Sushiya Shota

Sushiya Shota (すし家 祥太)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍣 Sushi / 📍 Azabu-Juban

📓 Visits: 4 (2020-2021)

Shota-san worked at Sushi Kanesaka (where Saito started) before setting up on his own at the end of 2019.  Shota-san is young, very friendly and very humble but doesn't speak a word of English.  It's a typical, intimate sushi restaurant with a straight 7-seat counter; one assistant chef and one person attending to guests.  Everything is clean and looks new.  In summer, they tend to have the A/C turned up quite high so make sure you bring a warm top if you get cold easily.

I've been here four times now and after a nine month gap and a Michelin Star there have been a few changes.  Perhaps inevitably, prices have gone up a little and the course is now (since April) JPY 15,000 + tax for ~14 nigiri, one yakimono, tamago, owan and now your choice of half a makimono.  The restaurant is a lot busier now.  On two of my visits in the past I had the place to myself but this time it was full and the course took almost twice as long.  One thing that has not changed is that the sushi is as good as ever.  I previously said that Shota was faultless.  Shota-san's general approach is that if he can't serve a particular fish to the standard of all the other fish while maintaining the price, he doesn't serve it.  So don't expect expensive items like uni and 3 cuts of maguro in the base course.  Across four meals now I've only had one piece that wasn't up to the same standard but other than that, some of the sushi I've had here is as good as or better than the sushi I've had in sushi restaurants in Tokyo charging 25K+.  Neta are medium-sized.  The shari is quite mild but not at all sweet.  Temperature control is excellent.  Shota-san serves his shari quite warm and warms up some of the fish to serve them at the best temperature.

Highlights from my second meal included aged pieces of katsuo and sawara - two of the best pieces of sushi I've had anywhere and haven't had anywhere since as good.  On my third visit I asked for a second piece of that sawara and it was as good as before.  Highlights from my fourth meal include an incredible hokkigai atatame, a perfect aji, a lush kaki amazuzuke and a fatty anago.  In that most recent meal, while the akami zuke was excellent, Shota-san served otoro (atatame) instead of chutoro which I had in my previous three meals.  Otoro is some of the most expensive fish you can source so if you're not charging top prices you have two choices: don't serve it at all or don't serve the best quality.  I had thought Shota-san was taking the first approach but this time he went with the second and, although I see he's served otoro in the past, this was the first time I'd eaten it here.  Predictably, it did not have the unctuous quality of top-quality otoro.  This was a real shame.

In an unusual practice for a sushi restaurant you previously got a receipt that breaks down the bill into course fee, extra items and tax.  That has stopped now but extra pieces of sushi are typically ¥500 (expensive items like uni are ¥1500) so with this quality at this price I always ask Shota-san what else he recommends.

Every new sushi restaurant that opens in Tokyo seems to be charging 30K.  Most new sushi chefs don't have the supplier connections the established chefs have and in trying to emulate the top-tier restaurants have to pay more for limited supply, often of second-tier fish.  They also don't have the same technique and you end up with a very dissatisfying experience.  Shota-san has recognised this and is doing his own thing by concentrating on nigiri, not serving tsumami and serving less expensive varieties of fish rather than poor quality expensive fish.

If you can look past the otoro, this is one of the best value (in my top 4), high quality sushi restaurants in Tokyo, especially at dinner where the price (and contents of the course) is the same.  Had it not been for the otoro and the doubling in length of time of the course I would have increased my score.

For more orthodox Edo-mae sushi with more and higher quality maguro for around the same price at lunch, try Sushi Ryujiro.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1307/A130702/13241750/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.6

📱 Booking: 🟧 Not as easy as in the past.  By mid-June 2021 the restaurant was virtually full for the next 6 weeks but the odd seat for the lone diner was available.  Bookings via phone.  No English spoken.

📍 Location: 

3-3-10 Azabu-Juban.  2 minutes from Azabu-Juban station, Exit 1.  Dedicated street-facing entrance.

Map data ©2021 Google

📅 Visit June 2021

Junsai (sakizuke)
Tachiuo, tai shiokara (yakimono)
Azuki-hata kobujime
Kanpachi
Kinmedai aburi
Akami zuke
Otoro
Aori ika
Kohada
Kuruma ebi
Hokkigai
Shako
Aji
Kaki
Katsuo
Anago
Owan
Makimono (tekkamaki)
Tamago
Shiro ebi (+500)
Hamaguri (+500)

💴 Damage: 17,600 (15k + 1k + 10%) incl. tap water and tea
⏱️ Time taken: 2h

📅 Visit September 2020

Kurage (sakizuke); Mehikari yakimono; Kue; Buri; Sawara; Kuromutsu; Akami zuke; Chutoro; Aori ika; Kohada; Kasugodai; Kuruma ebi; Aji; Hamaguri; Akagai; Ikura; Anago; Sawara (+500), Amai ebi kobujime (+500); Tamago

💴 Damage: 13k + 1k + 10% incl. tap water
⏱️ Time taken: 1h10m 

📅 Visit August 2020

Yuba (sakizuke), kimosu, amadai yakimono, kasugodai, shima aji, sawara, kinmedai aburi, akami zuke, chutoro, aori ika, shinko, aji, kuruma ebi, shime saba, hotate, ishigaki gai, katsuo, anago, tamago.

💴 Damage: 13k + 10% incl. tap water
⏱️ Time taken: 1h10m

📅 Visit July 2020

Pickled sardine, tomato (sakizuke); tachiuo yakimono; azuki hata; shima aji; isaki; akami zuke; chutoro; aori ika; kohada; kasugodai; aji; hamaguri; amai ebi; nodoguro; tekka maki; anago; uni (+1.5k); tamago.  

💴 Damage: 13k + 1.5k + 10% incl. tap water
⏱️ Time taken: 1h10m