Sushi Kagura

Sushi Kagura (鮨 神楽)

⭐⭐⭐

🍣 Sushi / 📍 Shimbashi

📓 Visits: 1

The restaurant opened in October 2021 and at first only served dinner priced at JPY 19,800 but this year they started a nigiri-only lunch which was priced at JPY 5,500 inclusive on my visit but goes up to JPY 6,800 in January.

6 of 9 of the seats at the straight counter were occupied.  It's essentially a simultaneous start.  A couple of people were late but fortunately I didn't have to wait for everyone to turn up to get my starter.

The starter of chawanmushi was a textbook 10/10 and excited me about things to come.  I was already thinking about immediately booking my next reservation.  Then came the nigiri.  Hirame was not kobujime but very fresh and perfect temperature.  Unfortunately the first few bites of the meal were as good as it would get.  Rice was dry, hard and didn't have much flavour.  Kuruma ebi was not prepared a-la-minute so lacking in flavour and a bit dry and was a bit small.  Anago was very dry and no amount of tare was going to save it.  The sushi was a bit small and not enough for a full meal.  I would have asked for larger rice had it not been so poor.

Sho Mochizuki worked for 12 years at Ginza Kyubey and then two years at Sushi Onikai.  He had a good personality, chatted with all guests, some of whom were regulars, and smiled all the time.  The room was quite large for a sushi restaurant.  I liked the unusual feature of small window letting in some natural light.

I left disappointed I hadn't found a new spot for a cheap and reasonably convenient sushi lunch I could go back to but at least I didn't leave fuming that I'd spent 20K+ and two hours on a sub-par dinner.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1301/A130103/13262603/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.5

📱 Booking: 🟩 Easy.  Next-day bookings by Tabelog or same-day by phone.  No English spoken.

📍 Location: 

3-2-3 Shimbashi.  2 mins South from Uchisaiwaicho Station A1 Exit or 4 mins walk West from the Karasumori Exit of Shimbashi station.  Dedicated street-facing entrance.
Map data ©2022 Google

📅 Visit April 2022

Chawanmushi
Hirame
Sumi ika
Sakuramasu
Chutoro
Akami
Kuruma ebi
Aji
Kohada
Uni
Anago
1/2 toromaki
Tamago
Miso soup

⏱️ Damage: 5,500 incl water
💴 Time taken: 1h10m