Sushiya - formerly Sushi Iwa - And, how I learned to eat fish sperm...

It was our last night in Tokyo till we come back in a few weeks. Our hunger for great sushi has still not been sated. We decided to try for Sushi Iwa. Iwa was the first Michelin starred sushi bar we'd ever been to. Straight off the plane, we dumped our bags at the hotel and headed out to find sushi. But that was three years ago. We hoped he'd have us again even with Georgia in tow. It took a little to find this place even though we'd been here before. The first time we spent an hour looking for the place. This time not nearly as long but I did have trouble pin-pointing the alley it was hidden in.

Abalone

Bonito

I poked my head in the door. There didn't appear to be any customers. So far so good. I didn't recognise the chef but I first thought maybe it was Iwa and my memory sucked. I asked if it was okay for us to have 3 seats including a child and he said yes. Even better. Then I said "Iwa?" and the reply was a disheartening no. New name and new chef. Bugger. It is now called Sushiya. We decided that a bird in the hand is better than not getting sushi at all, and anyway, how bad could it be? The chef and place looked the part.

Sperm Sac! Sperm Sac! Sperm Sac!

Shrimp and Roe

So began another night of most excellent sushi. We use the Michelin Guide because how else can we decide where to go and what to eat? I mean, most of the better restaurants in Tokyo are hidden by a curtain in alleys or basements or on the 12th floor of some office block. Without a guidebook you don't even know what cuisine they specialise in. A cursory look through a window will not tell you if the place does sushi or tempura. Other than guide books you can only rely on local knowledge. Hotel concierges only know so much, and, if you stay somewhere like the Monterey they're next to useless anyway. We happened on Sushiya just because it was formerly something else. What a fluke that this was as good as any Michelin starred sushi place we've been to.

Some sort of tiny shrimp or plankton

It probably means there are hundreds of decent sushi places in Tokyo. The difficulty is finding them. As tourists only here for a short time we don't have time to try and fail. That ain't fun. Luckily Sushiya was a hit. It answered one question we'd thought about. Are non Michelin starred places cheaper? Quick answer, nope. You may have heard that dinner at Jiro can cost about $300 per head. That is probably the most you'll pay. Everywhere else is around $150 to $300 per head. You can halve that for lunch. We were here for dinner. No lunch discount for us. On the plus side. We were in a sushi restaurant with Georgia after dark. That is a big win.

Our chef, like Kanesaka a couple of days ago, is gracious and most accommodating when it comes to Georgia. He was happy to make up some tuna sushi for Georgia. As usual she also shared whatever we had too. Except for the cod fish testicles. Remember I mentioned something about sperm a couple of days ago? This was a warm dish of what looked somewhat like cooked brains. It was soft and squishy and even tasted a little like brains. When our chef served it he said it was cod fish liver. Since then I did a bit of research and now know it was testicles. More accurately described by Wikipedia as a sperm sac. They can be served raw but for once I was really glad a fish dish was cooked. Even when we were eating it I had a sneaky suspicion it wasn't liver. That's why I looked it up.

Every time we've been to a sushi bar we've been served something we've never had before. This time it was the sperm sac. I still reckon sperm sacs taste better than sea cucumber. And yes, I swallowed. Ahem.

When we arrived we were the only customer but the place filled shortly afterwards. Sushiya only seats 8 or 10 people. Apart from us there was cranky looking guy with his trophy bride and a group of 3 younger guys. They were amused at my taking photos of the food but after a while they pulled out their phones and were snapping away too. We even compared photos. They were amused at Georgia powering through her sushi. When they left they said Georgia was very cute. Mr Cranky Pants barely acknowledged us. He is probably the type of customer that chefs restrict access to children for.

Sushiya is the first sushi restaurant that had a kimono clad waitress/hostess we've been to this time round. Most places, except for the Hiyama the other night, have been sausage fests. She was a delight and seemed relish talking to Georgia. She was another that got a "bye bye" out of Georgia when we left.

All in all the sushi here was excellent. I'd go back again for sure. Michelin star or not.

This ends our first stint in Tokyo. We come back to Tokyo in about 2 weeks. Tomorrow we pick up our car for our drive around central Honshu. The first stop will be Nikko about 2 hours drive to the North of Tokyo.

Sushi Kanesaka

After one full day of trying to get into Michelin sushi places I was almost a broken man. We couldn't get in anywhere. Yesterday I almost begged Michelle to stop the relentless pursuit of perfection and just grab some sushi, anywhere. I mean, we're in Tokyo. The average sushi has got to be better than average at home? I'm so glad she can be stubborn sometimes. Lunch today was at Sushi Kanesaka. A small place hidden in the basement of a nondescript building at the bottom end of Ginza, near Shiodome. We even turned up shortly after they'd opened at 11.30am thinking that we'd have more chance if we got in early. We'd dropped in here yesterday trying to get dinner but, again, Georgia was the sticking point. Chef Shinji Kanesaka, though, suggested we could come back for lunch. Really I asked? And he said sure. I doubt he expected us to front up the very next day. And we did, and he was a man of his word. His offsiders looked a little dubious but as soon as we sat down they thawed a little too.

At the end of our lunch Shinji Kanesaka popped over the counter to say goodbye and put his hat on Georgia's head for the photo.

Sushi Kanesaka has been double starred (2 Michelin stars) in the past, however I think at the moment he has been awarded only one star. Michelle and I discussed this later. We've found that while the 2 and 3 star places are sublime, sometimes they can over finesse or try for too much individuality and that can distract from a great sushi experience. Sometimes the 1 star places are more "honest" maybe, and the sushi experience can be as great as a 2 or 3 without the bells and whistles.

Grilled kobashira - Scallops

We sat down at the counter right in front of Kanesaka. Georgia sat between us. We were asked if we wanted the short set or the long. That was a no brainer. The long course of course. After asking us if we could eat anything we were away. Typically sushi meals start of with some sashimi, then a couple of possibly cooked pieces of fish, then the nigiri sushi and finally miso soup, rice and a dessert. It is formulaic in that the style doesn't change much but the content is usually seasonal. The menu can be completely different on a day to day basis. Last time we were in Tokyo it was February so many sushi joints would serve up variations of moon fish liver. Fish foie gras. I asked Kanesaka if it was still the season for moon fish but, sadly, no. But then again there could be something equally as delicious now that isn't available in February. Did I say delicious? I could mean weird. Think of sperm. Hold that thought, I'll get back to that in a later post.

Yummy

Baby shrimp and uni - sea urchin roe

As you may or may not know our little 2 year old Georgia is a sushi connoisseur. She loves it. Mostly she loves salmon sushi but she loves many many (if there are more than a few of anything Georgia will say "many many" :) ) types of raw fish. We asked Kanesaka for a couple of small pieces of sushi which he was happy to oblige. In the meantime we our dishes which were starting to come in quick succession. Unfortunately for Michelle and me Georgia has our taste. She likes what we do. When a small dish of raw shrimp topped with sea urchin roe appears of course she loves it. We just have to get used to having smaller portions ourselves I guess. Kanesaka was watching with an amused expression his face so it wasn't long before a small dish of raw shrimp is placed in front of Georgia for her. The shrimp and roe, by the way, are oh so delicious.

Hairy crab

More shrimp please

We were lucky enough to be served by Chef Kanesaka himself. It was a reasonably quiet lunch and there were only a couple of other diners. If all 14 seats are taken up Kanesaka looks after one end of the counter and his apprentice the other. As it was the apprentice was only setting up the other end for the evening and helping Kanesaka. At one point the apprentice was making too much noise and Kanesaka turned around a told gave him a short "Kudasai" (please).

Even the cooked fish is to die for

Slicing the bonito

Georgia tried just about everything and loved it but we had to keep re-ordering the tuna sushi. She got hers before we did by the way. It amused Kanesaka how she kept putting it away. Each piece of sushi he made for Georgia was made with the same care and attention to detail as he did for every other customer. The only concession he made was to make them slightly smaller for little hands and mouth.

Bonito

Knife magic turning chunks of tuna into... something wonderful.

What makes or breaks sushi is the rice. Every sushi chef has his, most are men but Shinji told us there are a few women now, own way of preparing the rice. Different vinegars, some more some less, salty or less salty, al dente or slightly softer. Kanesaka's was excellent. Slightly al dente and you can feel every grain and not too vinegary or salty.

Chu-toro tuna

Blue fin tuna

For people like us this is the ultimate in dining experience. It isn't just the food, although it is to die for, it is the whole theatre of the occasion. What really makes it for us is having Georgia there with us. We hoped that a trip to Japan and a visit to one of these sushi places would work with her and it has. In spades. We smile and laugh at her enthusiasm for the sushi. She is shy at first but gradually warms to Kanesaka and by the time we're ready to go she can wave goodbye to him. It has been sensational. Every dish that is served makes me want to smile and cry at the same time. An emotional business eating food is sometimes.

Chu-toro

The fattiest most succulent o-toro tuna ever.

As I said, what an experience. Shinji Kanesaka is a really affable guy. He really made us feel welcome. I know he has apparently lost one star but this was as good a sushi meal as we've had in Tokyo. We've eaten at 3 starred places before (Sushi Saito for one) and we liked it here as much. I've read that Saito is actually a former apprentice of Kanesaka and Kanesaka is a part owner of Sushi Saito. Small world in sushi circles in Tokyo then. Kanesaka told us that we were very welcome to come again and he looked forward to seeing us again. Georgia may have been the sticking point originally but I think she won him over for us in the end. He was very keen to jump the counter for the traditional photos at the end of the meal. He even gave me his business card for a souvenir. We'll definitely be back.

Sake

Slicing the prawn

Prawn nigiri

Kohada - herring.

Kasugodai - Baby Sea Bream

Mackerel (I think)

A box of gold - uni, sea urchin roe

Uni

A couple more pieces of chu-toro for Georgia. You didn't think she'd get the cheap cuts did you?

Tamago (egg custard) and anago (sea eel). Delicious

Tuna roll. Beautiful tuna and rice rolled in an amazing crispy sheet of seaweed.

Shinji Kanesaka came around to say goodbye.

Sushi Kanesaka