鮨よしたけ　Sushi Yoshitake

Another great meal at the main counter at Sushi Yoshitake in Ginza, this time with a 6:00 start rather than the late seating as last time. No more restrictions on serving alcohol, or business hours, which is a great relief to everyone in Tokyo, or at least every adult.

Once again, no photos are allowed, so the list that follows of what we ate is from memory only. I have a feeling one dish may have been overlooked, not because it was not up to the same level as the others but just because there were so many things to remember. So here goes, pretty much in order of serving:

*Matsutake dashi chawan-mushi, matsutake paste (?), topped with slightly dried out ikura that had been cooked at low heat for a long time, with a touch of grated yuzu peel on top. A novel way to serve matsutake, and perhaps the best dish of night for me.

*2 pieces of ma-dai from Chiba, one topped with Okinawa salt (add wasabi), the other with konowata (salted sea cucumber guts), the konowata having a stronger taste than the salt.

*Tako (octopus) one from Miyagi, the other, from Hokkaidō, simmered in shoyu, making it very soft.

*Awabi, in kimo sauce, followed by one nigiri-size serving of rice to mop it up. This seems to be an increasingly common dish at high end sushi shops.

*Suzuki konbujime, followed by Sawara marinated in shoyu base sauce

*Katsuo, lightly grilled over sumi with minced toro on top with tamanegi shōyu and shōyu koji

*Kamasu grilled over sumi in a soup made from the head, bones and some kudzu. Very good.

 

Then came the nigiri:

*Sumi ika

?? I think I am forgetting something here.

*Three maguro, all from Ōma, Aomori pref. 175kg honmaguro.

*Kohada. Each serving both sides of one fish, one overlapping the other. Nothing fancy, just good.

*Akagai. Very large, and decoratively cut.

*Kuruma ebi

*Gunkan with bafun uni topped with murasaki uni.

*Saba maki rolled in Saran wrap. Very tasty.

*Anago, lightly smoked over hibachi covered with leaves.

*Tamago, thick like kasutera cake.

Clear fish soup

To note: the wasabi was from Nagano, and surprisingly very mild.

Two glasses of wine each, first a chardonnay blend from Langueduc, then another white from Bordeaux. Both paired very well with the food. We got the feeling that Yoshitake san has studied western cuisine and cooking, as well as kaiseki (the order of the dishes and what they are led us to think that).The couple next to us, who sounded like they were in the film industry, were friendly, although not overly so. The woman offered me one of her face masks when my wife asked her where she bought it (it was a large size mask from Korea). I graciously accepted her offer.

I am not sure, but I believe the price had gone up since our last visit in early August.