After taking a brief hiatus for finals… Food!
As I’ve gotten older (constant reminder from terrible friends, you know who you are), I’ve also gotten much more picky about my sushi. Just a FYI for those who don’t know, if you can’t make it to Japan, Taiwan is my personal next best place to eat Japanese food.
Sushi Tsubaki (December 2015):
Address: 7-7-6 Ginza Chuo Tokyo
Hours: Monday – Saturday 12:00-13:30, 17:30-22:00 (21:00 on Saturday)
Price range: ¥ 5,000 – 12,000 Lunch sets (~$50-120), ¥ 13,000 – 18,000 Dinner sets ($130-180)
Website: http://sushitsubaki.jp/, Tabelog page. They take reservations via phone, and the team speaks English
A shop with around 10-12 seats at the countertop, Sushi Tsubaki is similar to many small sushi shops in Tokyo. Focused on the quality of experience and freshness of the food, counter top service means the chef is able to deliver each piece of sushi at its freshest point.
At Sushi Tsubaki, every seat has a different plate in front of the chair (see above!) for service. The chef will start by placing ginger on the plate (to cleanse the palate between each sushi). Then service begins!
The following pictures are in the order they were served. Each nigiri (sushi with fish on top) is doused in what the chef finds to be the optimal level of sauce, and therefore, should not require additional soy sauce. As each piece is served with warm sushi rice, best not to wait too long before consumption!
Typically, the progression starts with all the raw items, and then moves to the cooked pieces!
Once all the nigiri is served, the meal will usually close out with soup (miso soup), and then egg and sushi rolls.
Et voila! The best part of the whole experience is being able to watch the chef work on every item in front of you, especially the time and care they put into the work. Ginza has many hidden gems in its back streets, and it would be an absolute waste to not check them out during a trip to Tokyo! One of the best ways to search for restaurants in Japan is Tabelog (restaurant link is in the description above) – basically Japanese Yelp! Dinner can be substantially more expensive than lunch time offerings, so for those of us who haven’t developed very picky palates yet, lunch is definitely better value for the money.
