Exceptional Dinner

With a group of colleagues we arrived at the restaurant for an early dinner. We were seated at a nice table with a good view over the sushi lounge and were served some nice sake tempura (fried salmon) as an amuse-bouche to kick of the dinner. We decided to sample the premium selection plates and ordered some individual premium items on top and were set for an amazing experience.

First, we had an amazing otoro (fatty tuna belly) tartare, which was absolutely breathtaking. It was followed by an sashimi plate with maguro (tuna back), hamachi (yellowtail), sake (salmon), suzuki (sea bass), hotategai (scallop) and ebi (shrimp) of which the scallop and shrimp were most amazing. We also sampled an hamachi (yellowtail) carpaccio with jalapeño dressing, which also excellent.

The next plate came with same hamachi (yellowtail), suzuki (sea bass), maguro (tuna back), sake (salmon) and ebi (shrimp) sashimi as well as hamachi (yellowtail), sake (salmon), maguro (tuna back), suzuki (sea bass), kuruma ebi (tiger prawn) and red ebi (shrimp) nigiri. The hamachi was excellent but surpassed by the outstanding texture and taste of the tiger prawn and red shrimp. Although this was a simple plate with standard items, it already was a remarkable dinner.

We then opted for some more toro (tuna belly) dishes. We tried the otoro (fatty tuna belly) tartare gunkan (battleship sushi), otoro (fatty tuna belly), otoro (fatty tuna belly) nigiri with maguro (tuna back) nigiri. All of these items were jaw dropping and rank among the best quality and taste of tuna in Napoli.

Subsequently we had two orders of the large signature mix plate that offers the most premium pieces the restaurant has to offer. It came with sake (salmon) maki, a amazing sake (salmon) uramaki (inside out roll) with seared sake (salmon) tartare topping, otoro (fatty tuna belly) nigiri with otoro (fatty tuna belly) tartare topping, sake (salmon), hamachi (yellowtail) with uni (sea urchin) topping, suzuki (sea bass) nigiri, ebi (shrimp) with ika (squid) and tobiko (flying fish roe) topping), kani (crab), kuruma ebi (tiger prawn) and ika (squid) nigiri with caviar topping.

To say the least, this plate was amazing. The combination of flavours created by the carefully picked toppings was outstanding and the quality and taste of the items was excellent. Most amazing were the yellowtail with the sea urchin, the squid with caviar and tiger prawn. It was only surpassed by the fatty tuna belly, that was as excellent as ever.

All in all, this was an absolutely excellent dinner that ranks among the best sushi experiences I ever had in Napoli. Just recently I resampled all the top choices in town and Otoro81 definitely outperformed the competition.

Sushi Guide Verdict

Otoro81 is an excellent Japanese restaurant with an amazing interior design and modern atmosphere. The lounge is very stylish but uses warm colours, so it feels comfy and cozy despite the cocktail bar and DJ setting. It invites for long stays that extend beyond the dinner. The menu options are extensive and offer both classic and highly exclusive items that are otherwise hard or even impossible to find in Napoli. The quality and taste of the food is outstanding. Although not on the same level as high end options globally, it certainly is one of its kind in Southern Italy. So far, it is the only restaurant that servers tuna at a high quality and also offers fatty tuna cuts that are excellent. The drink menu is extensive and offers anything you could hope for from cocktails to wine and spirits. The service team is excellent, friendly and forthcoming and creates a good vibe. For sure I will be back at Otoro81.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: June 1, 2019

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Basic math: 17>14>10. (Also, usually: 22≠17)

hamachi (yellowtail) nigiri

Then we had otoro – fatty tuna. This was the best piece of sushi I have ever eaten in my life. It’s just something that you must try. In this city, it’s one of the best delicacies you will come across. The combination of the tuna taste with the fat, just makes your taste receptors extremely happy We proceeded with lean tuna (akami), from the same fish, but cut from near the back. He had cut this fish after we first sat down and let it marinate in soy sauce about 25 minutes. This is called zuke –  it concentrates the flavor and is a traditional preparation before refrigeration existed (in Edo style sushi). It was slightly salty and very new to me.

shirako (cod sperm) lightly grilled

aji (horse mackerel) nigiri

Sushi Guide Verdict

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As a group of 3 we were seated at the exceptionally beautiful open sushi bar and enjoyed the service of Sushi Ran’s executive chef, Mr. Takatoshi Toshi, their master chef since 2013. I had the opportunity to be his guest once before and cannot complain about any other chef there either, but this day truly was one to be remembered. It was a special delight to watch Takatoshi Toshi work. To give you an idea, here is a short video of him at a Gala Evening in Israel.

Omakase Sashimi Plate

Anyway, on this day we decided to go with an omakase style sashimi menu and basically went from one culinary explosion to the next. The first 1o piece sashimi plate came with 2 pieces of king sake (king salom), hamachi (yellowtail), hon maguro (bluefin tuna), ara (red spotted grouper) and kusshi oyster. We especially enjoyed the oyster, which seemed a refreshing and not so common addition to the mix, and enjoyed watching Takatoshi Toshi work on all the other delicious dishes he prepared for other guests in the restaurant.

Even more Omakase Sashimi

We went on to explore the amazing selection of sushi bar exclusives and were served even more delicious sashimi pieces one by one. We decided to stick with sashimi not only because we prefer to focus on the fish’s texture and taste but also because we wanted to make most of the experience and have room left for everything we wanted to try. This is true generally for me, I prefer sashimi most of the time and also enjoy nigiri but tend to skip makis most of the time.

During our culinary journey of the most exquisite menu items the sushi bar could offer, we enjoyed dishes like kasugodai (baby red eye snapper), iwashi (sardine), sagoshi (spanish mackerel). kamasu (barracuda), kurama ebi (Japanese tiger shrimp) and zuke chu toro (red wine cured bluefin medium fatty tuna). It was followed by kaisu uni (deep sea ocean packed sea urchin), toro (bluefin fetty tuna belly), kohada (gizzard shad), sujiko (salmon roe) and shirayaki (freshwater grilled eel).

Since that left some pieces left on the menu, we also tried tarabagani (king crab with crab butter aioli), which was an absolute delight. We continued with bincho toro (white fatty tuna belly), zuke sake (white soy sauce cured fatty salmon), meso anago (braised young sea eel) and a final piece of wagyu grad a5 Japanese beef striploin nigiri. If we would have asked for any more, we would have probably started from the beginning. I can’t remember anything important we left out on the menu.

More information about this truly one of a kind visit to Sushi Ran can be found on moritzrecke.com.

Sushi Guide Verdict

This truly was an amazing experience. With seats at the sushi bar and Sushi Ran’s executive chef Takotoshi Toshi as our chef for the day, we made the most of our visit for sure. As always the atmosphere was an absolute delight and we stayed there for many hours to taste everything we could think of. The menu options are truly extensive with even more exclusive items being available at the sushi bar exclusive menu. The quality and taste of the food was outstanding, with the rights words amiss to truly describe the experience. The drink menu offered everything we were looking for and as usual the staff was not just extremely friendly but also heartwarming. This was definitely one of the most amazing experiences I ever had at a sushi restaurant.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: October 16, 2015

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