omakase – Check Please!

Michelin-starred omakase in Kyoto: Gion Sushi Tadayasu

Gion Sushi Tadayasu got one star in the 2019 Osaka Michelin Guide. I elected it to try a quality omakase in Kyoto.

The visit

I made the booking through an online service for lunch.

The restaurant is located in a quiet backstreet of the historic Gion district.

Above the storefront before the opening and after with the classic curtains (noren).

The room only seated twelve people. Two chefs were working serving the guests. It was full. I was the only non-Japanese.

The appetizer was a bowl of cold noodles in a yuzu flavored broth. On a summer day, it was very refreshing.

The first nigiri was with karei (Japanese flat fish). I immediately noticed the tendency of the chef to put too much wasabi.

The second nigiri was shiro ebi (white shrimp) with caviar. I guess this is the way to go to win a Michelin star for an omakase.

The third nigiri was shima aji (striped jack, a seasonal fish).

The fourth nigiri came with tairagai (a type of scallop, but with firmer meat, Japanese pen shell).

The fifth nigiri had ika (squid). The chef put some grains of fine salt (so little to be invisible).

Sixth was katsuo nigiri (skipjack tuna).

Seventh was a toro (fatty tuna) nigiri.

Eight was a kohada nigiri.

Ninth was a uni nigiri. With a lot of uni, which was good.

The tenth nigiri was anago (sea-water eel) grilled. With its sweetness, it was a classic conclusion for the main part of the omakase.

The last course was a piece of tamago (Japanese omelet) and a bowl of miso soup.

The chef finally included a handroll with pickles.

The chefs were serving three different menus at the same time. Mine was the cheapest and shortest. I was finished after 90 minutes. For the more expensive menus there were additional dishes and more elaborated appetizers. I was satisfied with my menu.

The check

No check to display because I paid in advance through a booking service. Since I only had green tea (complimentary and rapidly refilled throughout the meal) there was no extra charge. The total cost was 7,128 yen (which includes the reservation system fees) or 66 USD. If you book directly it may be even a bit cheaper. I found the charge reasonable considering the quality of the seafood used. Overall, I did not feel a big step up from Chiharu in Osaka that was “only” a Bib Gourmand.

Where in Osaka:
572-9 Gionmachi Minamigawa, Higashiyama Ward.

The premium dinner omakase at Chiharu Sushi in Osaka (summer 2019)

I listed Chiharu Sushi as one of my top dining experiences in 2018. It was just natural to go back during my summer 2019 trip to Osaka. This time I opted for the premium omakase dinner (they offer two different omakase for dinner, one in the downstairs room, that is cheaper, and one more expensive offered in the room upstairs, which was mine).

At the end of the dinner the chef spoke with the guests and provided more information about the restaurant. The venue is owned by a group that also runs a sushi school (both in Osaka and Bangkok). At any given time there are half dozen chefs working shifts in the restaurant and they are mostly fresh graduates from the school. This is quite radical: usually new cooking staff has to work for years cooking rice and cleaning fish before being allowed to serve the customers. The fact that the chefs are young did not compromise the experience in any way. The chef who worked on the evening of my visit was very professional and also spoke English to present the dishes (I was the only foreign customer).

The visit

I used their new booking website to make a reservation. It required a credit card hold, but it worked fine.

The upstairs dining room is more comfortable because has a low counter with normal chairs. Downstairs they have bar chairs around the counter.

The first appetizer was octopus sashimi, with some pepper and mustard.

A second appetizer was amaebi (sweet shrimp) with mandarin jelly and biwa (loquat).

The third appetizer was a piece of boiled abalone, with some roe and juice.

Next was a platter with red grouper and bluefin tuna, both offered raw and seared.

The series of opening dishes was completed by flat head fish boiled with a herbal soup.

The first sushi was amadai, a prized seasonal fish from the waters of Kansai.

The second nigiri was shard sushi completed with egg yolk and vinegar powder.

The third nigiri was kampachi (amberjack).

The fourth nigiri was a classic tuna with a bit of mustard.

At this point we were offered some cubes of ginger root. The flavor was actually the same as regular sliced pickled ginger.

The fifth nigiri was nodoguro, a new fish for me with a distinct powerful wild flavor. Very pleasant if you like raw flavors.

The sixth nigiri was shiro ebi (baby white shirimp); its flavor was very different from a classic shrimp, with a plummy texture.

The seventh nigiri was lightly torched golden eye snapper. Another powerful flavor.

The eight nigiri was anago (salt-water eel).

The ninth dish was a temaki (handroll) with tuna and uni (sea urchin). A good dose of freshly-grated wasabi (horseradish) was also added (but this kind of wasabi is not too hot). The nori (seaweed) was gently warmed.

At this point the end of the omakase was marked by the classic miso soup.

The tenth and final dish was the restaurant’s version of the Japanese omelet. This was almost a cake, with some sugar, and very fluffy.

The whole service took around 2 hours.

The check

The check was 8,600 yen (80 USD). It was sharply more expensive than the lunch, but not excessive as a dinner omakase. I was particularly impressed by the choice of seasonal and sought-after seafood. If you seek value, probably the dinner omakase served downstairs at 4,000 yen plus tax is a better deal, as it should be remarkably similar (just one fewer nigiri and one fewer opening dish and perhaps some changes in the types of fish used for the nigiri).

Where in Osaka
5-12-14, Fukushima, Fukushima-ku Osaka-shi, Osaka
Address in Japanese: 所在地〒553-0003 大阪府大阪市福島区福島5-12-14コーポ福島1
See their website for more information and link to the reservation system.

Omakase in Ho Chi Minh City: the good, the ugly, and the bad

Vietnamese love Japanese food and there are new sushi restaurants springing up on a regular basis in Ho Chi Minh City. Omakase is another story. As you might already know, omakase means “I leave it to you” and indicates the next level of Japanese cuisine. The term is usually employed in relation to sushi and is a code word for a high-level dining experience.

The first restaurant to offer a serious omakase in Saigon, according to my knowledge, was Sushi Rei back in 2016 or so. It is still open at the time of this post. I never tried it as the cost is 3,000,000 VND (around 140 USD, probably excluding tax) and I am willing to spend that kind of money for an omakase only when I travel in Japan. Let’s say that this is the “ugly” one because of the price (but if price is no object, by all means try it and let me know!).

There are two very good omakase in Saigon that I enjoyed. One is Kiyota Sushi Sake Restaurant. Very nice atmosphere, you are served at the counter like in a real Japanese omakase restaurant and the seafood is top quality. I personally tried their 1,200,000 VND menu (52 USD) that included an appetizer, five kinds of sashimi, grilled fish, vinegar fish, steamed eggs, 8 kinds of nigiri sushi, miso soup, and dessert. They also had a more expensive and a cheaper menu. I must also say that the service was top-notch both during the meal and before in my communications on Facebook. Unfortunately my phone was unavailable during my dinner and I was not able to take pictures, so I cannot post a review. Another excellent omakase (but it is not sushi, it is tempura) is Hanabi Japanese Cuisine that I already reviewed and I continue to recommend. In both cases, a Japanese chef is behind the counter.

This long prologue to say that this review is about the bad omakase that I tried: Kasen.

The visit

I visited during my summer 2019 trip and I made a booking through their website for a lunch. It was not really necessary as I was the only customer. The restaurant is located not far from the central thoroughfares of District 1. On the paper, it was supposed to be a very good place. The owner is a Japanese-born chef, Shinji Murata, that established a successful sushi restaurant in Los Angeles. Actually this was the first red flag. The owner-chef did not live in Saigon.

The first disappointment was that no counter seating was available. I was informed that they were building one on the top floor, but at the time of my visit for a solo diner only the ground floor was available. The dishes came from the kitchen on the second floor (where also private rooms were available). This was the second red flag. But I was already there…

I chose their summer omakase that was a mix of sushi and other dishes. They also had a more affordable sushi-only omakase and a la carte ordering was possible.

Dishes were served and explained by a very professional waitress that could speak good English and actually knew the dishes inside out.

The first dish was beef taco with what I believe was white salsa and shrimp ceviche, all on the spicy side. American influence was all too evident.

Next was salmon sashimi with light chili dressing and wasabi, ginger, nori on the side.

I did not take pictures of the next three dishes. There was ikura with asparagus and egg yolk sauce. Then tuna tataki (actually one slice of sashimi tuna and negitoro on top, not sure why they called it takaki) with yuzu miso and rocket flower. The yuzu was not really distinct, but the flavor was disturbed by chili sauce on top. It was simply too spicy and killing the flavor. Definitely this chef likes it spicy. The appetizers were concluded by hamachi on a sauce mixing ponzu and minced radish. A jalapeno slice on top of each slice of hamachi completed the dish. Again, the fish flavor was overwhelmed by the sauce and condiments and personally I do not like it.

It was time for some nigiri sushi. On the website they stated that “sushi rice, which we believe is just as important as the fish, is served warm and loosely packed”. This was really great to my hear. Warm sushi rice is indeed one style adopted by some restaurants in Japan. So imagine my disappointment when it turned out that the rice actually was quite ordinary and not really warm.

The first trio of nigiri included lean tuna (akami), medium fatty tuna (chutoro), and fatty tuna (otoro). I can only say that the tuna came in very thin slices. Real thin. Not my favorite.

Next three sushi: seabream, foie gras, halibut, already finished with wasabi, soy sauce, and garnishes as it should be in an omakase. The foie gras was disappointing in terms of flavor (maybe overcooked?).

Then there was an unimpressive handroll with crab meat.

Next was a beef tenderloin dish on a potato mash with soy balsamic sauce (I suppose a house recipe). I wish the meat had been more tender. I do not think it was wagyu as you would expect. The sauce did not add much to the flavor. The potato mash was velvety and exquisite.

A final staple dish was a bowl of cold soba noodle that was ok. But again unremarkable.

Last was a scoop of matcha ice cream. This was very good (I believe it was supplied by Ralf’s Gelato).

The check

Final check was 1,672,000 VND (72 USD). It was my most expensive meal during my trip in HCMC in summer 2019 and it did not deliver (at least the tea came with free refills!). I appreciated the design behind the dishes, but in some cases an ingredient would take over and kill the rest of the flavors. I love seafood and I found the one served quite bland. Those thin slices on the nigiri where kind of sad. The problem was the execution. If the dishes were just a little bit better in terms of preparation and flavor, I would have had no issue with the check. Unfortunately most of the dishes were just disappointing and for this reason I cannot really recommend this restaurant.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
101 Le Thi Rieng, District 1.
Website: www.kasen.vn.

A Japanese omakase dinner in Ningbo

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

Massive omakase for 6,480 yen at Sushi Manten in Tokyo

After trying a luxury omakase in Sapporo and an unforgettable one in Osaka, I finally went for an omakase in Tokyo. There are many starred sushi restaurants offering omakase in Tokyo; I wish one day to try one, but they are very difficult to book. As a general rule, you need someone speaking Japanese calling the restaurant. Five star hotel concierges usually do that. Honestly, too complicated. Luckily I found a reference online to a mid-range sushi restaurant that could be booked online (see info at the end of the post): Sushi Manten.

The visit

With a reservation at 7.30pm on a Sunday evening, I arrived at 7pm. They had some free seats and allowed me to start my meal before the reservation time.

Sushi Manten is located in the basement level of a nice plaza called Marunouchi Brick Square. In the restaurant, two cooks serve up to 14 customers at the counter and some more customers seated at a table. The place really maximizes space… that means that you can feel a bit like in a sardine can. Take this into account. Service is very fast and the two cooks really work hard.

The cooks would hand you each piece of sushi (or sahsimi) on a plate in front of you. As usual, no need for adding soy sauce, they would take care of everything. Unfortunately, the counter is designed in a way that you cannot see exactly how they are preparing the dishes, even if they are in front of you. Most of the guests were foreigners.

To get things started, I was quickly handed a mini bowl of clam soup. Good.

First piece of sushi was a sardine. The first part of the meal seemed to be dedicated to sour and more dense flavors.

Then I was offered some seaweed in a nice vinaigrette sauce.

Then there were two pieces of Japanese halibut (hirame) sashimi. It was referred as seabass by the cooks.

Again sashimi, in the form of two bites of Spanish mackerel.

Again a piece of hirame, this time as sushi.

Then I was offered some wasabi leaves (or beans). This was something new. It looked like seaweed and it was quite hot… took me some time to finish it.

Then I was offered a piece of tofu (with some nutty backtaste). Very fresh. Almost a palate cleanser.

Then I got some shirasu (that means in general whitebait), in particular these were baby sardines. The flavor now started to revolve around salty dishes.

Then again something salty with a piece of mentaiko, that is spiced cod roe.

Back to sushi, with a piece of kin medai.

The next sushi was topped by a typical Japanese mushroom called enoki and came with a bulb of ginger.

Next, some edamame (immature soybeans in pods).

Then I was given a bowl of chawanmushi with a prevalence of crab.

Salmon roe (ikura) cannot be missed in an omakase… in this case on rice.

Next, some abalone sashimi, including some roe I believe.

Back to sushi with a raw sweet shrimp.

Then I really appreciated the salty flavor of some tarako (fresh and salted pollock roe. It is like mentaiko, but without the spicy flavor.

The next course was two pieces of tuna sushi, one piece was regular tuna and one the priced melt-in-your-mouth fatty tuna.

Then I was handed directly in my hand some uni (sea urchin) on rice in a piece of nori (a type of dried seaweed normally used with sushi rolls). Delicious.

Again, I was handed in my hand a “deconstructed” roll (temaki) with minced tuna.

The next piece signalled that we were heading toward the end: a piece of Japanese omelette (tamago)

Another classic end dish for an omakase: the miso soup, in this case a shijimi miso soup. Shijimi is a type of mini clam (sometimes called basket or blue clam) and very appreciated for miso soup. Only downside that it would take forever to eat the content of the clams! I believe this is kind of a signature dish that I saw also in another review of Manten Sushi.

In this finale, flavor went toward the sweet and this was confirmed by the next piece: anago sushi (saltwater eel that is indeed quite sweet as opposed to its freshwater cousin unagi).

Again with a sweet flavor from the sea in the form of a piece of sea cucumber.

With two seedless grapes handed again directly in my hand the meal ended.

This was an epic meal. The all experience lasted exactly 90 minutes. All the dishes were delicious and I was happy to experience a number of classics (hirame, tuna, uni, etc) along with some creative choices (tarako, abalone, wasabi leaves).

The check

The omakase cost 6,480 yen, including green tea, that’s around 58 USD. For over 20 dishes, that’s great value for money. I appreciated that they also included some expensive type of sushi like o-toro (fatty tuna) and abalone. They did not shortchange me in anyway. I enjoyed every bite and I was totally satisfied by the meal.

The only downside was that you are really squeezed seating at the counter. I was lucky enough that the seat at my left was empty for most of my meal. While I totally recommend Manten Sushi, comfort is important for me and this might be a dealbreaker.

If you know other great places for omakase in Tokyo not rated in the Michelin Guide, write in the comments.

Where in Tokyo:
2-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo: in the basement of Marunouchi Brick Square building (丸の内ブリックスクエア).
In Japanese: 丸の内２丁目６ー1 丸の内ブリックスクエアB1F.
There is an underground passage to Marunouchi South Exit of Tokyo Station.
Use this website for a reservation.
Check the restaurant’s website for up to date information. They also have another location in Nihombashi.

Luxury omakase chez Sushi Tanabe – in Sapporo

Omakase means more or less “I leave it to you” and it is a code word for luxury multi-course meals in Japan where the chef decide what you get. Typically an omakase involves sushi and this was the case with Sushi Tanabe, a premium dining venue in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Sushi Tanabe has been around for around 13 years (my visit dates back to July 2018) and 3 years ago moved in the current location a stone throw away from Sapporo station in a fancy commercial tower, The Rokkattei Building, on the 9th floor (where, by pure coincidence, you can find another interesting venue, Molière Café, the coffee shop spin-off of one of the most renown restaurants in town). In 2012 it was one of the 4 restaurants to get three stars (the highest award) in the inaugural Michelin guide for Hokkaido. The stars were abruptly dropped in the 2017 guide (more on this later).

The visit

I was able to make a reservation for dinner (it is not open for lunch) by email (a, rarity in Japan), but it does not look like a sold-out location any longer so walk-ins are probably possible. By the way, they have a pretty large location, with a big counter seating 13 guests and two cooking stations for two chefs to work simultaneously (they also have two private rooms, but the beauty of an omakase is to seat close to the chef).

I ordered the basic omakase set including an appetizer, 10 pieces of sushi and desserts for 10,500 yen plus plus (more on this in the “the check” section). Two more menus were available with additional grilled dishes and sashimi (the most expensive being priced 16,800 yen or around 150 USD).

As it happens in this kind of restaurants, the chef personally grated the horseradish to use in the sushi rice (no horseradish/wasabi available for the diner, all is taken care by the chef including the soy sauce) and cut the ginger (that was not replenished during the meal).

On the contrary of what happened in my previous omakase in Osaka, the chef served multiple customers arriving at different times and ordering different menus.

Here’s what I got:

Appetizer: a succulent oyster from Hokkaido with vinegar (but it was a small bite, I did not have the time to dip it).
Hirame: white fish usually translated with halibut.
Maguro: classic slice of tuna.
Kohada: gizzard shad is a small fish (around 5 inches) and the preparation involved to cut the fish slice on the surface, I guess to make it softer and get the flavor to emerge). According to the Sushi Geek, this fish undergoes extensive preparation and is marinated in vinegar.
Hotate: a meaty Hokkaido scallop, cleaned on the spot by the chef from the shell.
Aji: Japanese horse mackerel, with spring onion.
Kin medai: a reddish slice of golden eye snapper.
Uni: served on rice sprinkled with salt.
Sake: salmon, a piece with a bit of skin attached for extra flavor.
Ikura: a generous amount of salmon roe.
Miso soup.
Anago: a melt-in-your mouth saltwater eel.
Tamago: two bites of Japanese omlette.
Two desserts: Japanese tea and a cup of crème brûlée and ice cream with a bite of Hokkaido melon.

From the drink menu I ordered a Japanese peach juice. You can browse the gallery below to see pictures of each dish.

All dishes were delicious and executed by the book by the chef in front of me.

The check

The total damage for the dinner was 12,398 yen (around 112 USD). For an omakase dinner like this I find the price acceptable. I was put off by the flat service charge of 1,500 yen (that’s 13.5 USD) that I had not seen mentioned on the website. I know that it is normal for Japanese restaurants to levy cover charges (usually in exchange for a small appetizer called otashi), but I would have preferred them to embed this charge in the menu price or declare it on the website. While overall I was satisfied and I got my omakase, the large space and the fact that the chef was serving multiple customers with different orders at the same time made the meal less intimate than my omakase in Osaka. I would call this omakase “by the book”. Everything was executed well, no complaints, but I found the chef a bit too mechanic and hasty. Maybe was this the reason the restaurant lost its Michelin award? This is just speculation, but I felt there was no soul in the overall experience and I was in a cookie-cutter type of operation. This is not meant to be a disparaging comment. I would certainly recommend the place to others, especially considering that they are accustomed to deal with foreign customers and that’s certainly a plus. Personally, now I know what I want: in the future I will scout for smaller and more intimate places where I can see the chef/owner truly involved and enthusiast about the food he or she is preparing.

Where in Sapporo:
The Rokkattei Building 9 floor, 3-3, North 4 West 6, Chu-ou-ku, Sapporo city
Address in Japanese: 札幌市中央区北４条西６丁目六花亭ビル９階
See website in English for more information.

This meal changed the way I see sushi, for ever

Everybody knows about sushi: that quintessential Japanese food, raw fish on rice. I ate tons of sushi around the world in my life and I thought to be an expert, but I came to the conclusion that I had only scratched the surface after this unforgettable lunch in a classic “omakase” sushi restaurant in Osaka called Sushi Chiharu. Omakase means “”I’ll leave it up to you” and indicates a course meal whose components are decided by the chef. Sushi Chiharu embodies this concept in a classic small restaurant where all customers seat together at the counter and are served directly by the chef. In the case of Sushi Chiharu they have 7 seats on the first floor for lunch and 6 more seats upstairs that are available for dinner. All the diners are served simultaneously and this means that you need to show up punctually (lunch starts either at 11am or at 12.30; I joined the second group).

PS: I was back in June 2019 and I tried also their premium dinner omakase.

The visit

I chose this restaurant because it was recommended by the Michelin Guide (as a Bib Gourmand) and it allowed online reservation in English. This is really not common, most of these restaurants are very difficult to access without phone reservation. The reservation process was easy and did not involve any deposit. You can find the details on the restaurant’s website. (Update: since June 2019 they have been using a new system that requires credit card guarantee.)

The restaurant is located in an alley full of eateries in what seems an interesting neighborhood for food, Fukushima, and is operated by young chefs (the restaurant is affiliated with a cooking school). A female chef attended my group and prepared the sushi in front of us, while the male colleague worked in the tiny kitchen behind the scenes. All the other diners were Japanese and I certainly appreciated that the chef spoke in English to explain me the dishes.

What impressed me was how meticulously every piece of sushi was prepared. Forget about raw fish on rice! The fish component was attentively cut and dipped in soy sauce when appropriate while the rice was enriched with horseradish (wasabi) that was freshly grated at the very beginning of the meal (and it is not strong). Additional condiments were added for each piece of sushi in order to extol the right flavor. The best part was seeing the chef handling the rice in one hand, the fish in the other and finally putting the two together. There was something artistic in the movement and the result was that rice and seafood were seamlessly amalgamated together. This is how sushi is supposed to be made. Let’s see each piece of sushi part of this omakase.

The appetizer consisted in a small bite of broiled tuna surmounted by two specs of bell pepper.

The first piece of sushi was squid (ika) that was shredded by the chef with her knife and recomposed on each piece of rice. A sprinkle of lime and salt was added to enrich the flavor. Ika is not usually my kind of sushi but with this kind of preparation it was delicious.

The second piece was another white fish (hirame, most likely halibut). The fish was soaked in soy sauce but no wasabi was added to the rice to keep the flavor simple.

The third piece was a classic mackerel made sweet by the soy sauce.

The fourth piece was tuna (maguro) slightly seared. The chef added a tiny bit of mustard on top that beautifully added to the flavor.

The fifth dish was a tablespoon of sea urchin presented in a bowl with a pinch of wasabi. We were invited to mix it in the bowl with a wooden spoon.

The sixth dish was again a piece of sushi, this time a scallop (hotate), very meaty and generously soaked in soy sauce (but the sauce did not interfere with the natural taste of the scallop).

The seventh piece of sushi was made with tai (a pinkish fish that in English is usually translated as red snapper or seabream). A good dose of wasabi and lime were added. Tai is not usually that tasty, but it was in this case.

As an eighth dish we got a double piece of sushi made with a big cooked prawn whose shell was removed by the chef in front of us. The prawn was also soaked in egg yolk sauce and different types of salt and condiments were added to each piece.

The ninth piece of sushi sported a cut of saltwater eel called anago in Japanese. This is very different from the more common unagi (freshwater eel) that has a strong bitter flavor. Anago is a bit sweet and very tender. It melted in the mouth and did not leave any bad taste. The anago was grilled before being placed on the sushi.

The tenth dish consisted in two pieced of Japanese omlette called tamago and in a cup of miso soup. Tamago is also served on rice, but in this case was offered alone as the final dish. Since it has a sweet flavor, it is customarily left as the final piece of sushi to have in a meal. At this point of the meal the chef also asked if anyone wanted any additional piece of sushi (that was possible at a cost of course).

The check

I loved every second of this meal. Every dish was fresh and tasty like no similar sushi I had tasted before. I enjoyed watching the chef that not only showed impeccable skills but also looked genuinely happy in doing her work. I will venture to say that her calm passion was transmitted in the outcome of her work and in the atmosphere of the meal in general. The final check was 3000 yen (27 USD) that is more than reasonable and included green tea. Actually, I felt it was a steal. This kind of omakase meals easily cost 100 USD and up and, as I would have experienced shortly after in Sapporo, the added cost does not always translate in additional benefits. Sometimes, you end paying this money for a matsu (mix) of sushi in a regular sushi restaurant that will not show this level of attention and competence in the preparation of each piece of sushi. All in all, Sushi Chiharu was a great find and I would recommend it to everyone who wants to try this kind of experience.