Sugita

Sugita (日本橋蛎殻町 すぎた)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍣 Sushi / 📍 Nihonbashi Kakigaracho

📓 Visits: 3 (2020-2024)

10, 10, 10, 10, 10, ... after a three year gap a return visit to Sugita.  Not only the #1 ranked sushi restaurant in Japan for six years, but, since Niitome moved to Tokyo and went full Birkin, the #1 ranked restaurant on Tabelog for the whole of Japan.  Takaaki Sugita has been elevated to God-like status and many would have you believe the sushi here is perfect.  And for the first hour, with everything a ten, it was.  In the end, it doesn't really matter what any one person says, Nihonbashi-kakigaracho Sugita will be a must visit for anyone who loves sushi.  But if you've never been I think a sober look at whether it's worth trying to get a seat here is useful (short version: it is) and there are a few things you should "know before you go".

All the tsumami on my most recent visit I rated 10/10.  The flavour, temperate and texture of the sashimi was sublime.  The scallop was enormous and sweet.  The tachiou had incredible fat.  The ankimo was better than Namba's.  Even things I don't really like (kazunoko and the appetizer of junsai and nagaimo) were the best I've ever had.  The anago was perfect, and you can choose shio or nitsume.  Three cuts of tuna were served as nigiri.  (On previous visits I've only had two).  The tuna was by far the best I'd eaten compared with visits to Sushi Saito and Sushi Namba Yotsuya in the same season.  The piece that I had most fault with on both previous visits was vastly improved: this time the kuruma ebi was cooked rare and served warm and had zero string and zero woolliness.  Unfortunately no saba or iwashi on visit #2 and no uni tsukudani.

Without doubt this is one of the top five sushi restaurants in Tokyo.  Is it the very best?  I think that comes down to personal preference.  I've had meals at Sushi Namba that have been as good.  At Sushi Saito there's less to fault but there's less that will blow you away.  So it's not the perfect 5.0, and here's why.

The kohada was superbly prepared but the fish itself lacked fat.  I guess Sugita-san is buying the best neta that's available to him every day, so it could be that on this day the kohada were on the skinnier side, but whatever it was, I've had better.  The akami zuke is cut double size and folded over.  As I mentioned the maguro was outstanding and while it might very well sound churlish to complain about neta being too big, I'd argue the balance was off with the shari being the same size as every other piece.  The aji was massive but served straight from the fridge.  I assume Sugita-san knows what he's doing but for me it was a bit cold.  Bafun uni had too much taste of alum.  Uni breaks down very quickly once removed from its shell.  Alum is a preserving agent that is used to slow down this process and allow uni to hold its shape.  It may be beautiful, it may mean the chef doesn't have to make the sushi into a gunkan-maki, or hand the nigiri directly to you or serve it on a dish with a spoon, but if it tastes metallic (and it did) then I think the chef has made the wrong choice.  A case study in why nearly all pictures of nigiri are useless.  Finally, the shari is on the saltier side.  I just prefer sour or milder shari.  Even the gari is slightly salty.

Service from Sugita-san is pretty much flawless.  He doesn't really speak any English but all guests are treated equally.  There were faults in service from the other staff during the serving of the tsumami but with everyone getting different items at different times and most likely no one person in charge in the back kitchen I can understand things getting a bit hectic.

Lastly, there's the bill.  The course is advertised at JPY 44,000 + service but after the tsumami are served Sugita-san will ask you if you'd like any more and then just before the anago you're asked if you want any more nigiri.  Now you can say "no", and with the nigiri generally larger than say at Sushi Namba, you may want to if don't each so much, but if you do you'll have to wait while everyone else eats their extras until the sequence resumes.  For that reason, and because it's so hard to get a seat here and because everything is so good, it's hard to say "no".  So you're highly unlikely to be making your way out for 44k + service.  On my most recent visit with one extra tsumami, three extra nigiri and just tea to drink the bill came to 65k.  So notionally those four items cost me 16k, which is pretty outrageous.  Now it could be that the base course was actually a little more than 44k on the day.  As I mentioned, three cuts of maguro were served.  On the other hand there was no akai uni on this visit.  Of course, nothing is itemized so you're left to guess.  If money is no object then this won't matter to you.  In fact, you can ask for all the extra tsumami and/or all the extra nigiri up front and if you do, they'll be spliced into the normal sequence for you.  But if you're on a budget then please note.

So now I'm finally "in" at Sugita but I don't see myself going more than once or twice a year.  Firstly there's the expensive, which we've covered.  Sushi pricing is getting out of hand and there are plenty of places I'm perfectly happy with that are a fraction of the cost.  Second, there's the length of time of the course.  On this visit there were fewer delays and gaps in service and fewer diners to serve (side room not in use).  The course took 2h40m instead of 3h on previous visits but it's still a bit long.  And finally there's the saltier shari, which is not my preference.

But, back to the beginning, most likely none of this will make any difference as to whether or not you decide to go if you're fortunate enough to get a seat.  But if you're wondering why this post isn't updated very often, that's why. 

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.9 

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1302/A130204/13018162/ 

📱 Booking: 🟥 Probably the most competitive sushi reservation in Japan that doesn't require an introduction.  Previously you could book by phone by calling from 9am on the 1st of every month.  In 2023 they stopped taking reservations by phone and first timers can only book via Omakase.  Unfortunately, they don't open up for general reservations, instead releasing cancellations or unbooked seats at one or two days notice, which happens once or twice a month.  For returnees, seats for the following month are released via Omakase on the 1st of every month, though you can only book once per quarter.  Sugita-san's long-standing sous chef left in 2023 so, despite what it says on Omakase, the side room is not in use at the moment and can't be booked.

📍 Location:

1-33-6 Nihonbashi-kakigaracho.  2 mins from Suitengumae station Exit 4.  Dedicated street-facing entrance.

Map data ©2021 Google

📅 Visit June 2024

🥢 Junsai, nagaimo
🐟 Aori ika, hirame, engawa
🐟 Hotate isobeyaki
🐟 Kaki
🐟 Anago chawanmushi
🐟 Ankimo
🐟 Tachiou shirayaki
🐟 =6
🐟 +Kazunoko miso
🍣 Kohada
🍣 Isaki
🍣 Ara kobujime
🍣 Hokkigai
🍣 Zuke
🍣 Chutoro
🍣 Otoro (jabara)
🍣 Aji
🍣 Shako
🍣 Kinmedai
🍣 Kuruma ebi
🍣 Bafun uni
🍣 =12
🍲 Owan
🍣 +Kuromutsu
🍣 +Shiro amadai
🍣 +Amai ebi
🍣 Anago
🥚 Tamago

💴 Damage: 64,600 incl. tea
⏱️ Time taken: 2h40m

📅 Visit June 2021

Mozuku, junsai sunomono
Aori ika; makogarei
Anago shirayaki
Konowata chawanmushi
Hotaru ika miso-zuke; ankimo
Tachiuo shiroyaki
+Uni tsukudani
+Hotate isobeyaki
Kohada (nigiri)
Shiro-amadai kobujime
Masunosuke
Kasugo kobujime
Chutoro
Toro
Aji
Shime saba
Aoyagi
Kuruma ebi
Kinmedai aburi
Ezo bafun uni
+Nihama
Owan
Anago
Tamago

💴 Damage: 38,800 incl two bottles of water and tea
⏱️ Time taken: 3h

📅 Visit August 2020

(no notes)

💴 Damage: 37,000
⏱️ Time taken: 3h