This time I went with a close fried and it really developed into an extensive meal that covered all the variety and depth that Matsumi had to offer. We were able to get our favourite seats at the sushi bar and were able to watch the chef preparing our dishes, one after the other. Even though the sushi bar is now equipment with a glass shield due to the pandemic restrictions, we still had an amazing view and enjoyed the experience. Sadly, it limits the opportunity for interaction with the chef, which is something I always loved and enjoyed. In any case, for any sushi aficionado that enjoy watching, the setup at Matsumi can be highly recommended.

The Finest of Matsumi

With our order quickly growing into an opulent and extensive list of à la carte items, we also decided to insert a considerable variety of staters and side dishes, some of which were on the limited specialties menu of the week. We were surprised by an amazing amuse-bouche that kicked off the experience. It was an avocado, sake (salmon) and taco (octopus) ceviche and it was an amazing competition that greatly complemented each other. It was almost sad that we could not order a larger dish of it. We also had two varieties of konomono, which are composed of differently seared, pickled or aged vegetables. These are especially delicious at Matsumi and always a well received surprise. One of my personal favourites is horenso (spinach in sesame dressing), which cannot miss during any of my visits at the restaurant. Another absolute delight is the rare but always amazing ebi shinjo (deep fried shrimp dumplings). The shrimp is packed in tofu skin, which is then deep fried along with some fried lotus root pieces. It is just amazing and comes with an amazing composition of negi (green inions), grinded ginger and a mysterious spicy sauce that delights me even time. If this is on the specialty menu, it is a must have.

Another amazing specialty is a selection of hotategai (scallop) pieces served in some seared miso sauce along with some vegetables and shitake (Japanese forest mushrooms). The dish is served raw on a stove, which is the lid so we could prepare the scallops to our liking. It is an amazing composition and the sauce is key to the experience. The scallops were amazing as always and this combination is easily among my favourite hotategai dishes. The sauce is so nice, that even after finishing the scallops, vegetables and mushrooms, it cannot be wasted and but is an absolute joy on its own. Interestingly, this is only achieved through boiling the dish. When the dish is served, the sauce does not taste good, not even pleasant. But once the scallops are done, it is an absolute delight.

Another set of my favourites followed suit. Sake cava temaki (handroll with grilled salmon skin is just about the most amazing piece of Japanese food I can imagine. Being a long time aficionado of this dish, Matsumi is the only place on the planet where this is not just beyond all others in amazingness, but it consistently impressed even after more than a decade of sampling it regularly. The salmon skin is seared and grilled to the point of perfection and the teriyaki style sauce used in this dish is just over the moon. The sauce on its own would be something to die for and of course a well kept secret, so I cannot even report what it is exactly. Another few delights we had were tamago (egg omelet), uni (sea urchin) gunkan (battleship sushi) and unagi (freshwater eel) nigiri. The sea urchin was excellent and a fresh interlude among the heavy items with teriyaki sauce etc. The unagi (freshwater eel) is also one of my absolute favourite and hard to beat.

Oamakase Style Sashimi at Matsumi

For the main course, we had an amazingly composed plate of an omakase style sashimi selection. It came with shima aji (striped jack), otoro (bluefin fatty tuna belly), chu toro (medium fatty bluefin tuna belly), madai (red seabream), ika (squid) and maguro (bluefin tuna back). The striped jack was a new addition to the menu and something totally unexpected. Visually, it could be easily confused with hamachi (yellowtail), but is was a totally different experience all together. The texture and taste was amazing and quite distinct. The squid is usually also among the best items at Matsumi and should not be missed. The was also a small side dish of seared yuba (tofu skin) with wasabi. It was just the smallest bowl on the side, but it was an amazing surprise. It provided a fresh and acute sensation that was amazingly balanced with the spicy wasabi and a nice complementary element to the sashimi plate.

The selection of different tuna cuts was as amazing as it looked an amazing journey through a variety of tastes that is difficult to attribute to the same fish. Even the subtle differences in texture always amaze me and even though this might be an somewhat obvious observation shared by many, the otoro cut is the absolute most amazing piece of fish. It is amazing to experience again and again how this extreme level of quality is as consistent as night and day at Matsumi and am already fantasising about my next visit.

To round things off, we then had a final selection of some favourites. Paired with another sake cava temaki (handroll with grilled salmon skin), we had another piece of otoro (bluefin fatty tuna belly), madai (red seabream) and unagi (freshwater eel) as nigiri. As a final composition to melt in our mouths, we decided to take a piece of zuke chu toro (seared and flambeed bluefin medium fatty tuna belly) nigiri, which was a culminating finale of the meal. With the extensive breadth of our selection, we had to cut the dessert short and just opted for an umeboshi (salted and seared plum), which was also amazing and just about the perfect contrast to balance of the entire meal.

Sushi Guide Verdict

Matsumi always surprises and even after more than a decade of patronage, I am still mesmerised by its constant delivery of the most outstanding Japanese dining experience. It is truly a one of its kind restaurant and deserved its rank among the best around. As a pillar of traditional Japanese cuisine in an authentic atmosphere in a familiar setting, it is a must for any sushi aficionado and a perfect choice for anyone new and curious. The restaurant provided an encapsulated and unique experience with its wooded interior, open sushi bar and tatami room. For me it is almost like stepping into another world and being on vacation. The menu options are so extensive, it can just be describes with being as complete as it could get. All varieties of fish one could dream of can be found and the taste and quality is absolutely outstanding. Preparation and presentation of the dishes is done with extreme attention to detail and deep pasha for perfection. The drink menu is extensive and features many Japanese spirits and beers to choose from. The service team is friendly, welcoming and most forthcoming. Even on busy nights they take the time to engage in conversation and truly make the experience as amazing as it is. Matsumi is truly amazing and I can recommend it without hesitation to anyone and I cannot wait to get back.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: September 4, 2020

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“Thanks to his larger-than-life personality, Leonardo Jun Sakamoto has left his unmistakable mark on this discreet restaurant where you won’t find any signage. Here, you will savour what may well be the finest nigiri in the city.”

Source: MICHELIN GUIDE SÃO PAULO 2019

An Exquisite Dinner Experience at Jun Sakamoto

As a large group reservations are in order on any day, especially if the desired seats are those at the bar. The restaurant caters to its patrons with a stylish and modern atmosphere and huge open bar where guests can witness the sushi chefs preparing the amazing served at the restaurant. The extensive drink menu offers everything on could wish for and has an expensive selection of sake to choose from.

The dinner started with some light starters, like an huramaki some ebi tempura (fried shrimp), unagi tempura (friend freshwater eel) with rice topping and and outstanding maguro (tuna back) tartare with ikura (salmon roe) topping. The unagi tempura and maguro tartare were excellent and immediately set the bar for the experience to follow.

With seats at the bar, it was nice to witness the chefs preparing one plate after the other. It certainly added to the otherwise already excellent culinary experience of dining at Jun Sakamoto.

Over the course of the opulent dinner, there were some sake (salmon) and suzuki (sea bass) nigiri, a plate of kanpachi (amberjack) and tai (sea bream) nigiri, another plate of breathtaking aji (mackerel) and kamasu (barracuda) nigiris and absolutely outstanding hotategai (scallop) and hokkigai (surf clam) nigiri. Of course, also the uni (sea urchin) gunkan (battleship sushi) had the be sampled. Like all other pieces, it was of incredibly taste and made this an outstanding experience unlike any other.

Then, the grand finale was serves with some amazing tuna pieces that were prepared at the sushi bar. Both the maguro (tuna back) and the toro (fatty tuna belly) nigiri were excellent and a worthy and triumphant close to this amazing meal. Even if it is hard to imagine, there was still room for a little scoop of green tea ice, rounding the experience off nicely.

Sushi Guide Verdict

Dining at Jun Sakamoto is certainly a unique and unmistakable experience. The restaurant caters to upscale clientele with warm and modern atmosphere, excellent menu options and excellent drink menu. The experience was outstanding and quality and taste of the fish was among the best anywhere. The service was friendly and welcoming and like you would expect from a MICHELIN start restaurant. Overall, this is a must for any sushi aficionado living in or visiting São Paulo and it deserves its spot among the MICHELIN start restaurants Sushi Guide sampled.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: October 20, 2019

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Moriawase Dinner

The menu seemed extensive and offered many options that are hard to find in other sushi restaurants in Napoli. The chef also offered a special menu around caviar, but this felt not entirely like what we had in mind for this night. So we opted for a set moriawase menu and explored the average dishes served at this restaurant. The first plate came with hamachi (yellowtail), maguro (tuna back) and sake (salmon) sashimi, maguro, sake, suzuki (sea bass) and tai (sea bream) nigiri. Both the sake and hamachi were excellent. The tuna was not very convincing however, which made us skip the o-toro options on the menu. The plate was followed by an uramaki (inside out roll) plate with sake and kani (crab meat) variations. The rolls were surprisingly good and all ingredients tasted fresh.

Afterwards, we tried a maguro (tuna back) tempura maki (deep fried roll) with sake (salmon) topping. This roll was excellent as well and had a very tasty sauce that added a sweet note to the dish. As fried dishes are very popular in Napoli, this was well in line with high expectations for fried food. We ordered some final pieces and finished our dinner with an uni (sea urchin) gunkan, unagi (freshwater eel) and blue ebi (shrimp) nigiri and piece of glorious wagyu beef striploin nigiri.

Sushi Guide Verdict

OMU is a fancy restaurant with stylish interior catering to upscale clients. The atmosphere is cozy but the bright color of the indirect lights installed in the restaurant can feel a bit cold. Due to the clean granite walls, the restaurant gets very loud even with few tenants present. The menu options are extensive and among the largest in Napoli for sure. The menu offers anything a sushi aficionado might look for and even has some special delicacies, such as 5 types of ebi. The food quality was very good for most dishes, but some basics clearly lack in quality. The tuna was just mediocre, which is a common issue in many sushi restaurant in town. However, overall the taste and texture of the dishes was good and everything felt fresh and prepared with care. The drink menu is also extensive and covers all needs for a long night out. The service was friendly and forthcoming and made us feel at home. The restaurant is nice addition to the few sushi restaurants that stand out in Napoli.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: December 1, 2018

The post OMU – Elegant Japanese Restaurant in Santa Lucia, Napoli appeared first on Sushi Guide.

Moriawase Sashimi Plate

This time I started out with a moriawase sashimi plate. The selection of the day was pretty good and I enjoyed the first pieces at the sushi bar especially since it has been a while since I have been there. The plate came with kausi uni (deep seas urchin), katsuo (lightly cherrywood smoked bonito), kamasu (seared barracude), tennen hamachi (wild yellowtail), aji (horse mackerel), kusshi oyster as well as hotaru ika (baby firefly squid), kinmedai (golden eye snapper) and buri toro (wild yellowtail belly).

Omakase Nigiri Menu

After that I opted for an omakase style nigiri menu and enjoyed every bit of it. It started out with kasugodai (babey red snapper), kinmedai (golden eye snapper) and buri toro (wild yellowtail belly). Afterwards I had chu toro (bluefin medium fatty tuna), toro (bluefin fatty tuna belly), kamasu (seared barracuda) and mahata (black grouper). I finished the dinner with a wagyu grade a5 Japanese striploin, one unagi (freshwater eel) and one shirayaki (freshwater eel) nigiri.

More information about this visit to Sushi Ran can be found at moritzrecke.com.

Sushi Guide Verdict

More true than ever before, I really love this restaurant. Its unique atmosphere with the picturesque backdrop of Sausalito always makes me feel at peace. The menu options are extensive and everything is fresh and often locally sourced. The fish quality and taste is above and beyond and can’t be matched my many other restaurants anywhere in the world. The wine and sake menu is also extensive and would allow for an exciting journey through the Japanese spirit world. As always, the service was outstanding, making every visit to Sushi Ran an experience to be remembered.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: February 26, 2017

The post Sushi Ran – Exceptionally Amazing Japanese Cuisine appeared first on Sushi Guide.

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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Omakase Dinner

We started our dinner with an omakase sashimi plate that blew us away right from the start. It came with ji-kinmedai (cold smoked golden eye snapper), unimasu (ocean trout), isaki (grunt fish), hotategai (scallop), mirugai (giant clam), suna zuri (yellowtail belly cut) and mebachi maguro (big-eye tuna). It this would have been all we had, it would habe been an amazing dinner. Still, we stayed for more, omakase style of course.

Next we got some chu toro (bluefin medium fatty tuna) filled with uni (sea urchin) and must admit, I have never eaten anything quite like this. The textures of the fatty tuna and the soft sea urchin were just an awesome combination. Afterwards we had shima aji (stripped jack) sashimi, kamasu (barracuda) nigiri and ayu (river trout) nigiri. Finally we finished the meal with wagyu A5 grade miyazaki strip loin nigri, which was also truly amazing.

Sushi Guide Verdict

As always, dining at Akiko’s restaurant was a truly amazing experience. The atmosphere was just as always and the menu variety is just great, as is the food’s quality and taste. The drink menu still lacks any items that would amaze me, but I wouldn’t do there for the drinks anyway. The service was outstanding as usual and once again I can attest that this is one of the very few world class sushi restaurant on this planet.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: October 7, 2015

The post Akiko’s Restaurant – Truly Remarkable Japanese Cuisine appeared first on Sushi Guide.

“Welcome to KUSAKABE, it is always my pleasure to serve our guests. At KUSAKABE, we serve a multi-course sushi dinner that is based on the principle of Japanese “Kaiseki” cuisine. When I create my Omakase menu, it is my challenge to include a variety of seafood presented with creativity and offering a harmony of fresh flavors with every bite. Please join me and our capable staff at KUSAKABE for what we hope is an unforgettable dining experience.”

Source: Mitsunori Kusakabe – Owner/Chef, World Sushi Technical Skill Champion

Omakase menu

Kusakabe only offers omakase style set menus starting at $98 and allows additional orders a la carte only after the omakase menu has been served. The 7 piece menu tends to include a soup, sushi, sashimi and selected special plates with oysters or caviar. If that’s not enough, one can always go for the 10 piece set menu for $168. The a la cart menu offers some amazing highlights as well such as Toro (Low temperature aging Bluefin fatty tuna belly), Zuke Chutoro (Soy sauce cured bluefin medium fatty tuna), Negitoro (Fatty tuna with micro onion & roasted “Nori” temaki), Wagyu (A5 grade Miyazaki Wagyu strip loin), Aori Ika (Low temperature aging big fin reef squid) and many others. All of those might or might not have been part of the set menu of the day. Paring wine is offered at $125 or one can choose from the limited beer but decent wine or commendable sake selection.

During the dinner I was served an amazing zuke chu toro (sustainable bluefin medium fatty tuna) sashimi as a starter, followed by a soup and some salmon sushi rolls. It got more interesting after that with some delicious nigiri dishes.  I was served hirame (halibut), ebi (prawn), uni (sea urchin) and some wagyu (A5 grad moyazaki wagyu strip loin) as the finale of the 7 course set menu. I ordered additional dishes from the a la cart menu. I tried aji (wild-caught horse mackerel) nigiri which I enjoyed very much. After that I was blown away but a chu toro (sustainable medium fatty bluefin tuna cured in soy sauce) nigiri and an even more amazing toro (sustainable bluefin fatty tuna belly) nigiri. Luckily, I took some pictures.

Some information about my Kusakabe visit can be found at moritzrecke.com

Sushi Guide Verdict

The setting of the restaurant is a rather modern mix of raw brick walls and lots of bamboo elements and might seem a little cold or steril at times. Although the omakase style set menu offers a good variety of choices, it might not be perfect for sushi aficionados who really know what they want. It is not allowed to alter any menu items which leads to a rather low rating for the menu, although technically the a la carte menu offers a great selection of fish. The food quality it self is amazing and definitely one of the best around. Every fish had an intense and differentiating taste and everything was served very traditionally without any fancy mayonnaise sauces that are so common in California. The drink menu was very well composed, although one might consider the pairing wine option to be a little on the pricy side compared to the regular menu. Considering the overall cost for a dinner at Kusakabe however, this might be a neglectable notion. The service was outstanding with nothing to complain about. Some of the personal also worked at Sushi Ran before, giving the visit at Kusakabe a somewhat familiar touch.

Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Average

Review date: June 3, 2014

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