Since the Lizziees had been to Ginza SK before and were friendly with Masa and his girlfriend-Sanmee (sp) (who takes care of the front of the house) we were warmly received and seated at the 10person sushi bar. The restaurant consists of the sushi bar, a small private room (which was not in use that evening) and a small kitchen. The sushi bar itself is blonde untreated wood (similar to Jewel Bako) congiured in an "L". Behind Masa's "stage" is another counter with a large flower arrangement. The chairs for the sushi bar are very comfortable (since the seat is yours for the evening this a good thing)...we occupied ours for some 3 1/2 hours since the amazing lizzie and I felt like old friends from the minute we met...The meal itself is $350...when you walk in the door. Masa makes the selections and you eat them how he serves them...no requests for change of sauce etc. It is autonomy at it's finest...substitutions-or deletions for allergies allowed. You may ask for additional pieces of what is served. That $350 does not include tax, tip or alcohol
!Lizziee's charming husband raided his wine cellar and provided some incredible wines which he also shared with Masa and his girlfriend. I am going to rely on lizziee to post the details of the wine (I don't want to make a mistake since we took no notes...and these wines were deserving of being accurately noted) and the service since she had experienced GSK before and could compare our experience to others they had.
Moments after we were seated an "amuse" of marinated, cooked eel liver was placed in front of each us. I would guess it had been marinated and cooked in a teryaki style broth. Very tasty.
1st Course-Tuna Tartare served with toast points(topped with copious amounts of Beluga caviar for the Lizziees)...this was the finest preparation of this dish I have had. The tuna was chopped so finely its texture was like butter...no chunks or sinew remaining....just smooth pink tuna. I am sure the caviar added to the dish, but, I was very happy with my edition.
2nd Course-Blowfish many ways served on a mix of microgreens with a ponzu based dipping sauce. This was the first time I'd had blowfish....very interesting. I decided to be a purist and basically eschew the greens for the blowfish-sashimi, steamed and (I think baked). The texture and the flavor of the blowfish was akin to hirame. I did experience the odd tingling sensation one always hears about in connection with blowfish.
3rd Course- She Crab with Roe and Tomalley-One of my favorites of the evening- A bowl with a mound of finely shredded she crabmeat mixed with the bright red roe and the green tomalley. Excellent combnation of flavors and textures.
4th course- Seared Toro- simply seared slices of the incredibly rich toro we sampled earlier (more toro to come
)5th Course- Toro Shabu Shabu- A boiling pot of broth (soy/bonito based I think) was placed in front of each of us...along with a dish containing a large thin slices of toro and a mound of thinly sliced scallions and a second dish containing a soy based dipping sauce. Sanmee prepared our first bite for each of us, dipping the toro in the broth for perhaps three seconds, wrpaaing it around the scallions and then lightly in the dipping sauce. Excellent.
6th Course-Broiled Miso Marinated Cod with Cod Sperm and Lily Root- Another favorite for me- Perfectly cooked cod served with a piping of cod sperm (something else I had never had- the consistency was similar to a parsnip puree, as was the color and texture and 3 small pieces of lily root. Excellent.
7th Course- Okay- get ready---A little bamboo basket was brought to each of us... it contained a paper wrapped "candy" surpirse---it was certainly a surprise. Once opened there sat a whole white truffle which had been cut into threee pieces dipped in tempura and fried...Can you say decadent??! The texture of the truffle was quite different. Perhaps Lizziee could comment. I likened it to chestnut- but, a tad "firmer"...and the truffle flavor was still there. I do have to admit I would rather have my truffles in the traditionally shaved way...but, it was an interesting way to experience a white truffle...and it was tasty.
Then came the sushi- 1 piece of each--with the excepton of the uni- which we had to have a 2nd piece of
- yellowtail, toro, yellowtail, aji, whitefish, seared toro and an unagi roll. All very lovely specimens.Dessert (at least the one GSK served) was a let down. It appeared to be a grapefruit granite topped with chunks of ruby grapefruit. I indulged in the incredible 1942 Madeira from Mr. Lizziee's celllar...it (like all the wines) was outstanding
.As we didn't take notes and did imbibe lots of wine, I hope I haven't left anything out...Help me out here Lizziee and add your thoughts and comments...especially about the WINE
and what you liked and what disappointed you 
.I thoroughly enjoyed the company- the evening flew by- and over all the meal itself...but, I found the price tag steep overall. I, for one, would not even think of going to Ginza Sushi-Ko when it opens in NYC (unless it was on an expense account---and not mine
)-$500 per person without tax, tip or alcohol is way out of the realm of my sensibilities!
