Sukiyabashi Jiro is probably the most famous sushi restaurant in the world outside of Japan thanks to both the Michelin Guide and the documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”. Many want to go to Japan just to eat his sushi even with the exorbitant price tag and the difficulty in getting a reservation.
I think that a lot, perhaps too much, has been said about the “technical” aspects of his sushi. I find that this is a side effect of the documentary as well as his recently released bilingual mini-book about his sushi, where he is given a “Godfather”-esque vibe. Make no mistake, the sushi here is really very good, on a different level in fact but I find that a lot of people don’t understand that in order to have the best experience, one must understand that experience and that takes a lot of sushi consumption with an open mind- and perhaps some self-experimenting with making sushi.
This is not to say that it is “wrong” to dine at Jiro for your first “Michelin-starred” sushi meal. I myself started out at Sushi Mizutani, a former Jiro apprentice and at that time a 3 Michelin-Starred sushi joint, for my sushi journey. I found that while I found the sushi to be delicious, a lot of nuances and details were left unnoticed, hence while I understood the “taste” component I did not fully understand the whole experience and hence could not truly appreciate the level of sushi there. Similarly if you make Jiro your first time sushi experience in Japan, you won’t be able to fully understand his philosophy and food, hence I strongly recommend any readers from making this move and have at least a few meals at different places (in Japan) where you can communicate with the sushi chef first before taking the plunge.
Now on to my experience at Jiro. I won’t be “foodifically correct” by saying it is the best sushi experience of my life. I felt very rushed, and I was the only diner for a good 8-10 minutes. As I was on my third chew for my first piece, Jiro-san was almost done making the next piece. This super speed went on until another party arrived and I was given some time to enjoy the sushi in a more relaxed manner (still fast, but not at the previous lightning speed). I felt that there was a compromise between me taking photos and enjoying the sushi hence I gave up the former which explains why some of the photos of the sushi pieces are missing or blurry. That said, I can understand the rationale of eating fast and giving the sushi “sole focus”.
That said, Jiro-san’s nigiri is truly marvelous. The sourness of the rice really goes well with the seafood.His rice is lightly al dente, quite fluffly to be honest, and slightly wet in addition to being power packed with komezu (white rice vinegar). The wasabi applied is on the generous side, somewhat similar to Sawada’s wasabi “level”. The initial hit from the rice is quite shocking, albeit in a very pleasant way (doesn’t make sense, I know, bear with me).
The first piece is a shiromi (white fish) and it is a powerful introduction to Jiro-san’s sushi. The more neutral shiromi, in my humble opinion, is so neutral in flavour that it is very difficult to create balance with the shari especially if your rice is power-packed. Here, the shiromi has been optimised to stand on its own against the stronger flavour of the rice, and that is no mean feat. “Silent” indicators of the quality of neta used at Jiro are also given for example the squid is unscored because frankly it does not require any at all.
His tuna is sourced from the famous tuna dealer Fujita, and is incredible in the sense that it has a fantastic blood fragrance and sweetness of fat. The chutoro was truly a blast of umami but what was more amazing (and this is true for the best of hon-maguro) is the akami with such deep and complex flavors and fragrance which is truly hard to describe in words.
However the area where he stands out the most is his hikari-mono (silver skinned fish, literally “the shining objects”). From the delicateness of the sayori (halfbeak) to the pristine fat of the aji (horse mackerel) to the intensity of the shime-saba (marinated mackerel) and kohada (gizzard shad), I have not had hikari-mono with more character anywhere else. His calibration with hikari-mono is truly a work of art. His octopus, served warm, is also exquisite with the beautiful aroma of octopus permeating your senses with a nice yielding toothsome bite. And of course his huge kuruma-ebi (Japanese Imperial Prawn) and Kita-Murasaki Uni (Sea Urchin) deserves high praise, with no expenses spared. The anago (sea eel) is perhaps the pièce de résistance: souffle-like in texture and incredible richness coupled with an amazing nitsume sauce.
While I cannot fault the sushi in any way I do not really understand Jiro’s serving philosophy. He claims that he is following tradition by being impersonal and serving at a fast pace and yes, it is true that in the days of the old Edo period you bought your sushi from a street cart, ate it, and continued about your business. However I am sure that they did not pay 35,000 Yen to dine that way. Granted, it is Jiro’s sushi counter, and he rules within his space. And given his years of experience he knows best how to serve his sushi. While some better-off gourmands might be saying that “money is not the issue“, I do say that the price plays a big part in whether I would repeat a visit, and right now 35k yen for 20 pieces of nigiri with a rushed service is not really my thing. This is not saying that Jiro’s fish is not worth the money, I think the quality of fish here is immaculate and worth paying a higher price for. Perhaps when I’ve tried more sushi and have more money to burn I would revisit.
To conclude, if you have not tried sushi in Japan, Sukiyabashi Jiro is not a suitable place for you to start. If you want a relaxed atmosphere, do not go there. If you want to enjoy the taste element from a solely objective point-of-view , this might be the place for you, although it is my opinion that taste is only one part of the sushi experience (albeit taking the lion’s share).
Date of Visit: April 2015
Tabelog
Michelin
Website
Address: B1F, Tsukamoto Sozan Bldg, 4-2-15 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Telephone: 03-3535-3600 (+81-3-3535-3600)
Booking Difficulty: Hard
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