Sunny Sushi Lunch

Apart from the traditional restaurants interior, they also serve meals on outside tables on the sidewalk in the Immermannstrasse, which is not just nice during the pandemic but on any sunny day. This time, I opted for some grilled skewers to start, sake (salmon), ika (squid) and hotategai (scallop), which is my favorite.

Then followed a set of premium nigiri pieces that I selected a la carte since the usual luxury nigiri set was out of stock. I enjoyed some sake yaki (grilled salmon), chu toro (medium fatty tuna belly), otoro (fatty tuna belly) and aji (mackerel) nigiri.

As a fulminant dessert to the meal, I decided to take another 2 pieces of unagi (freshwater eel) nigiri. Unagi is always among my favorites and here, they are usually exceptionally great.

Sushi Guide Verdict

As usual, I was quite satisfied with my meal at Kushi-Tei of Tokyo. Even though the pandemic is putting some constrains on the experience, the sushi was as outstanding as always. The taste and quality is among the best around and despite some limited availability due to the pandemic, the menu has extensive options to choose from. The staff was nice as always and made the lunch and excellent and to be repeated experience.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: June 14, 2021

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Unagi Kabayaki and other delights

Beyond claiming to serve always fresh and high quality fish, Yabase has also a considerable reputation for unagi (freshwater eel) dishes, which is what attracted us to check it out. We started the dinner with an amazing plate of unagi kabayaki, which is basically split, gutted, boned, butterfried and grilled freshwater eel. I was served with teriyaki sauce, of which there could have been even more. This was an amazing dish and among the best unagi I have ever had. They also served some fried eel bones, which were nice to try, but it is not a must on this dish.

As a main course, we opted for an omakase style luxury sushi plate that came with 10 pieces of nigiri and 8 pieces of sashimi and was a very representative selection of the sushi menu. The plate came with sake (salmon), maguro (tuna back) and hamachi (yellowtail) sashimi. Both the salmon and yellowtail were of excellent taste and texture and were even surpassed by the outstanding lean tuna back. It made us wonder about the tuna belly cuts they also had on the menu, but we will get back to that.

Then there were zuke chu toro (seared medium fatty tuna belly), maguro (tuna back), unagi (freshwater eel), sake yaki (grilled salmon), suzuki (sea bass), hotategai (scallop), hamachi (yellowtail), ebi (shrimp) and saba (mackerel) nigiri pieces, and ikura (salmon roe) gunkan (battleship sushi) and tamago (egg omelet). The chu toro was mind-blowing, as was the scallop and mackerel. It was clear that we hat to sample the menu a bit more, to make the most of the experience.

And so we ordered another small plate with chu-toro (medium fatty tuna belly) and o toro (fatty tuna belly) nigiri pieces, which were absolutely outstanding. To round things off, we had another small plate with unagi (freshwater eel), saba (mackerel), hotategai (scallop) and ika (squid) nigiris. squid is also one of my favourites and even though it had fierce competition this night, it was an excellent close to an outstanding dinner.

Sushi Guide Verdict

Yabase is simple but authentic restaurant with very minimalistic interior. It is neither stylish nor particularly traditional, it is simple, effective and provides a somewhat cool atmosphere. Even though it serves well as a backdrop to the experience, it is not the most inviting of all Japanese restaurant around. The menu options are extensive but leave few things to desire for demanding sushi aficionados looking for a complete experience. The food quality and taste was outstanding and rank this restaurant among the higher tier places around. The drink menu is a bit limited, but there is decent selection of wine and sake to choose from. Considering the fierce competition in Germany’s largest Japanese community, this is quite an achievement. The service team was friendly and forthcoming and made this stay and enjoyable visit, despite the glass shields between tables and somewhat steril vibe of the night.

There have been mixed reports about Yabase in recent months, so this experience has to be taken with a grain of salt. Based on this experience, this restaurant can definitely be recommend. We will be back to double check.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: July 31, 2020

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Sushi Bites

Even though the menu options are a bit limited to standard sushi items and various fried dishes, which is a common theme in Napoli, I found some nice dishes to try. I had a sake (salmon) tartare gunkan (battleship sushi) wrapped in sake(salmon) and it was quite tasty. I ordered one uramaki tempura (deep fried inside out roll) with sake yaki (grilled salmon), avocado and cream cheese. It was very tasty but not particularly Japanese. At last, I chose some more traditional nigiri pieces of tako (octopus) and aka (squid). Both were nice, but I had better octopus at other places in the area. The squid however was very good and a delightful finale for the quick dinner.

Sushi Guide Verdict

It is safe to say that even though It’s Sushi will not rank among the better choices of sushi restaurants in Napoli, the restaurant improved a lot since my last visit. The atmosphere itself is still lacking and doesn’t stand out. The menu options however have improved and offer some nice surprises. The overall quality and taste of the fish was quite good, especially considering it is mainly take out restaurant. Drink options are still basic, but fitting the setting of the restaurant. The service was nice and forthcoming and it feels like a valid option to grab some quick bites before having a night out in Chiaia. For a full features dinner experience I would not recommend this restaurant. There are many better options around.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review Date: July 5, 2019

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Some Basic Sushi Bites

My choices were out in a plastic box even though I dined at the restaurant which underlined the grab and go vibe I had while inside. Yet, as I was on the move anyhow it matched my individual situation. The options were somewhat limited to basic options, so I had some sake (salmon) tartare, suzuki (sea bass), maguro (tuna back) and sake (salmon) nigiri and then some kappa (cucumber) with cream cheese uramaki (inside out roll) with sake (salmon) topping, sake yaki (grilled salmon) uramaki (inside out roll) with sake yaki (grilled salmon) topping and lastly some sake (salmon) and avocado uramaki (inside our roll). All in all everything was kind of average and nothing stood out in particular. The salmon was perfectly fine but nothing special. Only the tuna back was a bit tasteless, something quite common in my experience in southern Italy.

Sushi Guide Verdict

I cannot say much about the Daruma restaurant chain in general, but from my visit to their Parioli restaurant, I was not impressed very much. Reminding me of the Giappo sushi chain, they cater the modern trend of casual sushi dining and take away food. The atmosphere at this restaurant was very cool and uninviting. This was underlined by the obvious emphasis on take away orders. The menu options are quite limited but among the usual standard sushi dishes they offer a good variety of bento boxes to choose from. The food quality is average. Even though I was hoping for more, the quality is ok for take out. The drink menu was very limited and basically only covered essentials. Service was focussed on quick sales and not particularly inviting. Based on this experience, I think I would explore other options next time I am around.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: July, 4, 2019

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Dinner a la Carte

I went there for an early dinner on a Saturday and got a nice table outside that they set up just for me as all other seats were already taken or reserved. The menu ist not that extensive and covers the usual basics of a restaurant of this kind. The Peruvian twist is apparent but not dominant and mostly focusses on sauces and other accents for the traditional sushi selection.

The meal started with a tara (codfish) gyoza tempura (fried dumplings) that were quite nice, but not outstanding. Codfish is a very common fish in Napoli, which made the dish rather Neapolitan than Peruvian. Afterwards I samples the Victor Roll of the specialties menu, which was a sake (salmon), suzuki (sea bass), hirnmasse (amber jack) uramaki (inside out roll) with red ebi (shrimp) topping. The shrimps were advertised as coming from Mazara in Sicily and were in fact outstanding. The roll was nice but the distinct taste of the individual fish got lost in the mix.

As a final plate I tried the premium nigiri selection, which in fact was more a plate of classical items rather than anything special. It cake with sake (salmon), suzuki (sea bass), maguro (tuna back), ebi (shrimp), tai (sea bream) and sake yaki (grilled salmon) nigiri. The salmon was of good quality and also the tai was nice with the mango sauce they served it with. The ebi was not the same type from Mazara and therefore a bit disappointing. Same goes for the tuna which is usually nothing special in Napoli’s sushi restaurants. On the plus side, the plate looked very nice, much better then it was from a culinary perspective however.

Sushi Guide Verdict

Cariño Nikkei is tiny but stylish sushi restaurant that offers a nice vibe on a square with many other restaurants and bars. If you like being in a hectic and compressed place, it could rank among a cool place to hang out. However, it doesn’t invite for a romantic or quiet dinner. The menu options are quite nice, but do not extend beyond very typical fish to choose from. Rarities are not available. The quality and taste of the fish is average and nothing special apart from the Mazara shrimp, which is outstanding. However, many Japanese restaurants around serve excellent shrimp. The drink menu is simple but fitting for the setting of the restaurant. The service team at Cariño Nikkei was friendly and forthcoming, but since the place is rather busy, they didn’t create a very personal atmosphere. Considering the rather high price point of the restaurant, I would recommend it for small snacks or lunch, but an extensive dinner will be quite expensive and not worth the money compared to other options around.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: June 22, 2019

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