Sushiya
We were all beyond exhausted but kept it together for dinner pushing us to get on Tokyo time. Finding the restaurant was not easy. Nothing is easy to find here. Most places are located down random alleys on different floors. You know you are there from Google maps but you are not there. It can be very frustrating.
Sushiya is a small restaurant with only 8 seats. We took over the entire restaurant. There was nobody else there except for us which makes for a very unique experience. The chef, Takao Ishiyama and his side kick served us.
We began with a small bowl of roe. Sweet, tasty large eggs that literally explode in your mouth.
Marinated tuna seared on the edge that we dipped into the soy dipping sauce.
Chopped baby shrimp
Monk fish liver. Not for the faint of heart. Really creamy and rich.
Grilled scallops between two pieces of seaweed. A scallop sandwich.
Seaweed that is sitting in a gingery cold broth.
Grilled swordfish which was incredibly sweet.
Toro sushi. Rich and melts in your mouth.
Marinated tuna in soy.
Abalone. A little tough but interesting.
Tiger shrimp lightly cooked. The chef obviously has hot hands. He ripped the shrimp out of its shell while it was steaming hot to make this piece of sushi.
Mackarel split open with a scallion tasting pesto on top.
Hamachi, yellow tail.
Gooey clam.
He took a bowl of rice and put 5 large pieces of uni over the top and a little bit of soy sauce. He then mashed this up to create an uni rice. Then put a little bit in each bowl and topped it with some more fish roe. Pretty spectacular.
Grilled eel.
Chopped toro handroll. You can't beat this.
A large piece of sweet egg for dessert.
We rolled home and hit the bed hard!
Comments (Archived):
Sounds and looks delish! Bravo on your explorations too; I can’t imagine navigating such a different culture (although the way we love sushi; I’m sure I’d find a way). On a very different note, what digital media do you see around the area? I think of all the stickers on restaurants in the US suggesting we find them on twitter, etc., thoughts so far?
everyone has a twitter handle. it is everywhere. although there is an underlying bent towards tradition that we do not have in the united states. as advanced and futuristic as japan is there is definitely this feeling that in the US we are much more attached to social media, internet, etc.
I recall a presentation earlier this year that suested that 54% of Japanese people have no social media accounts of any sort, that 8% of twitter accounts are private (much higher than anywhere else) and that it’s culturally rude not to respond individually to every facebook comment you receive.
Whenever I’m in Asia I search for the familiar to get grounded, find it and still feel lost in a foreign land.Healthy for my sense of being in charge to travel there but often a challenge to any sense of calm.Enjoy!
Nice recount. Thank you. I love their creativity,- simple, yet it changes the whole piece of food, like splitting a mackerel to fill it, slicing shrimps, seaweed sandwich, or mixing uni with rice.I love uni and used to pick loads of it in the mediterranean while growing-up, and eat them on the spot. I’m going to try that one at home one day.
I love your first two pictures of the counter – with and without the Itamae!
Now that’s sushi … looks fabulous
We added going to one of those little places to our todo list after we watched _Jiro Dreams of Sushi_ I’m fascinated by people who are that passionate about something.
these photos are really beautiful. Among some of your best.
Your photos are getting so much better. Really good. In about two days your clocks will be back on schedule.
Everything looks so good. I was wondering what you thought of the Monk fish liver and the gooey clam; the only items in your post that I have not eaten before. Great pics, great post. Keep ’em coming!Happy Holidays!
I realize this post is a couple of years old but I’m curious if you can provide the restaurant information if it still exists? I tried googling “sushiya” and the chef’s name but I cannot locate anything. I recognize the chef from when I dined at Kanesaka and would love to try this place during my upcoming trip in January. Thank you!
ask your hotels concierge. i have zero idea.
Hi Mariana, This restaurant is called Sushi-ya in Ginza. Here is the phone number 03-3571-7900. Good luck!
Hi Jenny,Thank you so much for the information! I have my dinner reservation all set. 🙂
Hi Mariana,Did you call and reserve in English? I’m heading there in April and planning to go for lunch or dinner 🙂
Hi Jenny,I didn’t make my own reservation. I gave the information to my hotel’s concierge and she booked the reservation for me. 🙂
Just came across this post. I enjoyed your review and pictures of Sushi Ya. How is the experience here for non-Japanese speakers?
fine.