Sushi Restaurants With Omakase Courses

 Sushi Tokyo Ten Roppongi

This restaurant offer a great walk-in omakase course for 4400 JPY for lunch that changes each day at the chef's discretion.  It's generally about 7 pieces of sushi, 3 small snack bowls, soup and dessert. 

The course last about 90-120 mins for lunch and there are 2 start times offered:  11am and 1pm.  For dinner, it's about 5pm, 7pm and 9pm.  You can generally arrive within 30 mins after the start time and still be served, though it is likely to be full if you have no reservations.  

Note:  To reserve in advance, the only course available is for 8800 JPY  (reservations can be done online in English - google the restaurant and click on the tablecheck.com link under reservations).  If there are spare seats, it is possible get the omakase course for 4400 JPY.  I have managed to get the walk-in course several times but it's generally very busy.

Kumagai Sushi

There is an omakase course for 6600 JPY.  Generally it is 12 pieces of sushi with an additional appetizer, ending dish and dessert.  Each piece of sushi was generally of a high quality and some pieces had little garnishes that went very well with the fish.  It is possible to order extra pieces a la carte afterwards.  The sushi chef speaks very good English.

It is possible to walk in without reservations but it generally gets very busy around noon.  Reservations are recommended but if you reserve in advance, the only set available is the 6600 JPY course.

Kamiyama

The omakase course is 12 pieces for 4800 JPY with a starter and miso soup.  

The sushi was ranged from great to decent and also came with garnishes.

It's not a busy restaurant, so no need to reserve in advance.  This restaurant is cash only. 

For my list of restaurants, check out  my new map.

Sushi Restaurants

 

Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera

This is one of the best quality sushi restaurants in Omotesando.  It's called a kaiten sushi restaurant but nothing is moved on the conveyor belt.  Each seat /table has a tablet where you can place up to 5 orders at a time and the orders are brought to your seat.  This is great and allows you to eat at a leisurely pace without waiting too long for each plate (even when it's busy!).   The tablet has English as well as Japanese. There are seats at the counter and a few tables for larger groups.  Each seat has a cup, there is a container with green tea powder and a hot water dispenser between every 2 seats.  

Some plates come with 2 pieces and some are single pieces so be sure to check when ordering.  Most of the fish comes with soy sauce already applied but there is a soy sauce container and saucer for dipping the gunkan (boat) or maki (roll) pieces.  

My recommendations:  chuu toro (medium fat tuna 620 JPY), shime saba (pickled mackeral 440 JPY - generally I'm not fond of this type but it is done very well here, the vinegar is very mild), salmon harami (salmon 400 JPY), shima aji (mackeral 650 JPY), kanpachi (amberjack 600 JPY), tuna nakaochi gunkan (minced tuna 720 JPY)

To pay, take the tab with your seat number (it's clipped to the tablet) to the cashier by the entrance; take all the tabs for your group even if you only ordered from 1 tablet.  For repeat visitors, there is a reward program where you can collect 1 point for every 3000 JPY spent.  After 10 points, you get a discount coupon of 1000 JPY.

NOTE:  No reservations are allowed.  To queue, get a ticket from the machine in front of the entrance.  For the weekend, try to get there at least 10 mins before opening at 10:30am, otherwise be prepared to wait awhile. (Last time I grabbed a ticket just as the store opened on a Sat and was 22nd in the queue. Luckily 3 groups didn't show up so we were the second last group shown in.  When we left at noon, the wait time was 2 hours).

Sushi no Midori Akasaka

The sushi is generally decent but the service setup is not as good as Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera.

You can order sets or a la carte.  Sets will generally save you 50-150 JPY per set (having waited in the restaurant for long durations, I have had ample time to calculate the meager savings to be had by ordering sets).  There is an English menu and you can place orders with the waitress.

My a la carte recommendations:  The broiled engawa (flounder 250 JPY) is really great and the main reason I return.  The fresh engawa, salmon and hotate (scallop) at 250 JPY are generally good.  The chutoro (medium fat tuna) at 400 JPY/piece and the ootoro at 500 JPY are hit and miss.  

I don't usually order the premium a la carte items as they are often not available, or when it is available, have not enjoyed it (tasted sour). 

The wait times can be really long when it is busy.  Having been seated at the counter, I am often amazed by the terrible setup.  Fish is placed on the plates to be made into sushi by different chefs.  Sometimes the plates progress to being made into sushi quickly and sometimes just sit there for a long time waiting for one of the 3 to 4 chefs to notice.  I have sometimes seen a chef making takeout sushi (to be placed in the refrigerator at the front entrance) rather than making the many plates of fish waiting.  I'm sure that they are trying to catch the lunch crowd who want to buy the ready-made containers but I think that serving customers who have already ordered food should be the priority.  For this reason I have started to avoid this restaurant during weekday lunch/dinner time and anytime on the weekend.

Note:  Reservations can be made in advance using their app but not for the current date.  For the current date, go to the restaurant and take a ticket from the machine at the front of the entrance.

Tenkasushi

There are several menus for 130 JPY, 190 JPY or more.  The pieces of fish are small but for the price and quality, it's a great place for those minding their budgets.

I recommend the chu toro (medium fat tuna), toro tekka maki (tuna handroll), iwashi, yaki salmon (grilled salmon), Canadian maki (salmon and avocado roll), and salmon.  The hamachi (amberjack), ika (squid) are also decent. 

For my list of restaurants, check out  my new map.

Numazukou Kaiten Sushi - Shinjuku Stn, Tokyo

Whenever I go to a sushi restaurant, I never order a set.  Sets always come with a variety of sushi and among them are usually octopus, squid and fish roe; missing is usually chutoro or anything including "toro" (toro literally translates into "fat" - not hard, chewy lard but a blend of meat and fat that can be extremely tasty).  Since I'm not fond of the former and the latter is my favourite, I always order sushi a la carte.  This tends to quickly become pricey, especially since the sushi pieces that I like are usually the more expensive ones.  Because of this, I limit my trips to a proper sushi restaurant for special occasions and all other times go to the much more reasonably priced kaiten sushi restaurants.

Kaiten sushi places are very much about self-service.  Customers sit on stools by a counter and help themselves to plates of sushi moving on a conveyor belt.  Rather than a waitress serving you hot tea, cups are lined up on the counter, along with tea bags or powder; you must fill the cups yourself with hot water from the taps built into the counter every few seats.  Everything is within easy reach from your seat and at your complete disposal: chopsticks, saucers, wet napkins, soy sauce and ginger.  Even though you can help yourself to the sushi rolling around, you can also order things

The price menu

directly from the chef or waitress and the shop will usually provide a picture menu for this.  Above the counter, you will usually see the price list, and each plate colour indicates a different price.  The more expensive plates will not usually be on the conveyor belt unless the place is busy, so ordering directly from the chef or waitress is the only option during lull times.  As you finish each plate, keep them stacked in front of you.  When you've had your fill of raw fish, flag down a waitress who will come to your seat and give you a tally of your plates on a piece of paper which you then take to the cash register by the entrance and pay there.  As a side story, I once went to a kaiten sushi restaurant where the person sitting next to us snuck one of his plates onto our stack.  Luckily, it had been a ¥500 plate for beer - the plate literally had a "beer" label across it; the waitress gives it to you when you order alcohol since it's not easy to stack mugs or bottles.  Since we had no beer mugs at our seats while the young punk next to us was still nursing his but had no beer plate in his stack, the waitress waived the cost.  Interestingly, she also did not accuse nor mention it to him even though it was quite obviously his. This only happened once for the 10+ years we've been in Japan but it's sad that it marred our first year here.

This plate of chutoro is ¥550.

  Since chutorou is my favourite piece of sushi, I judge most sushi restaurants by it.  Chutorou is from the belly of tuna, and there are different names for the different cuts of tuna meat; akami is leaner and ootorou is fattier.  I find that akami is tough and not that tasty while ootoro is sometimes too overpowering.  For kaiten sushi, I love the shop in Yokohama, Miura Misaki-ko, which is on the 6th floor of the Cial shopping centre in Yokohama Station.  They have another branch in the World Porters near Sakuragicho Station but this restaurant is not as good as the Yokohama one.  Miura Misaki-ko always has amazing chutoro (the tuna comes fresh from Miura port), an excellent salmon toro, nama yuba, and salmon mayo - the last two of which isn't done in many shops but is great here.  Their "aburi" plates (broiled with a hand-held blowtorch) are wonderful - especially the tuna and salmon.  Most kaiten sushi bars will do these types of sushi and simply let you dip them in soy sauce, Miura Misaki-ko has a topping of mayonnaise or marinated daikon that really enhances the flavour of the dish.  In Shinjuku, the best chutorou has been at Numazukou Kaiten Sushi which is underground close to the Keio department store at Shinjuku station.

How to get to Numazukou:  From the street level, the best place to go underground is at staircase number 6 (not Exit No 6 - it's a completely different area).    After you go down the staircase, turn right.  It's just pass the glass doors.

The west side of Shinjuku Station with a view of the main entrance to the Keio Department Store Building.  Staircase 6 is across the street from the right side of the Keio Department Store.

A street level view of staircase number 6 which has a sign with its number on the side and a view of the right side of the Keio Department Store across the street.

  Numazukou is reasonably priced and the quality is consistently good.  They do a very nice aburi engawa (broiled flatfish) and a great anago (boiled eel) that they will warm again when you order.  Also good is the toro tekka, which is tuna with shiso (perilla leaf) in a roll.  The bitterness of the perilla leaf gives the roll a nice bite and this type of roll is not common to all sushi restaurants.  The chutorou is a bit pricey at ¥550 a plate but it's usually good.  I also like to have aji (horse mackeral) and buri or hamachi (yellowtail).  Numazukou is thankfully a non-smoking sushi bar, however the line-ups for lunch and dinner time can be very long, it's best to go during the off-times since they are open all-day.

Toro tekka is ¥550.

Aburi engawa is ¥400.

Anago comes in a long strip (¥550) or cut into two pieces (¥330)

For a general map of my restaurants, visit :  My map