A quick trip to Tokyo (just 4 nights) combined with my trip to Honolulu. Timing was just right, so I was able to catch the opening weekend of Craft Sake Week. I’ll keep it to 6 pictures of each place.
- 5 sushi (1 historical) - Kurosaki, Gaienmae Takemoto, Sawada, Sushi Akira, Bentenyama Miyakozushi
- 1 French - Ao (Nishiazabu)
- 1 Italian - Tacubo (Shirokanedai)
- 2 Ramen - Chuka Soba Mitsufuji (Jiyugaoka)
Sushi:
Kurosaki (Minami-Aoyama), 10th visit, main counter.
About 16 servings, plus an added 6. Standout products with stylish, elegant, and ultimately super delicious presentations with complete tastes. Still got some komochi yariika - one cut into thirds: one piece with its body, one with its legs, and one with its eggs, all in a very savory ankake sauce. The kurumaebi presentation, from its super clean deshelling to its medium-rare texture, is always a standout. Everything is very considered - from the timing, hand movements, and even serving vessels (like a separate box container for the torotaku maki since it can be oily).
I’ve written about the nigiri here many times. Great service and drinks selection, too, tailored to preferences and you can taste the gamut here from ginger soda to Burgundy to rare, private label sakes. One of my top places in Tokyo.
Honmaguro
akamizuke
hotaruika, with a delightful smokey sauce. served with the rare “Hotaru” sake.
kegani chawanmushi with kanimiso, served in a beautiful Karatsu chawan. the wood spoon, the rustic yakimono, the wood plate are nice contrasts to the silky and ultra savory chawanmushi.
torigai - exceptional. grilled lightly on the inside, medium-rare.
shiroika - best of the trip
Gaienmae Takemoto (Gaienmae), 2nd visit.
I had a really great first impression last August and I was glad to return here with a friend. This place is so underrated and surprisingly easy to book - go before it gets very difficult. Loved the new shari - good presence with a powerful rounded sourness and umami that’s balanced nicely. A blend of vinegars (with a smart secret ingredient) makes for a fragrant shari-kiri at the start of the meal which is extra appetizing while enjoying some otsumami and fine drinks. About 19 servings, plus an added 4.
Nigiri is medium sized, slightly tall, and easy to handle with a squeeze at the top. The new shari, more powerful and addictive imo, is really nice against the medium gentle texture. I love that it has good character and some power but never feels tiring. I would make a reservation in advance with a plan to order many extra nigiri - the only thing missing this time was Takemoto-san’s excellent ni-hamaguri, which was one of my top bites during my August trip.
The ingredients are really great with top provenance - the wasabi is from the top village in Shizuoka, maguro is a good selection from Yamayuki, etc, but they don’t mention it unless you ask. Chef and okami san are very nice and also provide some really great drinks to pair - from their own brew by Toyo Bijin HISUI to rare Scotch and Burgundy paired smartly.
toro no warayaki, with shiso, vinegared daikon tsuri with shiso, salt, and top wasabi. amazing bites to start.
kasugodai - beautiful impression. plump baby sea bream against the new shari and some yuzu zest, thrilling opener nigiri that allows you to focus on great texture.
aji - fantastic quality
chutoro
negitoro - one of my favorites anywhere
iwashi encore - excellent
Sawada (Ginza), 4th visit.
At an edomae legend in Ginza, nigiri lunch. About 23 servings. You have to really admire the whole work and the dedication to create something like this that feels special, almost anachronistic compared to the current sushi scene. No pictures allowed. Yes there are many terms and conditions to agree to when making a reservation, but it’s so everyone is really focused. Reservations are easy but basically released the day before, and almost only for solo diners.
It’s always very quiet for the first half and then Sawada san will make a joke and discuss various topics. This time there was lots of discussion about Tsuruhachi and the influence of recently retired master Ishimaru-san (of Jimbocho Tsuruhachi). The mixed tuna-filled roll by Tsuruhachi, for example, may be interpreted here in a giant temaki form, this time with equal cut strips of bettarazuke and shiso. He jokingly calls it the “Sawada Big Mac,” while discussing how he’s not sure why western social media has made out his shop to be a maguro specialist. Another instance of Tsuruhachi-related lineage is the option of kuragake tamagoyaki, with oboro (one I had from 5th-generation sushi chef Uchida-san at Bentenyama Miyakozushi the day before. Miyakozushi, discussed below, is a 160 year-old institution with close ties to early Edomae sushi). Sawada-san has maintained a pure and focused approach since grinding through his days back in a tiny 5-seat shop in Nakano.
While the nigiri is not my absolute favorite, it makes more sense in context of Edomae influences. I appreciate the approach and actually found this visit noticeably better than the 2 last year. The shari, which is borderline hard and quite salty, was better this time. Kotegaishi in quick motion. Nigiri is medium-compact, a bit saucy (2 different nikiri with notable presence), shari is salty, powerful, with pearly small but quite firm grains, good tsubudachi, not tight but not airy. This is edomae that feels like a refined and high quality version of old school approach. Marination is good, at times strong but I’m quite sure that’s intentional. The smoke presence for warayaki items is also very strong, reminiscent of Sukiyabashi Jiro Honten’s.
Favorite items were: sakuradai (with pickled sakura blossom - a great seasonal and thematic nod but it was also well balanced and with plump texture), lightly steamed shirauo with fukinoto (elegant bitterness from both the eyes of shirauo and the butterbur buds), a plump kensaki ika inrouzume filled with kanpyo, shari goma, and with a niitsume, and the clams (torigai, akagai).
Take home napkin with artwork by Sawada-san’s wife. Sakura theme.
Sushi Akira (Hiroo), 2nd visit.
A rising star (actually currently #9 in Tabelog’s Tokyo sushi standings), with some high end ingredients and some interesting dishes. It’s already very successful but I say rising star because I think there’s already lots to like, but even higher potential. I know some who love this place and some who aren’t really fans. I actually found my previous visit a little bit better. Maybe if / when they move to a new space, the experience will improve a bit.
Drinks are good and service is quite attentive. They also do very well in service to foreign guests and have separately opened up another location in collaboration with Goryu Kubo at their old Nishiazabu space.
Aoriika, live.
Noresore (baby sea eel) as “udon,” in suppon dashi. Great.
Tai. First piece of nigiri - warm round sweeter shari as the vinegar hadn’t settled as much. Nice against the skin. High quality provenance - from Ehime, by Fujimoto-san apparently.
Hiramasa zuke, cut long then folded. Morning catch, crunchy and thin, with chives underneath. Very tasty.
Kohada - very good. Nice plump, moist cut, butterflied. Good balance against the slightly sweeter shari.
Umazurahagi with its liver. Really clean liver taste. Similar to kawahagi.
Bentenyama Miyakozushi (Asakusa), 1st visit.
Of the currently operating sushi restaurants in Tokyo, this is one of the maybe 10 or so most historical Edomae sushi institutions. Sure, sushi has evolved to be quite a bit more refined and high end, but one interested in Edomae sushi should visit here even if once for both context and edification. It is a mid-budget institution that, along with say Kizushi and Futabazushi, stick to very classic Edomae preparations.
This 160 year-old sushiya has close ties to early Edomae sushi, as a successor to Senju Miyako (1848), one of the Three Great Founders of Edomae sushi. The current sushi chefs are the 5th and 6th generations. The name changed by the 3rd generation chef based on a haiku. (It is not the Miyakozushi in Ningyocho at which Takaki Sugita of Nihonbashi-Kakigaracho Sugita trained. That Miyakozushi (1877) closed last August…but it focused more on chirashi sushi and a nimonodon, a famous lunchtime donburi topped with all simmered items.)
One of the “Gods of Sushi,” Hiroaki Kato, trained here at Bentenyama Miyakozushi and opened their Yanagibashi branch. From there you have Kanda Tsuruhachi, a legendary shop (as mentioned above) that has a profound lineage of successors, notably Shinbashi Tsuruhachi, then Shinbashi Shimizu and many from there.
Back to Bentenyama Miyakozushi, I chose the lunch set option of 12,400 jpy, featuring 12 pieces of nigirzushi and half a kanpyomaki, half a tekkamaki.
The chef today was 5th generation sushi chef Tadashi Uchida, 83 years old. 6th generation chef Daisuke Yamashita was not there this time. Nigiri come very quickly and are served in pairs. Kotegashi. Shari was a little bit tight, large in proportion, and not so warm, as one may expect at historical shops. Akagai was quite good, and I enjoyed the marinated items kohada and shako. Quality wise, I put this near Futabazushi, and I think that Kyubey (a legendary institution even if not as Edomae) is a bit more refined. Nonetheless, I like to visit a historical shop from time to time.
They are famous for their kuragake-style tamago nigiri with oboro (as at Sawada, above) in between and sayori no warabi-zukuri, which is halfbeak arranged to look like a bracken fern.
