Sushi Horinouchi

Sushi Horinouchi (鮨 堀之内)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍣 Sushi / 📍 Ginza

📓 Visits: 2 (2025, 2024)

Sushi Horinouchi has a Tabelog rating of 3.52 and just 34 reviews, which isn't great for a sushi restaurant that opened in 2021.  Then there's the website, which is not only available in English but defaults to English: double red flag most of the best sushi restaurants in Japan don't have websites and anything in English feels oriented to the uneducated tourist.  Background check: Kaito Horinouchi previously worked at Sushi Keita, a very good and highly-regarded sushi restaurant but which just wasn't for me.  Finally, the website specifies a booking requires a minimum of two diners.  All of that added up to "probably not missing out" but I needed a new place to visit and with nigiri-only lunch at JPY 15,000 it was worth a punt so I called up was able to get a seat for myself.

Horinouchi-san loves tuna and the meal begins with three maguro nigiri and ends with a maguro maki.  The chutoro is particularly good.  The otoro has some sinew, which I would prefer removed.  In the Keita-style the nigiri are medium to large and the neta are cut thick.  Ikura on visit #1 was very generous: almost more ikura than rice.  No anago on visit #2 due to the off season but on visit #1 it was massive.  Bafun uni was super on both visits.  Unlike in the Keita-style flavours are stronger.  Shari, seasoned with a blend of aka-zu and kome-zu and a touch of salt is chewy and has real punch.

Service from Horinouchi and his wife is great.  Both of them can speak some English.  The 6-7 seat counter was full on my first visit so the meal took a little longer than on my second visit where I was the only diner at the counter, with the private room occupied by three.  The room is warm in winter.

It ticks all my boxes: large sushi, punchy flavours, quality neta, excellent rice, great location, friendly, relaxed and inviting atmosphere, out in an hour and a half or less, great value for money.  All the criticisms (sinew in the otoro, uni served as gunkanmaki, off-season akami that could be more iron-rich) I have I've had at sushi restaurants charging multiples of this.  The Tabelog profile of Horinouchi states "a young craftsman who follows the basics".  Isn't that exactly what you want?  Why he's not doing better I don't know.  Maybe junk that website.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13265678/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.4

📱 Booking: 🟩 Dinner is an easy booking via Omakase but they don't appear to release lunch slots.  For lunch you can book by phone in English.  Despite what the website says bookings for lone diners are accepted.

📍 Location: 

7-5-5 Ginza.  5 mins from Ginza Station Exit B7.
Map data ©2025 Google

📅 Visit April 2025

🕛 Lunch 15,00

🍣 Otoro
🍣 Akami 
🍣 Chutoro 
🍣 Kohada 
🍣 Madai
🍣 Aori ika
🍣 Torigai 
🍣 Iwashi 
🍣 Sayori
🍙 Bafun uni gunkanmaki 
🍙 Tekka
= 11
🍲 Soup 
🥚 Tamago

💴 Damage: 16,500 (15k + 10%)

⏱️ Time taken: 55m

📅 Visit November 2024

🕛 Lunch 15,00

🍣 Otoro 
🍣 Otoro aged 2 weeks
🍣 Chutoro
🍣 Sumi ika
🍣 Shima aji 
🍚 Ikura mini donburi 
🍣 Shima ebi kobujime 
🍣 Sawara 
🍙 Bafun uni gunkanmaki 
🍣 Anago 
🍙 Maguro maki
= 11
🥚 Tamago 
🍙 +Maguro maki +2500

💴 Damage: 19,250 (15k + 2.5k + 10%)

⏱️ Time taken: 1h20m