2 Edomae sushi masters: Hichiro Mizutani and Keiji Nakazawa

[Bu Pun Su]

Sushi Mizutani is the name that every sushi lover should be familiar by now. Honestly, it’s not on my top list of the sushi place I would like to visit in Tokyo. I wanted Sushi Saito, but not very sure whether we would be able to secure seats and at the end it didn’t work. Mizutani, Yoshitake, or Sawada naturally came up as alternatives. I’ve been to Yoshitake HK so I didn’t feel the urgent to visit its “head quarter” in Ginza. It may sound funny, but eventually I chose Mizutani over Sawada simply because Hachiro-san is a more senior Itamae. I ate at Jiro Ginza 6 years ago, so kinda curious about the only other sushi place who got 3-star Michelin in its first edition. Thanks to the advancement technology, there are plenty of info about how to get into this place. Also with a helpful assistance from Okura hotel’s concierge, we didn’t really have much difficulties to locate this famous sushi bar.

The restaurant is simple and humble, seated up to 10 people only. When Michelin claimed its criteria is to judge restaurants purely on food, it’s likely to be true for this place. During our lunch, there were only 7 guests; among them was a Japanese couple who have been here numerous times. I asked how many? The man asked Hachiro Mizutani and even Mizutani-san lost count. So when his spouse told me than they’ve been here almost 50x, well it’s probably true. As regulars, they consumed plenty of extra items that the rest of the customers didn’t get. At first, this place was almost as stuffy and rigid as Sukiyabashi Jiro, especially when we’re the only guests. With my “caveman level of Japanese”, I tried to engage a conversation with the sushi master. Simple question would receive simple answer. As I asked something more complex, I often only understood half or sometimes less of his reply. But at least, I managed to break the ice – he’s become more loose since then, and even more when his regular guest arrived plus another group from HK/Canada.

The omakase menu is pretty straight forward, to be exact for our case we got: 14 nigiri pieces (including tamago), 4 kind of sashimi and 2 rolls (dried gourd and fatty bluefin tuna). There’s almost no piece that was not at least tasty, even the kampyo-maki at the end was surprisingly good. Anyway, I liked the following:

- Sushi: Kohada (the silver-skinned fish was delicious with balanced vinegar flavor), Ika (Japanese squid was unlike any other. It’s clean and smooth), Otoro (sublime and melt in my mouth as expected), Sayori (fresh and inherently sweet, probably the best Half beak I’ve ever had), Anago (creamy with the right amount of sweetness) and Tamago (possibly the 1st time I ever mentioned that the tamago is among my favorite pieces in any sushi places; the egg custard, carefully prepared with small ebi, was just moist, fluffy and pleasantly sweet – very umami. Yes, it’s better than the tamago at Jiro, Sushi Shikon or Sushi Shou). Before leaving, I also asked for an extra piece of Otoro and Anago

The rests of the sushi: hirame, akami, chu toro, akagai, mirugai, aji, kuruma ebi, and uni. Note that the nigiri piece here is quite long, but the size was not as big as at Sushi Shikon in my opinion.

- Sashimi: Mushi Awabi (arguably the best thing I ate for this lunch. It’s perfectly tender and delicious. Only Yoshitake’s abalone with liver sauce comes close) and Tairagi (aka pen-shell clam. It’s an interesting kind of clam – firm & crunchy with delicate sweetness; never had it before)

The rests of the sashimi: seared scallop wrapped in nori and saba

A very satisfying meal with high quality shari and (shell) fishes. The rice is firm, al dente and less acidic compared to Jiro’s; the temperature is just right. It’s easily one of the best sushi-ya I’ve ever visited, but it’s not cheap for sure. Nevertheless, this meal still cost less than my lunch at Jiro Ginza 6 years ago. For food only, I would give 95/100 (2 ¾* equivalent) - It’s just slightly better than Jiro Ginza. For sushi fanatics, you have to go to both places at least once in your lifetime. Considering service, the overall experience is ‘only’ 93 pts in my notes. Sorry no pictures to share, Madame Mizutani was very strict with it; she gave us stern look even as my wife posed at the entrance.

The review of Sushi Shou is coming soon, hopefully in a couple of days

Edited December 1, 2013 by Bu Pun Su (log)

[Bu Pun Su]

Michelin is not always a winner when it comes to Tokyo’s guide. I pretty much agree with more than half of the restaurants that got 2 and 3 star. However, when it comes to sushi, interestingly many of the sushi bars that receive high scores at Tabelog, actually receive no star from the red book guide. One of them is Sushi Shou, a sushi-ya that has become the talk among sushi fans and experts because of the unique approach taken by its Itamae, the skillful Chef Keiji Nakazawa. His method is so unique that anybody who follows the same/similiar technique would be known to apply Shou-style. A remarkable appreciation to Nakazawa-san’s approach toward sushi. What’s special about it? The chef thinks that fresh fish has no taste and like beef, seafood needs to age in order to draw out most of its flavor. The seafood is only half of the formula of good sushi; the other half he believes that each fish is required to be matched with specificly prepared rice (white vs brown rice; white vs red vinegar(ed) and its intensity level). Often, the fish needs to be cooked as well. It’s indeed quite complicated, but the true master would definitely devote his energy and mind for this kind of perfection.

Sushi Shou is located in the Shinjuku district, tucked away in the quiet neighborhood of Yotsuya. It’s far from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo metropolitan. Like any other places serving tasty food, it simply does not matter where they’re hidden; people would be willing to make effort for those delicacy and Sushi Shou is without exception. The dinner has 2 seatings. When my wife and I came earlier, the counter was literally packed. The atmosphere was quite lively and relaxing; guests (all were locals) had no problem conversed a bit loudly. They all seemed to have a good time. Then come our time, the restaurant was once again full. The funny thing during the 2nd seating (close to 9 PM), most of the customers, but one person, were non-Japanese. Some of these Singaporean people tried to book another dinner at Sushi Shou for their next visit in mid/late Dec this year but they’re told that the restaurant had been fully booked until end of the year except for scattering 1-2 seats at random dates. That’s how popular this restaurant has become even with foreigners, though perhaps not many westerners are familiar with this place

Let’s jump to the food now. Omakase was the only menu available. Sushi Shou is not only about sushi, but you will also have sashimi and light bites. My only compalain was that the portion for non-sushi items were often too small. Next time I probably should ask for more or bigger pieces. My best dishes (there were many of them actually) are the following:

- Barely warm Ika stuffed with rice, a traditional dish with balance flavor. I wish it had been bigger ..

- Keiji from Rausu; this infant Salmon is more oily but lighter in texture than the regular salmon; it has clean and elegant flavor. Like Toro, it's 'melt in your mouth'; I felt lucky to have tried this scarce fish

- When it comes to shrimp, I usually don’t bother to eay anything but Kuruma Ebi. But, the prawns at Sushi Shou were apparently very umami. First, the cooked Ebi with Oboro; it is sweet with firmer texture while the vinegared eggs (smart addition) enhance the prawn's umami flavor. Here, the red rice worked well with this 'full body' crustacean; a great piece of nigiri sushi

Next, Botan Ebi aburi in 2 serving - its tail and head. The torched botan prawn, seasoned with ground 'salt' and Japanese citrus, was sweet, succulent and tasty; the prawn's head was crunchy, smokey and even more flavorful than its tail

- Aging fishes: Buri (aged for 1 week), this adult and fatty Yellowtail is tender and a bit oily; it's almost taste like a toro. Chutoro (aged for 10 days), the aging process would allow the flavor of this Tuna belly to mature. Not as fatty as the Chutoro I had earlier, but more complex

- (O)Toro group: Chopped toro ohagi, one of Nakazawa-san's many specialties. The delicious chopped tuna was mixed with onion, sesame and scallion and integrated with the sweet glutinous rice; Otoro was perfect pink and white marbling. As expected, it's very yummy and melt-in-my-mouth

- Ankimo with 'pickled (baby)' watermelon. An amazing morsel, truly a sheer of delight - the buttery & rich liver is contrasted to the fresh & crunchy watermelon

- Lightly steamed Ezo awabi; it has gentle texture and slightly chewy with deep & unique flavor

The rests of the stuffs not mentioned here was generally also good. In total in I was served almost 30 dishes and a few extra nigiri towards the end. I invite you to click the link below if you want to know more.

Tokyo is never short of delicious sushi-ya. But for me, Sushi Shou is my favorite sushi place in Japan (as far as the food is concerned, this place is better by a small margin when compared to Sushi Mizutani and Sushi Jiro Ginza) and thus, Keiji Nakazawa is the world’s best sushi chef. The setting was far from being stuffy, quite the opposite it’s very relaxed and informal. Chef Nakazawa was helpful, friendly and gracious. He and his team wanted to make sure that the guests, even when they speak very little or no Japanese, would be feeling comfortable and having fun. I can imagine for someone (with fluent Japanese) who’s fanatic about sushi and fishes would have a time of his life at Sushi Shou since the chef-owner was enthusiastic whenever there’s guest asked about his food and cooking technique. Since it’s not anywhere near Ginza, the bill was friendlier to my wallet. The food alone, I bestow this place 96 pts (a solid 2 ¾* by Michelin standard). Sushi Shou is actually an easy picked for Michelin’s highest accolade had Nakazawa-san not rejected its inspector or had the inspector respected/understood sushi more according to him

If you wonder how the dishes look like, check them out here: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/SushiShouTokyoJapan

If you want to read more detailed review, click the following: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.com/2013/12/sushi-shou.html