This is a part of a 3 part series of ‘An Indian travels to Japan 2023’.

Food type – sushi (vegetarian & / or non vegetarian)

Address: Sushidokoro Ishihara https://g.co/kgs/J7VPXx

Contact details +81 3-3573-4134

Instagram: NA

Facebook: NA

Reservation site: https://je.omakase.in/r/yo256802

Bill – proof of payment

Description:

Sushidokoro Ishihara is an omakase restaurant. That means the chef decides what the guests eats, after understanding if the guest has any food restriction. The menu card only has broad choices of variety. Food is made one by one in front of guest & served. It’s an experience in itself, in addition to just eating great food.

We were walking around the street & asked a local shop about a good dinner place. He guided us to this restaurant. Usually this restaurant needs pre booking but we were lucky to get a seat as we were early.

This experience I think will remain in our memory for a long time to come.

The set up was like in a western bar/counter. The seats were comfortable & were of normal height. We sat directly across the table where chef stood & made each & every dish for us.

Throughout the evening (the time when we were there) chef just was making sushis & feeding us. Another chef was engaged with a family of 4.

Chef knew some words of English & we enjoyed our conversation with him. What he could not explain in English, he showed us a book with pictures & both Japanese & English text in it to explain.

What we understood after the experience

1. In India we are served sushi in DIY way. Sushi separate, soy & wasabi separate. At this restaurant chef put the right amount of soy & wasabi wherever needed. The sushis tasted way better with the right proportions.
2. Chef was a senior person with many years of experience. He did everything himself. No helper. Infact in other good restaurants also, where guests interacted with Chefs, none were junior person (unlike in India where most ‘live counter’ staff are junior employees / trainees).
3. Chef made the sashimi, sushi & nigiri in front of us. Nothing was pre made. He would cut the fish slices in front of us from a large chunk of fish.He would just pick rice, make a ball from it & proceed to make a sushi from it.

4. Chef was just cleaning his hands & was not wearing gloves. That’s normal. He made all sushis with his washed hands

5. Sushis are eaten with fingers. No chopsticks, no fork

• Sushi size should be bite size, is what we understood.
• Wasabi paste was made in front of us from the wasabi plant. As natural as it could get.

The food we had-

Starter – A mix of Cooked tuna fish & pieces of uncooked Grouper (fish), Kombu (sheet like appearance, algae/ seaweed) & Horse mackarel (fish). Kom u added to the crunch. The cooked tuna gave an intense flavour & added juiciness to the dish. The other two fishes added to the flavour & mouthfeel. Great start I must say.

kohada sushi – Gizzard shad (kohada in Japanese) looked like regular small fish we eat cooked, in coastal India.  Never imagined / had anything like this raw. Loved it.

kinmedai sushi – Splendid alphonsino (kinmedai in Japanese) was a red skinned fish with scales. Was intriguing initially & finally liked the mouth-feel & the taste.

 

Shima aji sushi – Striped jack (shima aji in Japanese) was good to taste.

Cooked tuna in a leaf atop a savoury egg pudding. Loved it to the core. The flavours were real & there was almost no added flavour.

Tuna sushi – Tuna is the most sought after fish in japan. The sushi was really nice. Never liked tuna sushi as much in India.

Chawhan mushi steamed egg has been our favourite at Japanese restaurants in Gurgaon – Kuuraku, Premium Ichi Zen & Raifu tei.

kuruma ebi sushi – Japanese tiger prawn (kuruma ebi in Japanese) did not seem too different than other tiger prawns we have had but never did we have in this form. Loved it.

Salmon roe & sea urchin (one from Hokkaido another from Aumori) on rice was pure love. We are very fond of salmon roe raw – every bite results in the large ‘boondi’ sized fish roe bursting in the mouth & a flow of flavours. Sea urchins were new for us & had very soft & juicy mouthfeel. Absolutely loved the new experience.

Abalone sushi tied with seaweed. Our first brush with abalone was on the physical table, not proverbially ‘on the table’. We have an artisan-made stone table with inlay of stone & abalone shell (same as in the Taj Mahal), made by artisans whose forefathers built the Taj. So, as you know by now, abalone is a shell fish whose shell is used in India (Agra) to make stone inlay product & the meat of abalone is eaten by people in many far-east Asian counties including Japan.

The meat was soft & chewy & had a distinct character. Really liked this new experience.

Fatty tuna – Fatty tuna is fish from the belly part of tuna fish, The fatty tuna sushi was undoubtedly unique in terms of mouth-feel – soft, creamy, flavourful. A mouthful of joy it was.

Freshwater clam miso soup was a first time for us. We had many miso soups earlier & had many more during the trip. This was one of the most robust ones in terms of flavours & taste due to the clam. Outstanding.

Conger eel sushi – burnt on leaf & then sushi made. Plain & with sauce

Contrary to popular belief by non-Japanese, salmon is not a sought-after fish by the Japanese. They rate tuna & fatty tuna above all. We were not served any salmon at this omakase.

Macha ice cream had a tinge of bitterness as expected & the low sweetness made ot very enjoyable. Not everyone likes macha but we did.

Overall – A memory that will stay with us for a long time.