Ryu Tanaka went on to open Sushi Tanaka in February 2024.
Sushi Rizaki Aoyama (鮨利﨑 青山)
⭐⭐⭐
🍣 Sushi / 📍 Gaienmae
📓 Visits: 2
Shoppai (salty)! That's probably the best way to summarize Sushi Rizaki Aoyama.
Sushi Rizaki opened in Shibuya a couple of years ago, an unusual choice of location for a quality sushi restaurant. I visited Rizaki not long after it opened and wasn't so impressed. But I'd heard the sushi had been improving lately and was thinking about a return visit. That's when I noticed Sushi Rizaki Aoyama opened in January. Omakase is 9,000 plus tax. This is half the cost of the course at the Shibuya restaurant, the cheapest offering for a full dinner course at a quality sushi restaurant I can think of and cheaper than a nigiri-only lunch course at many quality sushi restaurants in Tokyo. It seems that everyone knows a bargain when they see one and, despite only being open a few months, the restaurant is now booking a month or two ahead.
The restaurant is located in a windowless basement and lighting was very dim. On both my visits all 10 seats at the L-shaped counter were occupied. The man in charge here is Ryu Tanaka and I was impressed he could serve 10 diners simultaneously. There are also two 2-seat tables that were in use on my second visit. If you dine at a table the sushi will be prepared by a second sushi chef. There are two other assistant chefs dealing with cooked items. The chefs didn't make much conversation with diners on my visits but most diners were in groups of 4 or more and were talking amongst themselves. While not rude, the waitress wasn't particularly warm and I had the feeling of just being processed, though that's not uncommon. If staff remembered me on my second visit they didn't show it.
On my first visit the best pieces in the set were the kasugo and the tsubugai, confirming the kasugo I ate at a branch of Kanesaka (review to come) a couple of weeks ago wasn't right. There were a few unusual items in the course: sakuramasu, ika topped with salted sakura, beef sirloin sushi and all very good. But the meal was far from perfect. Wakatake-ni was not the highest quality takenoko and perhaps slightly overcooked, but the flavour was enhanced by simmering in good dashi. Kuruma ebi was good but the assistant chef didn't properly trim the end off. Awabi had deep flavour but was a bit chewy. Uni was a large portion but the flavour was impaired by being too cold. Tamago yaki was saccharin sweet. The main problem with the meal though was that as it went on, everything became very salty: iwashi - harsh and didn't have the fat a piece properly in season would, nihama - salty, nodoguro aburi - salty, zuke - salty, chutoro - salty. Rice was a touch firm but not as firm as at Ranmaru. Despite the problems, nothing was a wrecker and I booked my next visit on my way out. The meal was incredible value and I was intrigued to know what chef would serve next time.
My second visit was not as good. The meal opened up with kegani and wakame chawamushi. There was no richness from the eggs and this was like a salty calling card for the last meal and for what was about to follow. Kuruma ebi was properly trimmed this time, served warm and had good flavour. Hotate isobeyaki, aji, kasugo kobujime (as with last time) and awabi were the best pieces. The awabi was perfectly cooked this time - still warm and very soft. Unfortunately, even the kimo sauce was salty. The quality of ingredients was shown up in many of the items tonight: fruit tomato was just OK, tachiuo yakimino had a fibrous texture and was lacking in flavour, hamo shabu shabu was not top-quality, uni was a large portion but had the brown tinge (and flavour) you get with a lower quality product and despite the fact I let it sit out for a while to warm up was still fridge-cold. Again, many pieces were very salty: too much salt on the sumi ika, iwashi - same problem as last time, akami zuke was super salty, shime saba was like eating a packet of salt and vinegar crisps. The beef (sirloin) was very fatty this time and was too rich with the sweet sauce. The worst piece was the chutoro. The maguro was from a 176kg fish from Okinawa. You could see the sinew on the fish when chef put the piece down - it resembled a Mr Kipling French Fancie. I swallowed. I should have excused myself to the restroom rather than swallow that ball of sinew. Not Exceedingly Good.
Although this is a branch of the Shibuya restaurant the quality is completely different, so don't think that the only difference between the restaurants is the price. I hope the sushi at Sushi Rizaki Aoyama gets better over time. I won't be back (not at least for a very long while) but for dinner, this is still outstanding value and if you're on a budget or less picky I would still recommend a visit.
In November 2021 another branch opened in Ebisu and in May 2023 a Nishi-Azabu branch opened.
📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1307/A130701/13253572/
❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.7 (value: 4.7)
📱 Booking: 🟧 Book at least a month in advance via Tabelog or phone. Bookings for one taken by phone only. No English spoken. Two rotations per night. No alcohol restrictions.
📍 Location:
Map data ©2021 Google
📅 Visit June 2021
Kegani, wakame chawanmushi
Fruit tomato (otoshi)
Hotate (isobeyaki)
Aji (nigiri)
Sumi ika (nigiri)
Sumi ika geso sumibiyaki
Kasugo kobujime (nigiri)
Iwashi (nigiri)
Kamasu aburi (nigiri)
Tachiuo yakimono
Hamo shabu shabu
Akami zuke (nigiri)
Chutoro (nigiri)
Shime saba (nigiri)
Kuruma ebi (nigiri)
Awabi gohan, kimo sauce
Sirloin (nigiri)
Uni (gunkanmaki)
Miso soup
Anago (nigiri)
Tamago-yaki
💴 Damage: 10,000 incl tea and water
⏱️ Time taken: 1h50m
📅 Visit April 2021
Tsubugai, kimo (sashimi)
Ito-mozuku (otoshi)
Wakatake-ni
Ika geso sumibiyaki
Sumi ika, sakura shio (nigiri)
Sakuramasu (nigiri)
Kasugo (nigiri)
Saba gohan
Daikon
Iwashi (nigiri)
Nihamaguri (nigiri)
Nodoguro aburi (nigiri)
Hotaru ika chawanmushi
Akami zuke (nigiri)
Chutoro (nigiri)
Kuruma ebi (nigiri)
Awabi gohan, kimo sauce
Sirloin (nigiri)
Uni (gunkanmaki)
Akadashi
Anago (nigiri)
Tamago-yaki
💴 Damage: 12,000 incl one drink
⏱️ Time taken: 2h
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