate style Shio ramen. Super clear broth, full of konbu (dried kelp) flavor to it. Also IKA GOHAN (squid rice) another Hakodate dish, goes great with the ramen.
Almost 100% of the customer order TANMEN (shio ramen with stir-fried vegetables). Simple clear broth soup but stir-fried vegetables balances the bowl perfectly.
Serves TANMEN but unlike Hatsune, their broth is milky tonkotsu. Tons of stir-fried vegetables in it. This is a 2nd brand of the famous tsukemen shop, Rokurinsha.
Fat, rich pork soup, extra thick noodles with lots of MSG. Each store owner has trained at one of the locations and every location tastes different from one another. My favorites are Kaminoge, Koiwa, Kanana Ichinoe and Jinbocho. Least favorite are the original store at Mita and also stores at Shinjuku and Ikebukuro.
Ramen Jiro inspired ramen. Normal ramen is great but their original HIYASHI CHUKA (cold ramen with vegetables) which is available only during the summer, is by far the best hiyashi chuka I ever had.
The best IEKEI ramen (Yokohama style pork/chicken broth ramen) in Tokyo. Until they opened last year, you had to go to Yokohama to have a good bowl of IEKEI ramen.
Only ramen shop in Japan which noodles are handmade every time there is an order. Originally known for Kitakata style shoyu ramen, but their NIBOSHI flavor ramen (dried sardine) is what you want to try. Great meaty chashu as well.
First Sapporo style miso ramen to open in Tokyo back in 1968. Old school miso ramen but this place became the standard of Sapporo style miso ramen in Tokyo. Add some of the spicy miso paste on the table to give it a bit more flavor.
For spicy miso ramen, there is the famous Nakamoto with multiple stores in the city, but this is another place you want to try. Noodle cut in various shapes and thickness with boiled vegetables on top.
Serves KATSUURA TANTAN MEN (shoyu ramen cover with chinese chili oil, stir-fried ground pork & diced onions, leek and Sichuan pepper). Originally created by a Chinese restaurant in Katsuura city in Chiba prefecture. Has become the soul food for the people in Katsuura, but Binkiri’s is better than any shop there.
Open til 1am on weekdays, one of the most popular ramen shops to go to in the center of Tokyo, if you are still hungry after dinner and drinks. They serve DANDAN MEN, which is how they call it but it’s actually Tantan men (spicy ramen) without using any sweat sesame paste like most places do. You can choose the level of spiciness from not spicy to extra spicy. Try the one with deep fried pork chop, PAAKO DANDAN MEN.
Those who have ever tried to book Tokyo top sushi shops like Saito or Sugita, might know how difficult or even impossible to book them unless you are introduced by a regular. I asked Andrew Gyokudari, the man who has over 300 sushi meals per year to recommend top sushi shops in Tokyo, which take reservations from newcomers. (reasonably in advance) Follow Andrew’s quest for the perfect sushi here: https://instagram.com/andrew_gyokudari
Sushi Ryusuke
Chef: Ryusuke Yamane Born in 1979 in the Chiba Prefecture, Chef Yamane trained at Ginza Kyubey for eight years before spending time at various sushi restaurants before opening his namesake sushi restaurant in 2015. Popular dishes include the Kadowaki-inspired flounder sashimi topped with shaved truffles, the top sea urchin of the day from the market, and the fried croquettes. Chef Yamane switches between two types of shari depending on the type of neta being used.
Address: 7-3-13 Ginza, B1 Phone #: 81-3-3572-1530 Hours: 12:00 to 14:30, 17:30 to 22:30 Closed: Sundays, Holidays Cost: Lunch (11,500JPY or the dinner course) / Dinner (30,000JPY)
Sushi Suzuki
Chef: Takahisa Suzuki Chef Suzuki was born in 1975 in Shizuoka Prefecture and spent ten years at various sushi restaurants before joining the famed Sushi Aoki in Ginza. He then spent 12 years at Aoki, with the last three years heading the helm at the Nishi Azabu branch, before opening his namesake sushi restaurant in 2015.
Chef: Shinsuke Mizutani Chef Mizutani opened his shop in 2017 and spent time at various shops: head chef at Onodera Hawaii, sous chef at Sushi Ryusuke, apprentice at Tanaka and Tsubaki. His appetizer dishes are unique and delightful.
Address: 2-19-7 Azabu Jyuban, 1st Floor Phone #: 81-3-6809-6716 Hours: 12:00 to 14:00, 17:00 to 23:00 Closed: Variable Cost: 20,000JPY
Sushi Masuda
Chef: Rei Masuda Masuda is a popular shop with branches in Kyoto and Hibiya. After a brief internship at Tenzushi, Chef Masuda moved from Kokura to Tokyo and started working at the famed Sukiyabashi Jiro for nine years before opening his namesake sushi restaurant in 2014. He is known to use neta not widely seen at other sushiyas.
Address: 5-8-11 Minami Aoyama, B1 Phone #: 03-6418-1334 Hours: 12:00 to 14:30, 17:00 to 22:30 Closed: Sundays, Holidays Cost: 28,000JPY
Sushi Harutaka
Chef: Harutaka Takahashi A Hokkaido native, Chef Takashi cut his teeth at Sushi Zen in Sapporo for three years before moving to Tokyo to work at Sukiyabashi Jiro for eight years. He opened his namesake restaurant in 2006 and is one of the most popular sushiyas in Tokyo and is not an easy seat to book but early evening seats at 5pm and late night seats at 9pm are relatively easy to book.
Chef: Nori Endo Endo trained at the famed Sushi Saito and spent time at various non-sushi restaurants (including Hasegawa Minoru) to learn about other preparations not typically seen at sushi restaurants. His popular signature dish is the fresh water eel nigiri, which historically is not served at sushi restaurants.
Address: 1-17-2 Ebisu Minami Phone #: 03-6303-1152 Hours: 12:00 to 14:30, 17:30 to 23:00 Closed: Variable Cost: 23,000JPY
Sushi Mizukami
Chef: Yukinori Mizukami Having spent 18 years as the sous chef at Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi, Chef Mizukami went independent in 2017. Many of the seasonal appetizers are wonderful and the nigiri sequence closely follows Jiro’s but a few of the suppliers have been upgraded. Strong but delightful shari.
Address: 3-8 Ichibancho, 1st Floor Phone #: 81-3-3230-0326 Hours: 11:30 to 14:00, 17:30 to 21:00 Closed: Sundays Cost: 20,000JPY (sushi only) / 25,000JPY (appetizers and sushi)
Chef: Koutaro Sakita Chef Sakita has a diverse background, having first worked as a fish monger in Kyoto, then training as a sushi chef at famed sushiyas such as Nakata, Kyubey and most recently, Nakajyou where he went to work at the Tsukiji Fish Market at Asahi to further sharpen his knowledge of fish before opening his namesake restaurant in 2017.
Chef: Nobuhide Takagaki Chef Takagaki’s background includes training at Sushi Shimizu as well as spending time on a fishing boat before opening shop in 2018. His sushi is simplistic but the one thing you’ll immediately notice is the shari which blends two types of red vinegar with plum vinegar.
Address: 1-30-2 NIhonbashi Kakigarachou Phone #: 81-3-6231-0923 Hours: 12:00 to 14:00, 18:00 to 23:00 Closed: Wednesday Cost: Lunch (4,000JPY or 7,000JPY) / Dinner (12,000JPY)
Sushi Kizaki
Chef: Hitoshi Kizaki Chef Kizaki started his training at Kyubey before moving to Tokami where he worked in both the Tokyo and Hong Kong branches. The red shari made its way over from Tokami but has a much firmer feel and lighter taste. You’ll still find many of the Tokami fan favorites here along with some original dishes. Kizaki’s wife also is at the counter and having worked at a sake wholesaler, she will customize your sake pairing after asking you several questions on preference.
Chef: Shota Oda Chef Oda took over the helm at Tokami in the Spring of 2017 to become the third executive chef at the restaurant. The specialty here is the prized tuna, especially the “tossaki” piece, which is the meat at the base of the tuna’s head, along with the crème brulee egg custard at the end.
Chef: Kunihiro Shimizu Shimizu is as old school of a sushiya as you can probably get. The hikarimono pieces such as gizzard shad are amazing. The shari and neta are large, as they were during the old days. It’s nice that they only take reservations a week in advance and also save two seats for diners who call the morning of but you’ll need a Japanese speaker to make the call for you.
Address: 2-15-10 Shinbashi Phone #: 81-3-3591-5763 Hours: 12:00 to 14:00, 17:30 to 22:00 Closed: Mondays Cost: 17,000JPY
Sushi Yu
Chef: Jun Ozaki Chef Ozaki opened in 2016 and has a steady fan base given his lovable character and entertaining theatrics. His popular “uni pudding” is in the process of being copyrighted.
Address: 4-5-11 Roppongi, B1 Phone #: 81-3-3404-1134 Hours: 12:00 to 14:00, 17:30 to 23:00 Closed: Sundays, Holidays Cost: 20,000JPY
Sushi Sawada
Chef: Koji Sawada Sushi Sawada may raise some eyebrows when one sees it on this list as it’s known to be a tough reservation. It’s not. They take reservations on the first day of the month (for seats for the following month) and most people will never succeed in getting through. If you wait a week and then try calling, usually 20% of the seats are still available. I go every month and many times I see empty seats. Sawada is one of the best sushi restaurants in Japan and is worth making the call.
Hidden in an ordinary residential street in Tokyo’ Shinjuku ward, Ken’s Café makes the most extraordinary gâteau au chocolat in Japan and the best-molten chocolate cake I’ve ever had. It is also the most difficult to get too. If you buy it directly from the shop where it’s made, the waiting list can be one month or even longer. In the video I took last year – Ken’s Café founder Kenji Ujiie showing how to make it. And the recipe below…
1. Whisk the eggs and pour over a strainer to remove the foam. 2. Melt the butter in a bowl of simmering water. Add the chocolate and melt together. 3. Using a whisk, add the sugar. 4. Slowly add the strained egg mixture to the bowl and continue whisking the batter. 5. Place a cooking sheet into a pound cake mould. 6. Carefully pour the batter into the mould. 7. Preheat the oven to 180 C and bake for about 15 min.
Dining out in Tokyo doesn’t always adhere to Western expectations. The customer is not always right and sometimes not always welcome. There are secret spots from the old-world kissaten coffee shops where you can still find people smoking, to restaurants with no-signage that operate on the second floor of a backstreet apartment block. But even the more prominent restaurants often require an introduction to be able to reserve. These places are not only hard to book and hard to find but often intentionally shy away from Western eyes, and mouths, in the belief that the cultural divide may not translate into the universal language of food. We talk with Legendary Tokyo food journalist and fixer Shinji Nohara, AKA @tokyofixer and food enthusiast Roni Xu AKA @ronomnom about the whys and hows of Tokyo dining.
Harutaka in Tokyo
“There is a uniqueness to dining in Tokyo, the restaurants are very intimate, you can talk with the chef and with the staff, which creates a very special feeling. It’s more like you are visiting someone’s family home. And this is why restaurants in Japan appreciate the relationship with the customer so much. The capacity is very limited, so they don’t take reservations in the usual way. Cancellation is a big deal in Japan, but not in Europe or US restaurants, where there are 100 seats or more.”
There is a uniqueness to dining in Tokyo, the restaurants are very intimate, you can talk with the chef and with the staff, which creates a very special feeling. It’s more like you are visiting someone’s family home.
Shinji Nohara
As explains legendary Tokyo food journalist and fixer Shinji Nohara, who is known by many as the key to the secretive world of Tokyo restaurants. He first collaborated with American chef, book author and travel documentarian Anthony Bourdain over 20 years ago. Yet his younger counterpart, takes a less democratic approach:
“When certain Japanese restaurants don’t want to accept foreigners, it’s a lot to do with the perfectionistic attitude that the Japanese have, in terms of how their craft or their art might be interpreted by the foreign customer. When they don’t have confidence that a customer will fully understand the flavours, texture or intentions behind their dishes, they may prefer to not serve them at all. This might seem condescending to foreigners, but it is usually more a concern about whether they can adequately provide a good experience” expresses Roni.
Many Tokyo restaurants buy ingredients for the same day, and if someone cancels the reservation the ingredients will be lost. This alongside their limited capacity, this makes cancellations extremely expensive.
“For the last 10 years, the number of tourists coming to Japan has tripled. It’s good for the restaurants and other businesses, but at the same time, seats at the restaurants are limited, so the restaurants try to keep 70-80 percent of the seats for the regular customers,” explains Shinji.
Sushi Saito
And while potential lost-costs are an undeniable consideration when it comes to which customers are more reliable, Roni tells me it often runs deeper than a financial question: “Sometimes they [Japanese Chefs] have this anxiety about whether the customer will understand Japanese cuisine and hospitality. Both can be seen as forms of communication, and it’s like talking – if you don’t understand the foreign language, you might be better off not speaking at all.” She explains.
Sometimes Japanese Chefs have this anxiety about whether the customer will understand Japanese cuisine and hospitality. Both can be seen as forms of communication, and it’s like talking – if you don’t understand the foreign language, you might be better off not speaking at all.
Roni
Shinji agrees that impressing the foreigner of even the guidebooks is not and will not be a priority, when asking about his vision of the future of Japanese chefs and cuisine he tells me “I think that they won’t care about their reputation or guidebooks, they will do what they were doing before, and will do so in the classic way. But also the new generation will try to do new things. More people are travelling and making discoveries. My favourite sushi restaurant uses jalapeño which is used in Thai sashimi. Wow! Jalapeño in a sushi restaurant? you could never imagine that 10 years ago! I think it’s a good discovery and adventure, the restaurant will not fail, they’re just adding different ingredients… It reminds me of ceviche. Also, the restaurant serves fresh miso with fresh pepper from Sri Lanka. You would never imagine ingredients from Sri Lanka in a traditional sushi restaurant. And I love it, it is not changing to a different style, the chef just cooks with open eyes and tries to use new stuff. I think it will become popular in a classic way. It depends on people’s lifestyle. It makes it more interesting, this trend leads us to a more interesting dining scene.”
One of the great things about Tokyo, you can still discover something untouched. For those who go to Japan: be adventurous! Most of the good restaurants are small-size mom and pop style restaurants. These places don’t have a big flashy sign, just a small note in Japanese. Offering sushi, kaiseki or even yakitori, they don’t face the main streets—but often outskirt streets, back alleys or basements, or on the second or fifth floor. Small restaurants in Tokyo offer a greater dining experience. But don’t be offended if you can’t get a reservation. It may simply be lost in translation.
The full interview with Shinji Nohara you can listen HERE
Talking about secrets of Tokyo, Roni includes some secrets of Japan – list of 5 Japanese dishes which you won’t find anywhere else…
Soup curry
(Cong, Sapporo)
Curry soup first appeared in Hokkaido in the 1970’s, a hybrid of Chinese medicinal soup & Indian curry. At Cong! the chef —who really reminds me of Niitome-san [ Japan’s number one tempura master] adds incredibly juicy fried chicken with crispy skin into the soup along with fresh local vegetables.
Seiko Crab rice
(Matsuta, Fukui)
Available only from November to December (or January if you are lucky), the seiko crab is the female version of Fukui’s famous Echizen crab. At Matsuta the crabs are caught fresh and brought straight to the boiling pot.
Chicken Sashimi
(Torifusa, Tokyo)
This one is special because I wouldn’t dare eat it in most other countries. It’s almost raw chicken. Served with ponzu, chilli and lots of spring onion.
Smokey butterscotch & Japanese whisky cookie
(Tough Cookie, Tokyo)
Another one I’d mention is “Tough Cookie.” This is a new brand of cookies created by none other than Ayako Watanabe, former sous-chef at Dominique Ansel, Tokyo. American cookies flavoured with Japanese ingredients. My favourite is this smoky butterscotch with Japanese whisky.
Freshly-made Mont-Blanc
(Ringo to Wakaba, Kanazawa)
Mont Blanc was first served in Japan in 1933 at a shop actually called “Mont-Blanc”. Through the years the recipes have definitely developed to adapt to local palates. In my view, there are two key factors that make Japanese Mont Blanc special today – the use of “waguri”, a variety of chestnut native to Japan, and “shiboritate” , where the chestnut puree is freshly piped onto the meringue/sponge cake base before serving.
Author of Food, Sake, Tokyo, an exploration of Tokyo’s food scene, Yukari Sakamoto is on a mission to demystify Japanese cuisine. Trained at the French Culinary Institute and the American Sommelier Association, she also passed the rigorous exam to become a certified shochu adviser. She teaches classes on food, wine, and shochu, and conducts culinary tours of Tokyo’s shops and markets. Born in Tokyo and raised in Minnesota, Yukari brings insights from both cultures to shed light on Japanese cuisine.
Aiste: What is the secret of Japanese cuisine?
Yukari: I think one of the secrets is fermented foods. In Japan, we have mould called koji and it’s used to make all our pantry ingredients: sake, soy sauce, mirin (sweet sake), vinegar amazake, miso, etc. Everything that we use in our Japanese pantry is fermented using this mould. And so we make dashi which is rich in umami, it also uses fermented katsuobushi (bonito flakes). Without fermented foods, the Japanese pantry and most of the cuisine that people know, would not exist. So I think that is the secret, hidden ingredient, or secret technique.
Aiste: Dashi is the essence of Japanese cuisine. Can you tell us about it?
Yukari: Dashi is very diverse and depends on the region. It can be with or without fish, even vegetarians can make dashi using kombu, a kelp that provides natural umami, they can use dried gourds, soybeans, dried shiitake mushrooms. So you have vegetarian dashi, but I think most people around the world are familiar with Ichiban dashi or dashi made from kombu kelp, a seaweed and katsuobushi, bonito, which is smoked and dried and then shaved into thin flakes. But in other parts of Japan, in Shikoku for example, they use umeboshi which are small pickled Japanese plums, and in Kyushu, they use a flying fish – tobiko. Depending on where you grow up in Japan, the flavour of your dashi will change.
Dashi will change from region to region. Also as water changes from soft to harder, this affects the taste of dashi
Aiste: Would you say some dashi flavours are stronger, some muted?
Yukari: Yes, and it’s interesting, the kombu, the kelp used as a few major styles. In Kyoto they use a lighter flavour that gives a clear broth. But in Tokyo, you get stronger kombu which gives stronger flavours. So dashi will change from region to region. Also as water changes from soft to harder, this affects the taste of dashi.
Aiste: For a Japanese-cooking beginner who wants to make dashi at home, what’s the secret?
Yukari: For a beginner, there is a thing called a “dashi pack”, it’s like a teabag. It’s all-natural and inside there is dried kombu, kelp and katsu bushi, bonito flakes. You can keep it in a pot like tea. Dashi needs to stay quite fresh, you can keep it in a refrigerator for two days, but you can also keep it in a freezer for up to 3 months if you make really good quality dashi. But most of the time we make it each day as we use it.
Aiste: We know Japanese cuisine from restaurants, tell us the secret to Japanese home cooking?
Yukari: Dishes are much simpler at home. Another secret is that supermarkets are very close in Japan and have a lot of prepared foods. It’s very easy to buy tempura that is ready to cook at home with soba or rice. I buy tonkatsu, a pork cutlet that is breaded and fried, so I can make dishes at home, but that is kind of cheating.
For easy meals, you can make a lot of food at home, udon or soba, which you just dip in broth. The broth: I don’t make it from scratch. I buy very good quality ones, in a bottle from a supermarket, and just dilute that with water at home. If you know your way around Japanese supermarkets, it’s easy to cook Japanese at home.
Aiste: I noticed this when I went to a supermarket in Japan, the food there is very good…
Yukari: …. And affordable, not too expensive.
Yukari at a produce vendor at Tsukiji.
Aiste: I read somewhere that there are over 55 thousand konbini—convenience stores around Japan. And they really take over Japanese kitchens, because people don’t have time to cook.
Yukari: The quality of food you get is amazing. Everyone knows 7-Elevens, but we also have Familymart and Lawson. These big chains compete against each other for business. Every year when I come back from the States to visit my family, we stop at 7-Eleven on the way from the station to our house to buy good quality miso soup, I just add a bit of water, I also buy onigiri—filled rice balls, as well as buy Nattō, eggs, milk, pickles and we are set for our first dinner and breakfast. And it’s not even overpriced, it’s convenient and good value.
Aiste: Would you say Japanese people generally cook at home or consume ready-made food from stores?
We always have pickles in the fridge, which round up almost all meals.
Yukari: They do, at the moment they are forced to cook at home because of the pandemic. It’s good for me, because I like cooking, but for those who don’t like, they go to a convenience store for prepared food.
Aiste: What are Japanese staple ingredients that you must have in the kitchen?
Yukari: We always have pickles in the fridge, which round up almost all meals, we also have miso for soup, and for simmering fish, we always have dried noodles in the house, we have tsuyu (a dipping sauce), we always have a variety of vegetables that change according to the season.
Aiste: What are the vegetables?
Yukari: Right now we are loaded with lotus roots, kombucha squash. Edamame just finished the season, but we ate a lot of edamame throughout the summer. And now we are going into early winter, for fruit, we have mikan (little mandarins), nashi pears and grapes. It’s quite expensive, not cheap, but when it’s so good, you don’t need a lot of it.
Variety of fish is changing with global warming: right now we usually eat the Pacific saury, but because of climate change, the catch is very low compared to what we usually have. This is because the fish are going up north, where it’s not so warm.
Aiste: How about fish? I remember you were doing lists of seasonal fish every season.
Yukari: Yes, it’s still online on my website. It’s changing with global warming: right now we usually eat the Pacific saury—the long skinny fish with the bright yellow peak at the end when it’s fresh—but because of climate change, the catch is very low compared to what we usually have. This is because the fish are going up north, where it’s not so warm. Before we were having it once per week, but now we splurge only once a month because the price is 3 or 4 times higher than we’re used to.
Aiste: How did everything change since Tsukiji (the fish wholesale market) moved to Toyosu?
Yukari: It’s hard because the location of Toyosu is difficult to access using regular transport, and in your own car the parking is too expensive. My friends who have restaurants stopped going, and they get fish directly from fishermen from different parts of Japan who ship for them twice a week. Tsukiji became very different, it became a tourist area and before coronavirus started it was filled with tourists visiting the market.
Fresh tuna auction at Tsukiji market
Aiste: So what’s cooking in your kitchen?
Yukari: It’s funny when we go back to the US every summer, my son is surprised that they still eat cereal every day for breakfast. In Japan, if we have curry from the night before, we will have curry for breakfast. I personally prefer bread for breakfast, we have amazing bakeries here. My son loves rice, so 6-7 day a week we have rice, miso soup and then I pick a protein, fish or chicken or leftovers from the night before. When my son is in a rush he likes Tamago Kake Gohan, which is raw egg on rice with soy sauce. But I don’t like it.
Lunch is a quicker meal, maybe some noodles, or something from a supermarket to get a quick meal. For dinner we change from rice to noodles, seafood, pork or chicken, we have a lot of options for protein sources.
Aiste: And desserts are not so big in Japan.
Yukari: Not really. For breakfast, we will have a piece of fruit and some yogurt. Fermented fruits are a big thing in our diet, and since the coronavirus hit, lot’s of television programmes remind us what you have to eat for your immune system, and fermented foods are very important. Also to drink amazake which is fermented rice koji, it’s naturally sweet and good for your immune system.
For dessert we have fruit with red bean paste in it. But we don’t eat a lot of buttery sweets, we don’t do cakes or brownies or cookies. Japanese love French patisseries, they are not too sweet, usually, the sugar is cut down.
Aiste: What is your favourite dish to cook at home if you have time to cook?
Learn more about ingredients that you can find in a supermarket.
Yukari: Right now, when it’s getting colder, we do a lot of nabe (Japanese hot pot), on a tabletop we put a small portable grill and a big pot. Chickennabe (mizutaki) is very easy: soak bite-size chicken, carrots, onions, leeks, lots of different mushrooms, cabbage, then just put a lid on, cook a bit until all the ingredients are soft and when you pull all the ingredients out and dip in ponzu sauce. We do a lot of nabe hot pots this time of the year. We also love gyoza, so for these it takes a little bit more time to make fillings, to wrap them and to fry, but if we have time, we will do it.
Aiste: What would be your advice for those who want to learn Japanese cooking?
A tip for cooking at home – Japanese try to include 5 colours with every meal: red, white, yellow, green and black.
Yukari: Learn more about ingredients that you can find in a supermarket, for example tsuyu, which is a dipping sauce that we use for soba or udon, but can also be used for stir-frying vegetables, and if you want to make a nice chicken dish, put chicken in a rice cooker add vegetables like mushrooms and carrots, add a little bit tsuyu into the water and you will have a seasoned rice dish.
Also, get some good cookbooks, Elizabeth Andoh’s “Washoku” and “Kansha” are very informative, also cookbooks and recipes by Shizuo Tsuji have a lot of basic recipes, Naoko Moore and Kyle Connaughton’s “Donabe”, Sonoko Sakai’s “Japanese Home Cooking”. Invest into really good cookbooks if you want to cook at home.
Yakitori bento. It includes 5 different colors.
Another tip for cooking at home, we try to include 5 colours with every meal: red, white, yellow, green and black. Rice is usually white, green- beans or broccoli, orange – carrot, black can be eggplants. So when you are preparing the meal and going shopping, shop for colours. Look at the bento box, it should have 5 colours in it also. That’s another secret for cooking at home.
Some highlights from Kimoto in Tokyo that relocated from Kobe in 2018 and is one of top kaiseki restaurants in Japan. Chef Yasuya Kimoto used to train at Sakurada in Kyoto along with Tadayoshi Matsukawa (who runs introduction only Matsukawa, thus similarities in styles..).
Hairy crabBottarga with ricetilefishshrimpsquidTomatoeggplantWagyuYasuya Kimoto
If you’ve ever had the good fortune to visit Japan, you’ll doubtless have been left with the same wealth of feeling I have, as I write from my home in London. The chaotic modernity of Tokyo versus the historical richness of Kyoto, to the Idyllic countryside, kind gestures of the people and the absolute obsession with the detail in their craft.
If you haven’t visit Japan, I wonder if we all have a little of Japan within us, either through the food, art, ceramics, or the familiar image of their zen gardens.
Such craft has a name – ‘Shokunin.’ It means ‘artisan’. A lifetime of dedication to one’s craft, with the aim of perfecting every detail of one’s speciality. It’s central to so much of Japanese culture.
With bags barely unpacked, I wanted to share with you the vivid highlights of my seven days, travelling between Tokyo and Kyoto.
Toyosu Market
Stepping off the plane, food is not far from my mind. Not necessarily because I’m hungry. Rather, because there is no other city in the world quite like Tokyo. From ‘hole in the wall’ eateries, to elaborate fine dining establishments, they say there are now approximately 160,000 restaurants in Tokyo. Its rich culinary history dates back to the Edo era and such a vast number of eateries requires a sophisticated supply system – one of the most important being Tokyo’s Toyosu market. What better place to start.
Toyosu Market
The market replaced the iconic Tsukiji Fish Market in 2018 and is often described as the ‘belly of Tokyo’. Best known for its tuna auction, it’s frenetic and fast paced and arriving early morning is essential.
Toyosu is a wholesale market, specialising in the distribution of seafood, fruits, and vegetables. If you go early enough, you’ll most likely meet some of best sushi masters in Tokyo, who shop for their fish and seafood there. The majority of the sushi restaurants in Tokyo are small counter restaurants and serve as little as 8-10 people at a time. To ensure the quality and freshness, chefs buy only the amount of fish needed for that day, making Toyosu a daily ritual for many of them.
At one counter in Toyusu, you might see more chefs than anywhere else in the market. Called Yamayuki, the counter belongs to the “king of tuna”, Yukitaka Yamaguchi. Yukitaka is, without a doubt, a very highly regarded at Toyosu market and one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever met in Tokyo. If you’ve ever been to Tsukiji market, you might have seen him in his blue uniform, delicately slicing tuna, making calls or serving sushi masters such as Takashi Saito alongside many more of Tokyo’s top chefs.
According to Mr Yamaguchi, he chooses tuna that pairs well with each restaurant’s shari (rice). Strong shari needs strong fish. And for restaurants where the shari is soft, he provides soft tuna with a subtler flavour. He dines at all the restaurants he works with to find out what they are looking for and suggests tuna suited to their shari. Eighty-five percent of Yamayuki customers are sushi restaurants and each restaurant has a different type of shari. Some use akazu (red rice vinegar), some komesu (rice vinegar), some use sugar, some don’t, some use lots of vinegar, others don’t. According to Mr Yamaguchi, he does business with about 1,000 restaurants around the world.
Tachigui Sushi Tonari
Sushi continued to be a theme as I settled into the Japanese way. This is because, in recent years, there has been a growing trend of more casual sushi restaurants known as ‘sushi-ya’ appearing throughout Tokyo, which was accelerated further by the pandemic and the lack of foreign visitors.
Tachigui Sushi Tonari
Tachigui Sushi Tonari is one example and I had to visit. ‘Tachigui’ means ‘eating while standing’. It’s a chic take on the traditional way of enjoying sushi that dates back to the Edo period that started in 1603 and drew to a close in 1867.
Even though one can order traditional Edo-mae style neta (sushi toppings) such as tuna or gizzard shad at Tachigui Sushi Tonari, the chef Hatano Yoshiki adds his own creative spin also serving signature toppings such as eggplant agebitashi and red bean paste sesame seeds.
Soba Osame
Soba noodles is another staple food originating from the Edo period. During this period, it was considered a cheap and fast food that was enjoyed by people of all social classes. Made of buckwheat, Soba noodles are often served with a dipping sauce or in soups and can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. Though be prepared, in Japan, it is considered polite and good etiquette to slurp your soba noodles! This is because slurping is believed to enhance the flavour of the noodles and show appreciation for the meal.
Soba Osame, run by soba master Kenji Osame is considered one of the best soba-yas in Tokyo at the moment. Chef Osame is known to source buckwheat from various regions across Japan. He uses their unique qualities, based on the local topography and makes for sumptuous, coarsely ground Juwari soba. Travel Japan and you’ll notice how Soba has endless variations, depending on the region.
Alone, or with various toppings, soba can be served in a hot broth, or cold, such as in Zaru Soba, which is presented on a bamboo strainer, usually in summer. Personally, I love cold soba because you can better taste the fine flavour of the buckwheat. As is customary at artisanal establishments like Soba Osame, the master makes and cuts fresh soba every day. Watching master Osame cut soba is almost a meditative experience. Every movement is deliberate and beautiful to watch.
Pizza at Mandarin Oriental
Pizza may not be the first food type to springs to mind when visiting Japan, but I’d heard so much about this pizza, I just had to experience it.
Mandarin Oriental hotel executive chef Daniele Cason could be considered a different kind of shokunin; a pizza shokunin. Daniele, who is originally from Rome and is a classically trained chef, decided to become a pizzaiolo after joining the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo ten years ago. Maybe homesick for his home food, he started baking pizza alla pala, a traditional Roman speciality, which is usually sold in Rome by the slice.
Chef Daniele is taking the art of pizza-making to the next level by sourcing only the finest ingredients. While the flour and water come from Italy, the rest of the ingredients, such as vegetables, prosciutto, and burrata, are sourced from the best artisanal producers around Japan. Similar to the traditional Japanese fine dining art of kaiseki, Daniele’s pizza toppings reflect not only each season but also each micro-season, of which there are 72 in Japan. For example, during winter, he uses foraged mountain vegetables, which are available only for a limited time. In spring, he sources wild mountain vegetables (Sansai) from Ueda Teisho, an 85-year-old forager who picks the vegetables in his forest in the Kochi prefecture. Each week, Daniele gets one box of Sansai and it’s always a surprise to see new species of Sansai or flowers. Daniele also buys takenoko bamboo shoots, wild flowers, and shiitake mushrooms from Ueda Teisho.
My visit was during the courgette season and Daniele created a pizza that was a true celebration of summer textures and colours. The dough was crispy and light, perfectly holding the ingredients in the middle. To finish it off, Daniele added a delicate touch of courgette flowers, adding more colour and a subtle sweetness. Pizza in Japan? I’m a fan.
Auberge Tokito
Just 45 minutes from Tokyo, is the Auberge Tokito. On entering, you’re immediately transported to a rather serene oasis. One that’s rather exclusive too. The stunning architecture and interior design, created by renowned Japanese architect and designer Shinichiro Ogata, offer a modern take on the traditional Japanese ryokan. In keeping with the ryokan tradition, all rooms feature an Onsen, providing guests with a truly authentic Japanese experience.
Auberge Tokito
The man behind this new project and the food experience is Yoshinori Ishii, a chef extraordinaire who after more than 20 years of life outside of Japan has moved back home to open Auberge Tokito. In London, where he ran a Michelin starred kaiseki restaurant, he is known as a pioneer of Ikejime, a humane method of killing fish that maintains the quality of the meat.
Ishii’s quest to serve the finest fish in London took him beyond sourcing the best product available, to spearheading change around fishing methods in the UK. By frequenting fisheries in England’s Southwest Coast, specifically along Cornwall’s long peninsula where there is an existing tradition of carefully handling fish, Ishii found a supplier (the boss of a small boat line fishing company) who was able to emulate his method and thus meet his standard. And so, as a side project, he was able to positively influence current fishing practices, through teaching local fishermen the traditional Japanese Ikejime method.
At Auberge Tokito, chef Yoshinori Ishii is once again innovating by revisiting and modernizing traditional Japanese kaiseki cuisine that involves creating a series of very small but intricately designed dishes, where seasonality is crucial.
Just as he did in the UK, he and his team are redefining luxury with “artisan cuisine”. Once again, this involves working closely with the best artisans, producers, fishermen and hunters from around Japan.
At his 10 seat counter Yoshinori Ishii serves beautifully fresh sea bream sashimi with fresh and frozen Hassaku citrus and herbs; “Surf&Turf”, straw flamed tuna with fond de veau and horse radish cream, or, the absolute highlight of the meal, baked “Gekkou” lily bulbs. All served in plates and bowls created by Ishii San himself, in his nearby ceramic’s studio.
Yukito Nishinaka
Travel to Chiba Prefecture, not far from Tokyo and you’ll find Yukito Nishinaka, world renowned glass artist who specialises in offering a unique interpretation of the Japanese mending technique developed in the 17th century for tea bowls (Yobitsugi).
Aiste and Yukito Nishinaka
Yobitsugi is one of the techniques of kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken objects. While kintsugi repairs the broken parts of the same object, yobitsugi joins parts of different objects. Once completed, the cracks, emphasised with gold, have an irresistible element of beauty.
The Yobitsugi technique traditionally used lacquer visibly mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum as glue to join the broken parts together and finished with gold leaf, poetically enhancing the imperfections.
Nishinaka’s work is quite distinctive and involves using either urushi lacquer and molten glass to join broken parts, while incorporating fragments from other objects. Again, he purposely leaves the repair visible, fusing fragments from a broken vessel onto the surface of a free-blown glass core, around which sheets of gold and silver leaf are been wrapped.
“Eternal Affinity” at Honen-in Temple by Yukito Nishinaka
My travels took me to Kyoto and the installation “Eternal Affinity.” The Eternal Affinity is a unique piece of artwork created by glass artist Yukito Nishinaka and located at the entrance of the Honen-in Temple in Kyoto, which has been in existence for over 340 years.
“Eternal Affinity” at Honen-in Temple by Yukito Nishinaka
Nishinaka’s installation is a modern interpretation of the traditional Japanese rock garden, also known as a karesansui and his work is a symbol of rebirth and sustainability.
The glass rocks used in the installation were created by melting and reshaping recycled glass bottles. Each glass rock is meticulously crafted to resemble the natural rocks, typically found in a karesansui garden, often referred to as a ‘zen garden.’ The result is a beautiful and unique artwork that reflects both traditional Japanese culture and modern sustainability practices.
Hyotei
Wandering through Kyoto’s ancient streets, you can’t fail but marvel at what is hiding behind the doors of the very, old traditional wooden houses known as machiyas. It is here I found the restaurant Hyotei.
Hyotei is a traditional kaiseki restaurant located at the entrance of Nanzen-ji Temple. It also boasts 3 Michelin stars. Crossing the doorstep of Hyotei is like traveling back in time. The restaurant has been owned and operated by the same family for 450 years, with the current chef-owner, Yoshihiro Takahashi, being the 15th generation to continue the culinary tradition.
Hyotei specializes in serving traditional tea kaiseki cuisine, which is a multi-course meal originating from the tea ceremony. Originally a humble meal of just a bowl of miso soup and three side dishes, kaiseki has evolved over the years into an elaborate celebration of flavours, colours, and textures that showcase the chef’s skills and the best of the season’s offerings.
A typical kaiseki meal usually consists of an appetizer, a seasonal dish called Hassun that reflects the current season, a sashimi dish, and a simmered and grilled dish, among others. Depending on the restaurant and the chef, there may be more than ten dishes in total.
One of the highlights and signature dishes at Hyotei is their soft-boiled egg, which is prepared using the same exact method that was used hundreds of years ago at the Hyotei tea house for hungry pilgrims on their way to Nanzen-ji temple. The egg is perfectly cooked to a soft-boiled consistency and tastes just as delicious as it looks!
London
Japan is blessed by having shokunin at its heart. My seven days experiencing the most exquisite food and craft is filled with good fortune. Good fortune that I am able to experience these rare delights, but also that I can share them with you here. It is also true to say, that when you visit, you will quickly discover that behind almost every door in Japan, there is a whole other world of discovery. Though, you may require several lives to see it all!
The last time my friend Aiste asked me to do this exercise was in 2019. COVID has certainly altered the global food scene during the succeeding few years but the sushi industry in Tokyo remained strong with numerous new openings during the pandemic. According to Tabelog, there are over 5,000 sushi restaurants in Tokyo today, a 15% increase since the last time we published this list. The top echelon of that group, purely defined by popularity, have continued to gravitate towards the “membership only” or “introduction only” route. But not to worry, there are at least 15 sushi in Tokyo that are both easy to book (typically within a week) and worth every yen.
Without further ado, here is the list for 2023:
KIYOTA HANARE
Kiyota is well known as the most expensive sushi restaurant in Tokyo and hence the general demand for seats is far below sushiyas at half the price point. Chef Kimura, who mans the Hanare (the sidecar counter apart from the main counter), is one of the old-school legends and only serves four diners a night. The focus here is ultra high-end ingredients, especially the tuna (Kiyota gets the top catch from Toyosu Market’s tuna monger, Ishiji) and conger eel.
Seatings: Dinner (6:00pm) Closed: Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday, and holidays Price: 88,000 JPY + 10% service charge Seats: 4 at the counter Reservations: via OMAKASE
Koharu is the second branch by Harutaka (two stars), and Chef Kurita (the long time sous chef at Harutaka) took over the counter in October 2021 during the pandemic. Koharu uses the same top notch ingredients and shari (sushi rice) as Harutaka, but is at a slightly lower price point. Given the ease of booking, this one is a no brainer.
Seatings: Dinner (5:30pm and 8:30pm) Closed: Sunday and holidays Course: 35,000 JPY Seats: 8 at the counter Reservations: via OMAKASE
This hole in the wall sushiya opened in June of 2022 and has been relatively under the radar since. In the era of high end sushi restaurants starting at north of 30,000 JPY, this one is quite a bargin. Chef Fukushima’s skills shine in many of his dishes and his aging technique is solid. His relative use of fattier fish also stands out.
Seatings: Lunch (12:00pm and 1:30pm), Dinner (6:00pm onwards) Closed: Sunday Course: 8,000 JPY (lunch), 15,000 JPY (dinner), 19,800 JPY (dinner) Seats: 8 at the counter Reservations: via TableCheck, Ikyu, or by phone
Chef Ichikawa is one of the legendary sushiya Araki’s proteges, and the only one that runs shop in Tokyo. Ichikawa is far from flashy, unlike his peers who spun out of Araki (e.g. Gyoten and Kazui), but sticks to the basics. Chef’s training at Kikunoi (3 star kaiseki) shines in the appetizers and the double servings of toro is an Araki (or rather, old school edomae) signature.
Seatings: Dinner (6:00pm) Closed: Wednesday Course: 42,000 JPY Seats: 10 at the counter Reservations: via OMAKASE
Chef Yamaguchi was the head chef of both Sushi Wakon’s Tokyo and Kyoto branches before opening his namesake sushiya in June 2020. Even after being awarded a star in 2022, it’s been relatively easy to book this one. The course starts out with a toro uni (tuna and sea urchin) handroll mixed with pickled watermelons and his other signature dishes include hamaguri (orient clam) and kinmedai (golden eye snapper) cured in kelp.
Seatings: Lunch (12:00pm), Dinner (5:30pm and 8:00pm) Closed: Sunday and holidays Course: 33,000 JPY Seats: 13 (9 at the counter, 4 in the private room) Reservations: via Pocket Conciege or Ikkyu
After a brief internship at Tenzushi, Chef Masuda moved from Kokura to Tokyo and started working at the famed Sukiyabashi Jiro for nine years before opening his namesake sushiya in 2014. After closing his restaurant and moving overseas for a few years, he returned to Tokyo in January 2022. It’s a mystery why it’s possible to grab a seat with relative ease, given that the restaurant was one of the hottest sushiyas before he moved. His steamed abalone with liver sauce remains a fan favorite.
Seatings: Dinner (5:00pm and 8:00pm) Closed: Sunday and holidays Course: 39,600 JPY Seats: 14 (8 at the counter, 6 in the private room) Reservations: via OMAKASE
Having spent 18 years as the sous chef at Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppingi, Chef Mizukami went independent in 2018.
Seatings: Lunch (12:00pm), Dinner (6:00pm) Closed: Wednesday Course: Lunch Nigiri Only (20,000 JPY or 27,000 JPY), Lunch Omakase (28,000 JPY or 37,000 JPY), Dinner Nigiri Only (27,000 JPY), Dinner Omakase (37,000 JPY) Seats: 8 at the counter Reservations: via MyConcierge and through their homepage
It must mean something when the CEO of the top tuna monger visits the shop every other month. The tuna, from YAMAYUKI, s one of the best in Ginza, and the eel (both grilled freshwater eel as an appetizer and two pieces of steamed conger eel for the sushi nigiri, salted and with sweet sauce) is one of their signatures.
Seatings: Dinner (any time between 6:00pm and 9:00pm) Closed: Sunday and holidays Course: 38,500 JPY + 10% service charge Seats: 7 at the counter Reservations: via Ikkyu
Their signature dishes include the three piece tuna tasting using steaming hot sushi rice, the blackthroat seaperch (nodoguro) rice bowl, and the monkfish liver steamed in sweet sauce (during the winter).
Seatings: Lunch (11:30am, Saturdays only) and Dinner (5:30pm and 8:00pm) Closed: Sunday and Monday Course: Lunch (16,500 JPY), Dinner (27,500 JPY) Seats: 14 (9 at the counter, 5 in the private room) Reservations: via Tabelog or OMAKASE or Pocket Concierge
Chef Suzuki spent a decade at various sushi restaurants before joining Sushi Aoki in Ginza. He spent 12 years at Aoki, spending the last three years at the helm of the Nishi Azabu branch, before opening his namesake restaurant in 2015.
Seatings: Lunch (12:00pm), Dinner (6:00pm onwards) Closed: Monday Course: 40,000 JPY Seats: 10 at the counter Reservations: by phone
Sushi Saito’s branch in Meguro, manned by Saito’s proteges, has the same menu set up as the HQ. It’s probably the hardest to book on this list but is still is relatively easier to book than the HQ, which is pretty much impossible for newcomers.
Seatings: Lunch (12:00), Dinner (6:00pm and 8:30pm) Closed: Wednesday Course: Lunch (11,000 JPY or 25,300 JPY), Dinner (25,300 JPY) Seats: 10 at the counter Reservations: via OMAKASE and TABELOG
At a much lower price point than the rest of the group on this list, this one is a great steal. It’s important to note that the one on this list is the Marunouchi Branch, (near Tokyo Station) and not the Main Shop in Tsukiji.
Seatings: Lunch (12:00pm), Dinner (6:00pm) Closed: N/A Course: 8,800 JPY Seats: 16 seats (8 at the counter, 8 at the table) Reservations: via Tabelog or by phone
Many people know that Chef Hashimoto was Sugita’s right hand man for a decade before going independent. Hashimoto blends traditional edomae sushi dishes with occasional contemporary dishes (blue cheese chawanmushi, anyone?) and non-traditional ingredients. Seats are not always available but if you check online frequently and diligently, it’s not hard to snatch a seat as they release seats in piecemeal.
Seatings: Dinner (5:30pm and 8:30pm) Closed: Tuesday and Wednesday Course: 33,000 JPY Seats: 8 at the counter Reservations: via OMAKASE
Gems outside of Tokyo – this list was meant to focus on Tokyo sushiyas but I include a few that are just outside of Tokyo but well worth the extra travel.
TOKIWASUSHI (Yokohama)
Chef Hayashinouchi spent nearly a decade at a Japanese restaurant before training at the legendary Sushi Mizukami, becoming the sous chef by the time Mizukami decided to close shop. Very balanced and refined.
Seatings: Lunch (12:00pm, Saturday/Holidays only), Dinner (5:00pm onwards) Closed: Sunday Course: Lunch (13,200 JPY), Dinner (24,200 JPY) Seats: 14 (8 at the counter, 6 in the private room) Reservations: via OMAKASE
pound for pound, Inomata serves one of the best nigiri courses in Japan. Marrying top quality ingredients with aging technique, the trek is very worth it.
Seatings: Lunch (2:00pm), Dinner (5:00pm and 8:00pm) Closed: N/A Course: 41,800 JPY Seats: 9 at the counter Reservations: via OMAKASE
Andrew Gyokudari is the CEO of Gyokudari Inc., an investment company specializing in the hospitality and technology industries. He is the co-owner of Yoshino New York, GMO OMAKASE, Savoy Pizzeria, Woodstock Japan, Fukujin, Ozaki Yukitaka, Hazuki, Umizaru/Fukuei Suisan and also provides advisory services to various corporations around the world. He is also a brand ambassador for Google Japan (Team Pixel) and is a member of GOURMANDS at Tagpic Inc. Andrew is an avid international diner and is ranked 3rd on the OAD Top 100’s global reviewer list. Andrew started his career as a sushi apprentice and enjoys eating sushi more than 200 times a year.
