March 19, 2020
Sugita Sushi
Yesterday was my wife’s birthday and in what is getting to be an annual way to celebrate, we went to Sugita Sushi for dinner. This was the third year in a row for her birthday. And as always, it was a great meal. Because it was a Wednesday, this time I chose the 8:30, second seating, figuring we wouldn’t be so rushed to finish as 8:30 approached. It turned out I made the right choice. Although a sign in the restroom gave the hours as 8:30 to 11:30, ten minutes longer than the earlier seating, it ended up being after midnight when we finally walked out. Three and a half hours of eating. No wonder I am in no mood to eat this morning.
We ate something like thirty different things, served over the course of maybe twenty-five courses. Most were the basic omakase, with a couple things ordered by choice, one of which for me was the shime-saba maka zushi, shime-saba rolled in in nori with shoga and ??? negi, then sliced to the thickness of Sugita san’s index finger. I joked that I would prefer my finger as the cutting guide, mine being much thicker. I also had his saikyo tairagai, tairaga marinated in saikyomiso and a few other things and then, a week later, lightly grilled in the back kitchen.
An hour or so into our meal my wife commented to me how Sugita san’s sushi was not recently not like it used to be, no longer as innovative as a few years ago. I initially did not disagree with her comment. And I admit I had felt the same the previous two or three times we had eaten there. After eating another piece or two I turned back to my wife and said that I was not complaining, that constant innovation might not always be for the best. When you are just starting out it is easy to create new things, especially in music where the early works of so many musicians are among their best. I added that I thought Sugita san was trying to make his core recipes better, no matter how that may happen. I did notice the quality of the fish was better than it was four or five years ago, something that takes years to be able to do for someone shopping for a sushi shop.
We have been eating Sugita san’s sushi for ten years or so, since it was just him and his wife and one assistant at his former place, Miyako Sushi in Higashinihonbashi. Or is it Tomizawachō? The actual addresses in the neighborhood change from street to street. It has been fun to follow the evolution of his sushi and everything that goes with it (décor, dishes, the room itself, etc.).