Teruzushi Tokyo

⭐⭐⭐

🍣 Sushi / 📍Akasaka

📓 Visits: 1

I was somewhat skeptical visiting Teruzushi in Fukuoka a couple of years back.  Reviews were not outstanding and I was concerned it could be more show over quality.  However, I was only going to have two sushi meals on my trip and I wanted something I couldn't get in Tokyo.  As it happened I loved it: almost half the pieces I rated 10/10; the kue (three items) was outstanding; four items contained generous amounts of Kyushu akai uni.  The sushi was unlike anything you could get in Tokyo and I found the 'show' genuinely entertaining.  A meal like this in Tokyo would cost way more than the 35k+ service I paid.  Teruzushi would be the only expensive sushi restaurant I'd book again if I went to Fukuoka and (sacrilege!) I much preferred it to Tenzushi.  I was aware that a members-only Teruzushi Tokyo was opening around the time I went to the Fukuoka restaurant so after my visit to the honten it became #1 on my list of sushi restaurants I wanted to visit.  How much would a meal cost here?  100k?

The restaurant operates from the same building as WM By WagyuMafia.  There are in fact three restaurants on the same floor: Teruzushi Tokyo, SushiMafia and WM.  The restaurant seats twelve around a U-shaped counter.  Loud music pumps away in the background.  The chefs prepare the sushi on an island table in the middle and hand the sushi directly to you.  Watanabe-san (he's Mr Teruzushi) feeds half the room and Hamada-san (he's Mr WM) feeds the other half.  The chefs regularly swap sides.

The meal got off to a poor start with an uni maguro temaki.  The fish was too cold and it all tasted muddy.  After an ordinary (at this price) taro shirako, a tsumami of kegani, daikon and chrysanthemum.  The flavours were not deep enough.  Kue was in agedashi but I only scored it 8/10.  It was nothing like the kue at the Fukuoka restaurant and nothing like the kue I had at Sushi Arai a couple of weeks later.  Too beef dishes followed, both Ozaki beef.  The grilled beef had great flavour and little grease.  I suspect it was rump but it wasn't hard.  The first nigiri was saba which was massive, very strongly seasoned and had very little smell.  9/10.  Next, hokkigai which would have been perfect if it had been a touch warmer.  9.5/10.  Next buri which was a bit lean and could have been sliced thicker.  9/10.  The next item was really poor.  Kuromutsu temaki should be an explosion of oils but this was dry and completely lacking in flavour and I could only taste the nori.  6/10.  The kohada was not unlike Hatsunezushi's.  8.5/10.  The tare in the tennen unagi burger was too strong for me but unagi is always good.  8.5/10.  The next item was bottan ebi which I rated 9/10.  Two items of tuna were included: chutoro which was way over-seasoned and had a very strong flavour of blood, like akami and maguro 'kalbi' which was also let down by an overly-strong tare.

The food was very different from Teruzushi in Fukuoka.  Only two items included uni and there was only one dish of kue.  The unagi burger is included but the meal also included two beef dishes.  The biggest problem with the meal was the seasoning.  The rice is seasoned with a unique kasuzu vinegar so you've already got one big flavour there.  The nikiri is very strong and contains balsamic vinegar?  The nigiri is also served too quickly so it's one whack of salt and acid after another.  Most of the neta were ruined for me.

There's also, due to the set-up, less interaction with the chefs.  In the Fukuoka restaurant you're sat opposite Watanabe-san for two hours and he has a great personality.  Hamada-san doesn't have the same personality.  Watanabe-san can speak some English (but Hamada-san can't?) while there are two English-speaking staff on hand.  With 12 diners all finishing at the same time and only one card machine it can take a little time (around 20 minutes in my case, and I wasn't the last) to settle up at the end.  The chefs disappear into the back kitchen at this time.  I'll spare you any photos of the chefs making faces at you while they hand you the sushi: you can find them all on Instagram, along with Watanabe-san's very funny videos.

Drinks were expensive so I asked for water and was charged 1,100 yen for a large bottle of Fuji.  Non-members pay JPY 55,000 while Wagyumafia members pay JPY 44,000 for the food.  World-wide Wagyumafia membership is a one-time fee of JPY 33,000 and staff will offer you a membership during the meal.  As they don't make memberships generally available, dining here as a non-member might be the easiest way to get one.  If you travel around Asia, money is not a problem and you want to go to their restaurants then maybe it's worth it.

Overall this was very disappointing.  I was expecting the same experience as at the Fukuoka restaurant but it was far from it.  Although I scored four items 9+ there were no 10s.  Compare that with my meal at Teruzushi in Fukuoka where I scored almost half the 22 items 10/10 and only one item below 8.5.  Did they amp up the seasoning for Tokyo?  They certainly amp'd up the music and the pace.  I'd highly recommend Teruzushi in Fukuoka but I don't recommend Teruzushi Tokyo.

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.6

📱 Booking: 🟩 Teruzushi Tokyo runs for three days every month.  Non-members can book via Omakase and there are always seats available.  100% non-refundable pre-payment.

📍 Location: 

4F Kokusai Tennon Building, 3-13-6 Akasaka.  4F multi-tenant building.  4F is unmarked on the nameplate outside.  Look for the 国際天野 building.  1 min from Akasaka station Exit 1.
Map data ©2023 Google

📅 Visit Winter 2023/2024

Uni, maguro, nori
Tara shirako
Kegani, daikon, kiku
Sawara, tama negi
Kue, agedashi, kuro negi
Ozaki beef steak
Ozaki beef shabu shabu
Saba (nigiri)
Hokkigai
Buri
Kuromutsu temaki
Chutoro
Kohada
Tennen unagi burger
Bottan ebi
Maguro kalbi
Ozaki harami, uni, caviar
Yari ika
Owan
Kanpyo
Mikan (dessert)

💴 Damage: 44,000 (members) / 55,000 (non-members) + water @ 1100
⏱️ Time taken: 2h (20m waiting to pay)