Sukiyabashi Jiro, Sushi – Roppongi Hills

I read several reviews of this restaurant before going and noticed much debate on whether this was one of the better Sushi restaurants in Tokyo. Personally, I don’t think anyone who appreciates sushi could disagree with the quality of the seafood, it is really beautiful, the issue may be with the high price and the serious atmosphere, which some may find daunting/ uncomfortable.

The main restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro is in Ginza and is owned by Jiro Ono, famous for his exceptional Sushi, with the restaurant holding 3 Michelin stars. The restaurant in Roppongi Hills is owned by his son Takashi, and holds 2 Michelin stars. There is no menu as with most traditional Japanese restaurants, the menu is omakase (chefs set menu). The restaurant itself is all wooden, small with 10 counter seats and a few small tables.

One point to note is that the Ginza restaurant does not have any English menu/ English speakers and is limited to Japanese speakers only while the Roppongi Hills (RH) restaurant accepts bookings in English. There is a trainee sushi chef assistant at the RH branch who speaks english, he lived in Australia and will help explain the name of each fish served.  There are a couple of “rules” for sushi which can be useful for anyone new to Sushi. Firstly, do not pick up the plate from the counter. The plate should be left on the counter and you are expected to pick up each piece of fish from the plate with either chopsticks or fingers. There is a wet finger towel available so fingers are fine to use. Second, there are different ways to eat wasabi and soy sauce but the simplest is to put some wasabi on the fish and dip the fish in the soy sauce on the side of the fish not the side of the rice. It is worth noting that some fish may already come with soy sauce on them and some do not need any, the chef will usually advise on this. Third you are expected to eat each piece of fish whole, it is considered impolite to bite the sushi in half . As an additional note, sushi rice is not adviseable for anyone with a wheat/ gluten allergen as the sushi rice contains vinegar.

At the beginning of the meal, we were asked if we would like any sashimi. 3 types of sashimi were served, 2 fish and one seashell. I do not usually like seashell as it can be chewy but this one was soft and delicious. We were then asked if we would like any more sashimi or like to continue onto the sushi. There were about 10 different types of nigiri (Kanto-style rice and fish sushi) served. The sushi rice used for the nigiri is less cooked with more vinegar added than usual. First was some white fish, ika (squid) ebi (prawn), maguro (tuna) and otoro (tuna belly). Next was uni (sea-urchin) which tasted chilled and was amazing. Usually I do not eat sea-urchin as it can be salty and have a fishy taste but this one was from Hokkaido and was really beautiful. I also do not usually eat Ikura (salmon roe eggs) for the same reason, as well as the unusual texture but this one had no sea taste and was delicious. This was followed by saba (mackerel) and anago (sea eel) which was soft and melts in your mouth. The course ended with a sweet egg roll slice (the dessert) with the choice to have it with rice or by itself.

The full course menu was served within an hour exactly which some people may find too fast but this is to cater for the office workers in the area. The sushi was amazing and you will surely not find better, except in Ginza.

As one would expect with a 2 star Michelin sushi restaurant, lunch is very expensive, total cost JPY 23,000 per person with green tea only. No menu, reservations accepted in English.

http://www.roppongihills.com/shops_restaurants/restaurants/en/japanese/201660002.html

Top 20 Best Restaurants in Tokyo