Shimazu

Shimazu (島津)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍣 Sushi / 📍 Shirokane

📓 Visits: 2 (2020-2021)

Shimazu is the first restaurant owned by Yukichika Shimazu who previously ran Ranmaru, the defining restaurant of the sushi boom (review here).  Dinner is omakase-only at JPY 26,700 (including tax and service) and comprises 7-8 otsumami, 13-15 nigiri, soup, tamago-yaki and fruit to finish.  Shimazu-san knows the English names for some of the fish but otherwise, no English is spoken.  Shimazu-san is a good host and good for a laugh so the more Japanese you know the better social experience you'll have.  There is just one L-shaped 8-seat counter so wherever you sit you have a good view of the chef in action and have a chance to interact.

Overall I'd say the sushi is very, very good at Shimazu.  It's not up to the level of the very best sushi in Tokyo and the otsumami are not as good as the nigiri.  But you get to try lots of different fish at one meal and for dinner at under 28k for over 20 pieces including otsumami with this quality of fish this is outstanding value.  You could pay almost the same or the same for much less sushi with little or nothing really outstanding.  Rice is excellent and the neta are quite large, though the maguro is sliced very thin.  Tuna is supplied from Yamayuki.  In December this was from Oma: the chutoro from a 109kg fish and the otoro from the harakami of a 120kg fish.  In March tuna was from the harakami of a 150kg fish from Shimoda.  Outstanding pieces from my two meals include the managatsuo nimono, kasugodai, kohada, kuruma ebi, uni maki (outrageous), masunosuke and iwashi (epic).   Disappointments were the ankimo (from Yoichi but a tiny portion and not well-prepared), fugu shirako (not much flavour), amadai (chewy) and sawara and were all in my second visit.  The anago was excellent on my first visit but disappointingly served as anakyu maki on my second.  The meal felt a bit rushed to start with second time with all 7 otsumami served within 30 minutes.  The second rotation starts two hours and thirty minutes after the start of the first rotation and with 25+ items to serve it's a lot to fit in.  You can request additional items after the course has finished but the Ranmaru special maki is not available.

Shimazu was the hottest sushi reservation in Tokyo for a time and slots fill up within seconds of being released on Omakase.  At just 27 Shimazu-san is pretty young so I'm sure that over time his techniques will improve and his sushi will become more opulent.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1316/A131602/13252991/ 

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.5

📱 Booking: 🟥 Very difficult.  https://omakase.in/en/r/bz866949.

📍 Location: 

1-29-13 Shirokane.  It's an anonymous black door in front of the 87 bus stop.  They don't open the door until the scheduled time of the rotation so be careful you don't get mixed up in any queue for the bus!

Map data ©2021 Google

📅 Visit December 2020

Kegani chawanmushi, tobiko
Masunosuke
Shime saba
Sumagatsuo (katsuo)
Shirako
Nodoguro ikura donburi
Shiro ebi, tai shiokara
Managatsuo nimono
Kasugodai (nigiri)
Chutoro
Sawara kobujime
Akami zuke
Otoro
Kohada
Kobashira
Kuruma ebi
Buri
Sumi ika
Uni maki
Kamasu
Miso soup
Anago
Tamago
+Iwashi
Strawberry (dessert)

💴 Damage: 28,100
⏱️ Time taken: 2h

📅 Visit March 2021

Kegani chawanmushi, fuka hire
Kawahagi, kimo
Shiro ebi, tai shiokara
Nodoguro yakimono
Fugu shirako risotto
Ankimo
Kaki
Amadai (nigiri)
Masunosuke
Iwashi
Hatsugatsuo
Chutoro
Botan ebi
Otoro
Kohada
Sawara kobujime
Kuruma ebi
Kobashira
Kasugodai
Uni
Miso soup
Anakyu maki
Negitoro temaki
Tamago
Orange (dessert)

💴 Damage: 27,900 (26,700 + 2 bottles of water at 600 ea)
⏱️ Time taken: 2h