Tokyo Michelin Tour | Hatsunezushi

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The restaurant has been around for a hundred years since 1893, with two Michelin stars and a silver Tabelog award, and is now ranked in the top ten in the sushi category in Tokyo with a score of 4.51. Doesn't that sound like a high-end sushi house in Ginza or Roppongi? But it's actually a small restaurant located in its own house in Nishi-Kamata, about a 40-minute drive away from downtown Tokyo. Hatsune Sushi has exploded onto the internet by offering great food and a relaxed, quirky dining environment, and has quickly become a difficult place to make reservations, so it was only thanks to a friend that I was able to get a reservation to enjoy this show in front of a sushi board.

I think Hatsune Sushi, which was redecorated two years ago, is more of a cut-cooking environment than the sushi restaurant we all think of, and nothing is more interesting than the artificial tree that unfolds like an umbrella in front of the plate of Nakaji-san's cuisine. Together with the lacquerware plates, which are not common in sushi restaurants, it really makes you feel the difference of this Hatsune-sushi from the moment you enter. The welcome snack of fava beans and boiled takoyaki from Kanagawa Prefecture, paired with a cold beer, really cleared away the fatigue and physical exhaustion of the long car ride, fully opening up the palate and preparing the palate for the dishes to come.

Nowadays, most of the newer sushi restaurants divide the meal into two parts: the sake and the sushi, which are presented one after the other, but here Nakajisan goes out of his way: he presents each guest with a large “eight-inch” box, which opens to reveal a four-piece sake dish that's neatly arranged and incredibly generous in size.

At first I was a bit puzzled as to why he handled it this way, but then Nakaji-San explained to us that he wanted to make it so that his guests could have something to eat while watching him in action, and then he began his performance straight away: he was seen pouring the cooked rice out of the iron kettle in its full form, then removing the boiling hot potpourri with his bare hands, and then finally pouring in the blended sushi rice and starting to beat the rice, and the whole process of The whole process was explained while making the rice, but it was done in one go, which really made people admire the old man.

After the rice is ready, the next step is to show the signature tuna: Hatsune sushi uses natural tuna from Ishiji, a famous tuna supplier in the Toyosu market, and the quality is naturally outstanding.

What's interesting is that during the presentation, the receipt for this huge piece of tuna is also presented to the guests, I guess this is to show the excellence and costliness of the house ingredients, and also to hope that the diners can feel that this not-so-cheap meal (48,600yen excluding drinks) is still a great value for their money.

With the waiter removing the eight-inch box, a potpourri made from the potpourri that Nakaji-San had just removed was served to cleanse the palate with a broth made from schwarma and channa fish. After that it was officially time to move on to the sushi portion of the meal: Hatsune Sushi doesn't have the usual sushi plates, they are made by the chef and placed directly in the hands of the customer. The good thing about this is that it ensures that every piece of sushi will be eaten at the “best time”, but the bad thing is that there is no way to take a good picture of it.

Interestingly, all of the fish is served on a heated platter, and the sushi is served with a visibly warm shirataki, making for an overall “warm” sushi sequence. I personally feel that Hatsune Sushi is as heavy-handed as Hiei Sushi in its handling of ingredients and flavors, and that it generally needs the warmer and more intense vinegared rice to complete a balance of flavors, which is quite a precise and meaningful detail to say the least.

In addition to the usual high-quality ingredients such as young gizzard shad from Amakusa or white sea urchin from Tosawa Seafood, the menu also includes expensive and rare ingredients such as matsutake mushrooms from Iwate, scented fish from Hiroshima, hairy crabs from Nemuro in Hokkaido, and the so-called “mirage ingredient” white sea bream, which is a real eye-opener and a real treat.

The presentation of the sushi was coherent and undulating, with the first consistent baffle mud squid being introduced by Nakaji-san as a perfect experience to be eaten in three seconds, and then the entire first half being taken over by Inuyasha-san. Nakaji then proceeds to handle and grill some of the next ingredients, and in the middle of the show, he even uses an iPad to broadcast live Facetime footage of him grilling the scented fish outside in the pouring rain, which can be said to be fresh and fun, and at the same time, will also make you respect the old man who is working so hard.

In the second half Nakajisan will take out the tuna that has been soaked for about half an hour or so from the previous soy sauce tank and start the three-part presentation of the tuna. I have to say that the tuna was handled well by the famous tuna restaurant, with the aroma of the naked fish filling the mouth without any blood acidity, and the medium fat and large fat showing a clear progressive layering in the summer, when the fish fat was not abundant, with the flavor gradually intensifying without the greasy taste of a mouth full of fat.

Finishing with a hand roll made from a mixture of fish ingredients, the satisfaction of the palate reaches its peak. At this point, the usual tamago-yaki arrives, bringing it to an abrupt end, but with a bit more of an aftertaste.

By this point in the meal, an hour and a half had passed. The 8 guests were invited to the next room to taste Nakajisan's handmade black honey katsura, homemade ice cream and hand-brewed coffee. Naturally, the katsukiri was not as good as Kyoto's, and the ice cream and coffee were not of a professional standard, so this session was more of a reflection of the Shogun's ambitions.

Moreover, as sushi is becoming more internationalized, the menu and flavors, which used to be more male-oriented, need to be changed or compromised to cater to more female customers, including the entire interior of the store, which is also different from that of traditional sushi houses. I don't think this is a bad thing, and it's probably because of these subtle thoughts and changes that Hatsune Sushi stands out from the thousands of other sushi restaurants in Tokyo in this small, isolated neighborhood.

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Despite the price tag, which is one of the most expensive restaurants I've ever eaten at, Hatsune Sushi does have a dining experience and some special qualities not found elsewhere, and it was a very enjoyable two hours, so if I have the chance, I'll be sure to bring my friends back for a return visit in the future.

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