This is contribution from my friend Rickard Zerpe; enjoy!
The street rep of this joint puts it right up there with with the big guys; like for example Mizutani, and the word is that the captain of the establishment, Nagayama-san is a stern and somewhat eccentric fish otaku so it was not without a dash of fear we entered his modest sushi bar in Shimbashi.
working hours ;-)
Rickard and Marcus
Nagayama-san surprised me with his chatty and happy manners. He proudly fetched a copy of one of his sushi books for us to use through out the lunch to look up the various fishes that made up the 10.000 Yen omakase we ordered.
ready for omakase...
Due to the new years holiday, the supply of fish was a bit limited, something that turned out to be a mixed blessing.
Nagayama-sans opening of the meal was a bit of disappointment. For the life of me I cannot remember what it was and we failed to nail the little bugger on photo too. My memory tells me it was some sort of white, stringy fish that left me far from impressed. Might have been Hirasuzuki, Sea Bass.
Saba (Mackerill). What a comeback! The Saba was nothing less than jaw dropping deliciousness. The only Saba I have tasted that could rival this one was at the aforementioned Mizutani. Due to the limited supply of fish this time of year, Nagayama-san served us Saba twice.
Kohada. Nagayama-san continued the course with another master piece. The Kohada is supposedly very difficult to get right, but Nagayama-san really came through here.
Ika (Squid). One member of our party can usually not stand squid, but he had nothing but praise for this one.
Shibi maguro (Young tuna). Not so fatty as the Oootoro, but very rich in taste.
Ootoro (super fatty tuna). Excellent! Accordingly to Nagayama-san he usually does not serve this one for lunch, but due to the limited fish supply he chose to serve us this 2000 Yen a pop Ootoro. This was the high point of the meal for me.
Ikura (Salmon Roe). Nothing to complain about here. Very good, though a bit pale in comparison to the amazing Oootoro.
Hotate no kaibashira(scallops). Excellent.
Kisu no kobusime (Japanese sillago). The Kisu is a bit blend in taste. To remedy that, kelp is used to inject flavor in the fish. Very good.
Kuruma ebi (Prawn). I cannot remember anything in particular about this one.
Miso soup
Uni (Sea urshin). Very tasty. The uni carried lots of interesting flavors.
Mushi anago (Steamed sea eel). One of my favorites. So rich in taste! A bit messy on the fingers though.
Temaki sushi. I have no special memories of this one except that Nagayama-san urged us to eat it very fast. In fact so fast that we failed to catch it on photo.
Tamago. Good, but not all that memorable.
Onigara yaki (Grilled shrimp). Awful! Onigarayaki is supposed to be crunchy and crispy, but this one was undercooked and hence virtually impossible to chew. After chewing on a tiny piece for a few minutes I gave up. None of us could eat it. A total disaster. Too bad Nagayama-san ended the otherwise excellent course in this way.
With the exception of the disastrous closing of the meal, Dai San Harumi delivered an exceptionally good lunch to a very favorable price. The highlights of the course definitely compares with that of the big guys, but the quality seemed a bit more uneven if, compared to, for example with that of Mizutani.
Dai San Harumi,
1-17-7 Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
The street rep of this joint puts it right up there with with the big guys; like for example Mizutani, and the word is that the captain of the establishment, Nagayama-san is a stern and somewhat eccentric fish otaku so it was not without a dash of fear we entered his modest sushi bar in Shimbashi.
working hours ;-)
Rickard and Marcus
Nagayama-san surprised me with his chatty and happy manners. He proudly fetched a copy of one of his sushi books for us to use through out the lunch to look up the various fishes that made up the 10.000 Yen omakase we ordered.
ready for omakase...
Due to the new years holiday, the supply of fish was a bit limited, something that turned out to be a mixed blessing.
Nagayama-sans opening of the meal was a bit of disappointment. For the life of me I cannot remember what it was and we failed to nail the little bugger on photo too. My memory tells me it was some sort of white, stringy fish that left me far from impressed. Might have been Hirasuzuki, Sea Bass.
Saba (Mackerill). What a comeback! The Saba was nothing less than jaw dropping deliciousness. The only Saba I have tasted that could rival this one was at the aforementioned Mizutani. Due to the limited supply of fish this time of year, Nagayama-san served us Saba twice.
Kohada. Nagayama-san continued the course with another master piece. The Kohada is supposedly very difficult to get right, but Nagayama-san really came through here.
Ika (Squid). One member of our party can usually not stand squid, but he had nothing but praise for this one.
Shibi maguro (Young tuna). Not so fatty as the Oootoro, but very rich in taste.
Ootoro (super fatty tuna). Excellent! Accordingly to Nagayama-san he usually does not serve this one for lunch, but due to the limited fish supply he chose to serve us this 2000 Yen a pop Ootoro. This was the high point of the meal for me.
Ikura (Salmon Roe). Nothing to complain about here. Very good, though a bit pale in comparison to the amazing Oootoro.
Hotate no kaibashira(scallops). Excellent.
Kisu no kobusime (Japanese sillago). The Kisu is a bit blend in taste. To remedy that, kelp is used to inject flavor in the fish. Very good.
Kuruma ebi (Prawn). I cannot remember anything in particular about this one.
Miso soup
Uni (Sea urshin). Very tasty. The uni carried lots of interesting flavors.
Mushi anago (Steamed sea eel). One of my favorites. So rich in taste! A bit messy on the fingers though.
Temaki sushi. I have no special memories of this one except that Nagayama-san urged us to eat it very fast. In fact so fast that we failed to catch it on photo.
Tamago. Good, but not all that memorable.
Onigara yaki (Grilled shrimp). Awful! Onigarayaki is supposed to be crunchy and crispy, but this one was undercooked and hence virtually impossible to chew. After chewing on a tiny piece for a few minutes I gave up. None of us could eat it. A total disaster. Too bad Nagayama-san ended the otherwise excellent course in this way.
With the exception of the disastrous closing of the meal, Dai San Harumi delivered an exceptionally good lunch to a very favorable price. The highlights of the course definitely compares with that of the big guys, but the quality seemed a bit more uneven if, compared to, for example with that of Mizutani.
Dai San Harumi,
1-17-7 Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
6 comments:
Looks brilliant - great report! :) btw, there's something more in the first picture; the kind of Sake and Sea weed they serve - they sounds pretty decent .. mm I really start to miss Japanese sushi!
And the orange sticker is an award as one of the best restaurants 2008 in a popular ranking gourmet site - cool :)
Yo Emi-san!
Thanks for spotting the orange thingy. I had no idea :-) He urged us to keep it so perhaps I still have it somewhere at home.
Japanese sushi...yummie!!!
Well I also have Japanese sushi nostalgia... I guess it is time to plane a trip :-D
Aroha Rickard-san!
... lol!! you got the orange thing? Now you should open a restaurant and show it off :) I bet you'll be successful - the anticipation of taste works as scientifically proved ;)
Mr. The Idea - you've just back from vacation, haven't you? take it easy - but it proves that you're a real globe trotter :)
hehe, did of course not get the orange thingy from the window/sign...only the orange thingy on the counter. hmm...or perhaps it wasn't even orange. At least it was some sort of colorful thingy with some incomprehensible crypto-kanji-mojo printed on the side.
No tamagoyaki at the end? That is a real highlight at Dai San Harumi. Also, the prawn head etc normally is very crispy at the restaurant; you must have caught a genuinely unusual day.
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