Sushi Akira

Sushi Akira (すし 良月)

⭐⭐⭐

🍣 Sushi / 📍 Ebisu

📓 Visits: 1

Sushi Akira opened at the end of 2019.  Originally dinner was JPY 18,000, increased to JPY 20,000 in November 2020 and again to JPY 23,000 in March 2021 (prices subject to tax and service).  Since May 2021 a nigiri-only lunch course priced at JPY 14,700 inclusive has become available and this is what I went for.

Owner/chef Kazunori Maeiwa previously worked at Sushisho Masa, Kozasa and now 3-star Chinese restaurant Sazenka, though (perhaps with the exception of the owan) there was no nod to the latter in my meal.  The restaurant is named after chef's grandfather so don't call him Akira-san!  Sushi Akira specializes in sake pairings and has a dedicated sommelier.  The sommelier can speak good English but doesn't introduce the sushi.  Chef doesn't speak English and didn't initiate conversation with guests on my visit but did chat a little when prompted.  The atmosphere felt relaxed.  The counter is L-shaped and, unusually, each side is the same width and seats up to 4 guests.  A total of 8 would be tight and if you end up at the far corner, chef would have his back to you for most of the meal.  At lunch, only 6 diners are served so there was more space.  The restaurant was a little cold.  Ventilation is poor and when chef seared the katsuo the smoke was visible throughout the restaurant and I had the smell on my clothes when I left.  Not what you expect from a sushi restaurant!

Maeiwa-san handles all the food himself.  Most of the sushi was very good but I found the rice quite sweet and this was particularly pronounced with the aori ika and katsuo.  Maguro was particularly disappointing.  Chef prefers not to serve his akami marinated but I didn't feel the quality of the tuna was up to that.  Chutoro was lacking in flavour and otoro didn't have the explosion of oils you get from a really good piece.  Quality hon maguro is one of the most expensive fish to buy so it might sound churlish to moan when, as a customer, you're not paying top prices but if it's not of the same quality as the other neta it's hard not to notice and not feel disappointed.  Perhaps if chef reduced the number of pieces in the set he could serve a higher quality product and still maintain the price.  I appreciated the inclusion of two hot items but there was no fat or skin in the nodoguro sakamushi topped with pepper (this would have been much better as a conventional yakimono) and the kegani mushizushi didn't have that much flavour.  The best pieces were an amazing aged shiro amadai, a world-away from the tasteless piece I ate at Hashimoto recently, a large portion of shiro ebi kobujime and a perfect piece of aji.  Owan was outstanding and to the level of a good kaiseki restaurant.

Dinner consists of around 8 tsumami and 12 nigiri.  It's a lot of work to prepare that amount of food by yourself for 8 guests so there is only one rotation at night and dinner takes 2.5 to 3 hours.  If you're dining with a companion and the sake is flowing you'd probably have a great, though not cheap, experience.  Maguro should be higher quality in winter and there would be less sweet shari but "don't go in summer, enjoy the sake and avoid the rice" is hardly a ringing endorsement of a sushi restaurant!  Either way, the current booking system means you have very little chance of securing a pair of seats at dinner.  Right now, lunch reservations are a little easier so if it proves possible to get a lunch reservation in winter and you're fine with shari on the sweet end of the scale then Sushi Akira might be worth a visit.  18 pieces plus soup and tamago-yaki is excellent value for sushi of this quality and, in terms of volume, one of the best deals in Tokyo for a quality sushi lunch.  But based on my experience, trying to secure a seat here isn't a task worth getting frustrated over.

Running a quality sushi restaurant without an assistant chef is a demanding task and I'm really impressed that at just 29 years old Maeiwa-san has achieved this.  One to watch for the future.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1303/A130302/13241432/ 

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.8 

📱 Booking: 🟧 Frustrating and difficult.  Omakase-only.  Ostensibly, reservations are taken daily exactly a month in advance but quite often all seats are already taken and the booking period simply rolls over to the next day.  If there are seats there's only usually one and, indeed, on my visit, staff confirmed the next availability for a pair of dinner seats wasn't until October.  Lunch is currently only available on Wednesdays and Saturdays so you'll be wasting your time trying to get a lunch seat unless it's exactly a month in advance of the next Wednesday or Saturday. 

📍 Location: 

2-37-8 Ebisu.  Ebisu 3-chome crossing.  Dedicated street-facing entrance.  10 minutes' walk South from Hiroo Station Exit 1.

Map data ©2021 Google

📅 Visit June 2021

Kanpachi
Isaki
Sawara kobujime
Tairagai kobujime
Chutoro
Otoro
Akami
Aori ika
Nodoguro sakamushi
Kohada
Ishidai
Shiro amadai
Katsuo
Shiro ebi
Kegani mushizushi
Aji
Sakuramasu
Anago futomaki
Owan
Tamago

💴 Damage: 14,700 incl tea and water

⏱️ Time taken: 1h30m