In Ningbo, near In City shopping mall there is a cluster of Japanese restaurants. Some are really mediocre, but there is a group of eateries that stands out. They are located in the building pictured below: there is a yakiniku grill, a more formal kaiseki restaurant, and the omakase restaurant reviewed here (it is the located on the right corner near the entrance). On the left, not pictured, there is a good yakitori place called Bird Land. They all belong to the same owner.
The visit
The restaurant is the classic “hole in the wall”: it can host 9 guests around the counter. Two chefs were incessantly busy preparing sushi. I have been a couple of times for dinner.
I was welcomed with some inconspicuous marinated seaweed. Not sure whether it was meant as an appetizer or just a side dish.
The first dish was two pieces of sashimi: sweet shrimp and a white fish that looked like tai. All dishes were attentively garnished.
Then again a piece of white fish lightly seared.
The first piece of sushi was a large surf clam, very tender.
Then from the kitchen, I was served a piece of grilled fish, cod.
Next, Atlantic horse mackerel (aji) sushi.
A nice piece of o-toro with a tea scoop of sea urchin (uni), lightly seared with the blow torch.
A large scallop.
A maki roll with a generous portion of sea urchin.
An egg custard with salmon roe. It was very good.
A raw shrimp topped by sea urchin,
Salmon sushi.
A piece of wagyu beef sushi, the meat was seared with the blow torch.
Another white fish (maybe flounder).
There was a rice dish with foie gras.
Towards the end I got the classic miso soup.
The last dish was a serving of panna cotta.
The check
The omakase has a fixed price of 388 RMB (57.6 USD). It included 12 seafood dishes, a rice dish, a egg custard, the miso soup, and the dessert (that’s less than 25 RMB per dish and I am not counting the seaweed).
The omakase included top ingredients, they did not shortchange in me in any way. It was reasonably authentic and all seafood was excellent. It is a great little eatery.
It is also possible to order additional dishes a la carte.
Where in Ningbo:
590 Qianhubei Road, Yinzhou