Sushidokoro Miyaba (すし処宮葉)

⭐⭐

🍣 Sushi / 📍 Hamamatsucho

📓 Visits: 1 (2021)

Sushidokoro Miyaba held a Tabelog Bronze Award between 2017 and 2020 had a pretty good rating of 3.85. Dinner is JPY 25,000 plus tax, which is not far off pricing of some of the top sushi restaurants in Tokyo but there is a JPY 6,000 lunch menu which I had on my visit. On the positive side the neta are very large and the shari was good. The uni was good quality (though not a massive portion). Other than that I don't have much more to say that's positive. Saba and aji were not particularly fresh. The tare for the anago was too sweet. Clear soup is served instead of miso soup and just tasted like hot water. The tamago-yaki was the smallest piece I've ever seen - a third of the usual size. Perhaps the soy milk jelly and straight-from-the-1960s coffee served with creamer was meant to compensate for this but both were (not unexpectedly) unpleasant. The main problem was that all the sushi was served fridge-cold. Go to any quality sushi restaurant and you'll see the chef allow the neta to warm up slightly before being served. Even in cheaper sushi restaurants where all your nigiri are served at once, the effect of that allows the neta to warm up before you eat them. At Miyaba, chef serves each piece one-at-a-time but doesn't allow the neta to acclimatize. I really find this astonishing.

I'm wondering how low I should rate this restaurant. It might sound churlish to complain when I only went for the cheap lunch but would I expect that chef would change his technique at dinner? Other than the dessert, nothing was actively unpleasant, I've had worse sushi and worse meals in Tokyo, I didn't have particularly high expectations and I didn't shell out too much cash so although I'm surprised at why this restaurant has such a good Tabelog rating I don't feel particularly disappointed with my meal (maybe I should). But if you order carefully you could have a more satisfying experience at a good kaiten-zushi restaurant and for 600 yen less you could have much better sushi at Tomidokoro (review here), which happens to be 10 minutes away.

Chef's only words were to quietly name each fish as it was served but I wouldn't say he was unpleasant. The assistant was more hospitable. No English is spoken.

Thank goodness I didn't go for dinner.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1314/A131401/13019499/

❓ My rating: ⭐⭐ 2.7 (still feel this is generous)

📱 Booking: 🟩 Easy. Next day by Tabelog, same day by phone or walk-in.

📍 Location:

2-11-8 Hamamatsucho. A few minutes walk from Hamamatsucho station. Dedicated street-facing entrance.

📅 Visit January 2021

Chutoro
Zuke
Tai
Aji
Sumi ika
Tairagai aburi
Saba
Kobashira
Uni
Anago
Tamago
Owan
Tekka maki
Tonnyu jelly
Coffee

💴 Damage: 6,600
⏱️ Time taken: 30m

The Tokyo Gourmet

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