All's well that ends well

I wrapped up the year 2024 with a bang with a fine dinner at Sushi Kumogaku on the last week of December. I have been to the restaurant a few times before but this was my first time coming here for dinner - partly because the restaurant is super popular and kind of hard to book. Chef Kin and his team was making final preparation behind the counter already as we walked in and seated at far end of the L-shaped counter in the main dining room, which could seat up to 12. 

Macau Sushi Trip

Did take a bit of convincing for me to go to Macau for a quick trip just for one meal but it's a quick trip that I didn't regret making - I'm talking about the sushi dinner I had at the new Sushi Kissho at Raffles just a month ago. Sushi Kissho is the latest outpost by Chef Masaaki Miyakawa, who has a few sushi-ya under his name including the 3-star namesake restaurant in Sapporo. Handling the day-to-day cooking at Sushi Kissho were chefs Norihisa Maeda, Hironori Satake and Mitsutero Sasaki while he would make occasional trips over. 

Flavor of the Sea

I am in a serious backlog as far as blogging is concerned, so that means I will keep each post brief until I managed to catch up. We went for an easy sushi meal at Umi in Minami-aoyama on our day of arrival in Tokyo – not the usual choice I know given some argued the place has lost its sparkles given they lost both Michelin stars in the past few years, but who kept track of those anyway. 

Somewhere New

We picked Sushi Muto in Nihonbashi for lunch purely because they are one of the few sushi-ya that opened on Sundays and the location worked well for our tight itinerary (we made a reservation to go visit Shibuya Sky right after and need to be on time). And with the restaurant located in a commercial building right behind the famous Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store we managed to have a quick shopping session before we went up for our meal.

First, Sushi

A decent Tabelog rating, open on Sundays and proximity to where I stayed... Sushi Kiyoshi (鮨 きよし) at Ginza's 7-chome fit the bill when I was looking for a place to eat on my first day in Tokyo during the work trip in September. Most importantly, it’s the place I managed to get a booking for the only free evening I got.

New on the Block

We saw a series of sushi restaurant openings since COVID and that trend continues with Sushi Kanesaka being the latest entry. This Ginza-based Sushi-ya has grown into quite an empire now with multiple branches in Japan and elsewhere (some under the name Shinji by Kanesaka), and in Hong Kong, they have taken up the space that used to be Masa in CCB Tower. 

Sushi Night in Fukuoka

We spent most of our time in Fukuoka exploring the casual food scene but we did have a more serious sushi meal one evening at a restaurant called Sushi Kuma. 

Sushi Kumogaku

My lunch booking at Sushi Kumogaku was pushed back due to unforseen circumstances, so my booking in late July didn't materialize until mid Decmber. Anyway the restaurant was known to be one of those few local sushi places that's almost impossible to book, so the wait was really nothing I suppose. 

Third Time Omakase

Third sushi dinners in a month. In Hong Kong. That must be a first for us. So after Sushi Fujimoto and Sushi Nakamoto, we hit Sushi Saito with a few friends in early November. Friend is a regular of the restaurant, now helmed by Chef Masashi Kubota, and he asked us to come along for an early dinner booking he got. 

Booked Out Sushi Counter

We did manage to pull a few serious Japanese meals before the late November "homecoming" trip, with one of them being dinner at Sushi Fujimoto by Chef Kenichi Fujimoto which opened earlier this year. Given the place is almost impossible to book for commoners like us, it's hard to say no when our friend P booked out the entire counter and asked us to join as the latest installation of our "Mo Duck Shue" dinner series.

Mistaken Identity

A case of mistaken identity brought us to Sushi Nakamoto for the second sushi dinner within the same week instead of the seasonal kaiseki menu I was dying to try at another place - at least we discovered this in the morning so averted the potential disaster or at least embarrassment of us showing up at different venues.

Second in a Row

I had a few sushi meals in the same month, but none better than the one at Sushi Shikon. The missus requested eating at this place as the official celebration dinner - same as what we did last year - so there it was for the second in a row. 

Weekday Japanese Lunch 3: Sushi Kami

Just a few days after my last sushi lunch, I went for another again, this time at another restaurant in Central. It’s been a few years since I last visited Sushi Kami (before their name change) located inside a commercial building on On Lan Street, but everything looked exactly the same as I remembered with the long wooden counter where multiple chefs worked to serve more than a dozen or so customers at the same time. 

Weekday Japanese Lunch 1: Sushi Kamosu

When my friend (and a sushi restaurant expert) J mentioned on his facebook page that he went to this new sushi joint twice in as many months, that got me curious enough to check it out. My temporary hiatus from work afforded me to book into one of the lunch spots on weekdays, which is obviously the easier option. 

Solid Choice

It felt like not that long ago when we first saw the hoarding in front of what has become the new location for Sushi Wadatsumi. Turned out that's almost one year ago since their old shop in Sheung Wan closed and relocated to K11 Musea across the harbor. 

Sushi Hisayoshi

We went for sushi once again a few weekends ago at a new restaurant in TST. Saw my friend’s IG story about this place earlier and learned that this is the outpost for Tokyo’s Ginza Iwa in their second attempt to open a branch in this part of the world. This sushi-ya took up the space formerly occupied by a high-end ramen joint at the quieter section of Harbour City. The décor was classic with the pale wooden tones with a spacious U-shaped counter which can seat 15+ comfortably and another counter/private room at the back if they were able to operate in full capacity.

Quick And Easy

Sushi Shion does have that feel of those sushi-ya in Ginza, situated inside a random commercial building on Wellington Street with the door right by the lift lobby. Craving for a proper sushi meal brought me here and I was lucky to get a booking for solo lunch at the counter one weekday.  

Winter Solstice Omakase

Our "Mo Duck Shue" dinner series brought us to yet another omakase meal, this time at Masa, on the week right before Christmas (on the night we traditionally celebrate Winter Solstice). This is also our first visit to this "impossible-to-book" sushi-ya since it's relocated to the current Central location in early 2021. 

Uni Omakase

I ventured to this new-ish hotel called ALVA in Shatin the other day for a omakase dinner at Mizutani restaurant. To be honest, I haven't heard much about the restaurant nor the hotel before, probably because of its distance from my home or office, but turned out it's worth my little road trip up north after work one evening. 

Sushi Encore

My last sushi lunch was decent but nothing close to spectacular, so I want to make amend with another sushi meal, this time at a more proper sushi-ya on my day off. I didn't think much of Sushi Nakamoto in my previous visit a couple years ago but with all the positive things our friends said about the place and its food, I thought I would re-visit to find out.