Receta [TOKYO] Day 2: Sushi Bar Yasuda
Dear Food Diary:
NYC sushi lovers weeped when Chef Yasuda left Sushi Yasuda (Midtown East) for Tokyo a few years back. After all, he had taught us the standard rules and traditions of sushi 11 years ago. He brought the distance between the Big Apple and the Land of the Rising Sun to a minimal with just one bite. Once you had sushi at Yasuda, you became a snob in the best way possible, nothing else in NYC would really measure up.
Coming to Tokyo, Sushi Bar Yasuda was on top of my list. This is the Chef’s own restaurant, opened in 2011, with no connections to NYC. Friday night, when StakerBoy made reservations, we were delighted but also really surprised that we got a table for 4 last minute.
It wasn’t easy to find it on a rainy night, but finally, after a long walk from the subway, down the stairs we went. Excited as ever…
Sushi Bar Yasuda has 12 seats (8 at the bar and 4 at the table). Run by the chef and his wife.
The bar was full, so we sat at a table for 4 directly across. It’s a small cozy space. His wife greeted us at the door and was our waitress for the night. As we sat down, we must of clearly showed signs of being from America, fellow Yankees sitting at the bar said hello, while the Chef proudly announced “I’m from NY too, Astoria Queens!”.
The menu was simple, 10/12 pieces of sushi assortment for about $35-$40. And a la carte of course.
10 pieces sushi assortment
Lean meat tuna, 2 types of white fish, blue skin fish, salmon, shrimp, sea scallop, squid, omelet, scallion sprouts.
A fantastic starting line up for the evening at a very reasonable price.
I always gravitate towards sea scallop and shrimp for their naturally unique sweetness. And oddly enough, I’ve never been a fan of omelet, because of its sweet flavor.
This is part of the 12 pieces sushi assortment. All the above plus sea eel and salmon Roe. The roe was standard, but the eel melt in my mouth, sweet and savory harmony.
The rice used is from Chef’s hometown of Chiba, Chikura. They are plump and have a slight toothsome quality. Each grain is perfectly defined. Served warm.
Unfiltered sake flowed as we watched the chef do his thing… from our table (sorta lame)… BUT
when the trio at the bar left, Chef Yasuda invited us to move to the bar! YES!!! I had just told StalkerBoy how different the experience would be at the bar.
Chef explains how slow business is here, which seems like the universe is out of place to me… how odd is that?! Though word is that Anthony Bourdain will be coming next month and I’m betting with that kind of press (Oh, and this post too of course! *wink* LOL), reservations will be much harder to come by.
A LA CARTE is when the real palate pleasing time happened…
Northern Region Uni
Really creamy with a strong splash of the ocean, some might call it fishy, but I liked the natural flavor.
Hokkaido Uni
Sweeter and brighter than the previous one. I really liked this one.
Blue Fin Tuna fun fact: Japan imports Blue Fin Tuna from places like Ireland. The best are automatically sent to Japan.
Blue Fin Tuna
Blue Fin Toro (tuna) - old toro from head portion
Good fat balance. The buttery aroma was strong and lingered. All 4 of us were at awe. Wow.
Blue Fin Toro (Tuna) – Also from the head portion
It had a different texture than the previous. Melted in my mouth with an explosion of sweetness. Double wow.
Fat Greenling – a native Japanese flat white fish (Chef called it not so “sexy” body)
It actually wasn’t fatty but chewier instead. Sweet, but not my favorite fish of the night.
Tiger Prawn
Really flavorful and bouncy in texture. It almost ate like lobster.
White Tiny Shrimp
Clean taste. Its salty and then sweet. Grassy finish. I love having shrimp raw. The snap in the flesh and smooth texture that curls the tongue.
Central Japan Eel with crystal salt
Grilled flavor permeated the piece. It melt in my mouth with the caramelized crispy edges, I totally loved it. Sweet and salty. One of the best eel sushi pieces I’ve had.
At this point I was getting full, but had to try some clams, so I asked for sashimi.
Cockle Sashimi
Crunchy and sweet. I felt like I was swimming in the sea, or wherever cockles are found.
Heart Clam
Also had a nice snap and natural crunch. Sweeter than the cockle. I preferred this.
This is when I stopped, but the boys continued…
- Mackerel
- Japanese Spider Crab
- Uni Hand Roll
Chef highly recommended it so we could try his hand picked seaweed. Grown in Kyushu island. I had a bite of StakerBoy’s order. Very flavorful, but it was more chewy than crispy for my taste. But that’s just personal preference.
Chef Yasuda talks about his future plans
He wants to be in NY again! Private dinner parties sound good to me. Best of luck and we will be waiting…
We had a such a great meal and time here. Chef Yasuda is friendly and chatty. Specially since he speaks English! (our Japanese is limited to greetings at this point).
The final bill was $125 per person, totally reasonable considering the quality and the amount we ate and drank.
As a final treat, chef invited us to tag along the next day at the Tsujiki Fish Market while he shopped! How awesome is that?
P.S. Chubby’s Rating:
www.shusibaryasuda.com
4-2-6 MINAMIAOYAMA BLDG 426, B1, MINATO-KU, TOKYO
03.6447.0232