I get most of my Japan sushi-ya news from Instagram. And when Higashiazabu Amamoto opened in June 2016, it certainly took Japan sushi scene by the storm. All the Japanese foodie sushi lovers that I followed were posting pictures of their meals at Amamoto. And that of course made me wanted to secure a seat at this highly raved sushi-ya. However that wasn’t easy, especially with everyone in Tokyo Japan vying for 1 of the 8 seats.

And that became harder when Amamoto was awarded 2 stars by Tokyo Michelin Guide 2017 just 6 months after its opening. If my memory didn’t fail me, I don’t believe my hotel concierge ever managed to get through their line. But my glimpse of hope appeared when Omakase.in (a third party reservation website) was launched in April 2017 and Amamoto was 1 of the restaurants on it!!!

Amamoto accepts reservations for the next quarter at the beginning of every quarter:-

On 1 January: April through June
On 1 April: July through September
On 1 July: October through December
On 1 October: January through March in the next year

With Omakase.in, it’s a case of fastest-fingers-win. Which meant even if one refresh the screen right on the dot when seats are released, one may see some seats in one second and none in the next (second). I was unable to secure a seat for the specific dates for my February 2018 and January/February 2019 trips. But persistence and strategic planning paid off. On 1 January 2019, I chose to secure my booking at Amamoto before purchasing my flight ticket. Thus, my March/April 2019 trip. :) And yes, that’s my definition of ‘strategic planning’… Ha!

So it’s to note Amamoto releases limited seats on Omakase.in. Was talking to a regular seated beside me during the meal, and learnt she secured her seat just by calling. But I ain’t complaining. As difficult as it is to get a seat, I am just glad Amamoto is accessible to all by being on Omakase.in.

Amamoto has 2 seatings; 5pm and 8.30pm. I got myself the first seating.

And a little background update… Before opening his own sushi-ya Higashiazabu Amamoto, chef-owner Masamichi Amamoto spent nine years honing his skills under the late legendary chef Mitsuyasu Nagano san at 2-Michelin star Umi before moving on to Shinohara (now known as Ginza Shinohara) and Gion Sasaki.

And for my 5pm weekday dinner, I was the first to arrive at the restaurant. It seemed like customers are seated according to first-come-first-sit, and starting from the end of counter. So I was seated right at the end. But that was fine by me because every seat had full visibility of the open kitchen. Although from my seat, it was a little hard/tricky to watch head chef Amamoto san knead away at his sushi because he stood in the centre. Ie, it’s a straight sushi counter so my view was partially blocked by 3 heads.

Meal started promptly after everyone arrived. And I commenced my ¥35,000 dinner with:-

1) Dish #1 (above) – Mozuku seaweed.

2) Dish #2 (above) – Head chef Amamoto didn’t introduce the fish but went straight into telling me to have one slice with salt, and the other with wasabi and soya sauce. But this was probably flounder.

3) Dish #3 (above) – Scallop, and to enjoy with salt.

4) Dish #4 (above) – Firefly squid. These were filled with lots of goodies. Could I call these ‘pregnant firefly squid’? Like you know… Pregnant fish. Pregnant firefly squid. Haha.

5) Dish #5 (above) – Japanese whelk (tsubugai).

6) Dish #6 (above) – Baby white shrimps (shiro-ebi).

7) Dish #7 (above) – Spear squid (yari ika) stuffed with roe.

8) Dish #8 (above) – Japanese spotted prawn (botan ebi) marinated in Shaoxing wine, and sea urchin.

9) Dish #9 (above) – Oyster.

10) Dish #10 (above) – Charcoal-grilled black throat sea perch on rice.

  
  
  
  

11) Dish #11 (Sushi 1 to 8) (above) – Flounder, baby snapper, squid (ika), tuna (chiaigishi maguro), medium fatty tuna (chutoro), sea urchin, gizzard shad (kohada) and tiger prawn (kuruma ebi).

12) Dish #12 (above)

  
  

13) Dish #13 (Sushi 9 to 12) (above) – Horse mackerel (aji), big-eye snapper (kinmedai), bonito, and cherry salmon (sakura masu).

14) Dish #14 (Sushi 13) (above) – Tuna roll.

15) Dish #15 (above) – Tea.

16) Dish #16 (Sushi 14) (above) – Sea eel (anago).

17) Dish #17 (above) – Egg omelette (tamago). If one checks the feed on Instagram, one will sometimes pictures of tamago tower. Do note this is usually done for his regulars. The pair of ladies seated beside me were his regulars. They requested for 2 pieces each instead of 1 piece, which he also gamely went on to stack their 4 pieces together for their photo-taking. And a hardcore foodie will know this (trend) was created by instagrammer @andrew_gyokudari (head chef Amamoto san’s VIP customer and friend).

Head chef Amamoto san only started the sushi leg at 6pm. And I realised the reason why the meal took more than 3 hours was because he made the sushi pretty slowly. But that’s the whole intention because the entire dining experience was set up such that customers get to enjoy and watch him prepare every dish. From appetisers to sushi. And that’s stemmed from his past experiences from working at kaiseki restaurants Shinohara and Gion Sasaki. Sushi rice seasoned with brown sugar syrup and vinegar, his sushi was size L. So please come with an empty stomach.

For the non-sushi leg, head chef Amamoto san would tell me what condiments (ie, salt, soy sauce) to have the respective dishes with. But what he didn’t mention was the main ingredient. I suspect it’s because he wasn’t confident with English and he knew I couldn’t understand Japanese. But don’t get me wrong, he is friendly. Just that he doesn’t converse as much (with me). Though as he stood at the exit at the end of the meal to personally thank everyone for coming, he attempted a “謝謝” to me. Cute.

Do I recommend Higashiazabu Amamoto? Yes! It certainly lived up to the hype. The food was spot on. In fact, I read that head chef Amamoto san is able to source for quality ingredients despite off seasons or bad weather (eg, March/April are challenging months to obtain good tunas) thanks to his meticulous seasonal sourcing and perfectionism. So as long as one is able to secure a seat, one can be assured to be treated to a good meal! I strongly everyone to dine here at least once in a lifetime. I paid ¥38,900, including tax and service charge. Though that’s excluding Omakase.in’s booking fee of ¥270.

I will certainly be trying to secure a slot for my upcoming February 2023 trip. It has been a long time waiting. :)

Unlike my Japan trip in 2018 which my sushi planning was based on recommendation from a Japanese foodie instagrammer, my February 2019 trip was planned to my foodie friends’ recommendations. In particular @zachdevours‘. Whom I also nick ‘InstaGram Bottomless Pit’ on my blog. My gosh. It has been a long while since I mentioned IGBP here. Keke.

And like me, IGBP travels to Japan annually. Well okie… Minus 2020 cause of COVID-19. However, while I preferred checking out different places, IGBP and his family would religiously return to their regular sushi-hunts. So I was keen to check out IGBP’s recommendations (Nishiazabu Taku and Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi) and understand the ‘pull factor’.

My hotel concierge assisted to make the reservation at Nishiazabu Taku. Got them to specifically request for head chef Kenji Ishizaka as I read that customers at Nishiazabu Taku would be served by either head chef or sous chef. And it would have been nice too if I managed to match my appointment date with IGBP’s, but somehow our meal schedules just couldn’t align. Boohoo.

The L-shaped counter could sit up to 8 people. And at 6pm, I was the first to arrive at the restaurant. I guessed I must be the only one eating early that evening because once I settled down, head chef Ishizaka san immediately commenced my ¥21,600 omakase dinner with:-

1) Dish #1 (above) – Broad bean. And I was unsure how exactly to eat these when head chef Ishizaka san placed the dish in front me. Seeing my puzzled look, I was told to pick it up with my hands and squeeze the bean out from the skin. Ahhh…

2) Dish #2 (above) – Sea cucumber with jelly.

3) Dish #3 (above) – Flounder.

4) Dish #4 (above) – Grilled flounder fin.

5) Dish #5 (above) – イボダイ. Am able to share the fish’s Japanese name (and in Japanese character) because head chef Ishizaka san made reference to a book while trying to explain the fish that was served. And yup! It’s a small butter fish.

6) Dish #6 (above) – Clam, lightly grilled. And was told to enjoy it with salt.

7) Dish #7 (above) – Baby snapper. And to give me a gauge of how ‘big’ the baby snapper was, head chef Ishizaka san said he could only get 2 such pieces from it.

8) Dish #8 (above) – Ice fish with fresh sea weed.

9) Dish #9 (above) – Needlefish.

10) Dish #10 (above) – Cod milt.

11) Dish #11 (above) – King salmon from Hokkaido.

12) Dish #12 (above) – Short spine sea urchin.

13) Dish #13 (above) – Purple sea urchin.

14) Dish #14 (above) – Shiitake mushroom with ponzu sauce.

15) Dish #15 (above) – King squid, aged for 5 days.

16) Dish #16 (above) – Squid legs, served with a little salt.

17) Dish #17 (above) – Steamed egg (chawanmushi) with clam stock.

18) Dish #18 (above) – Spanish mackerel belly.

19) Dish #19 (above) – Smoked Spanish mackerel. And for this, I was told it’s a cut from the back.

20) Dish #20 (above) – Rock fish. And interestingly, I was told to eat the fish & vegetables separately.

21) Dish #21 (above) – Sandwich of daikon, shiso leaf and Japanese plum (ume).

22) Dish #22 (above) – Baby tuna (meiji maguro).

23) Dish #23 (above) – Swordfish. And instead of serving a (solid) slice of swordfish, he made the topping with swordfish scrape.

24) Dish #24 (above) – Premium fatty tuna (otoro).

25) Dish #25 (above) – Gizzard shad.

26) Dish #26 (above) – Japanese spotted prawn (botan ebi) with wasabi & soya.

27) Dish #27 (above) – And from the same Japanese spotted prawn (from the earlier dish), the remaining portion was grilled and served as a nigiri sushi.

28) Dish #28 (above) – Mackerel and turnip.

And by this point, I couldn’t resist but tell head chef Ishizaka san that I was full. His sushi was like size L, by the way. Very big mouthful! And he replied me by saying “Last one.” Last one? Okie!

29) Dish #29 (above) – Sea eel. And I could tell head chef Ishizaka san used lesser sushi rice for my last piece of my sushi. Keke.

30) Dish #30 (above) – Egg omlette (tamago). And it’s interesting that there’s 2 different textures within the 1 piece; The top half was smooth while the bottom half was like custard cake. Nice!

31) Dish #31 (above) – Miso soup.

32) Dish #32 (above) – Just when I thought I had come to the end of my meal, head chef Ishizaka san asked if I wanted ice cream. Oh my god. But not being able to resist even though I was full, he went on to mention there’s 5 flavours. Unable to choose 1 (since I would want 1 of each), I asked him for his recommendation. To which he said “3?” HAHA! And he must have noticed my eyes widening because he continued by saying “small ones!” Too cute.. And I went with his recommendation of kinako, shouyu and houjicha.

So on the night of my dinner, head chef Ishizaka san attended to 5 (including me) while the other 2 seated at the counter were attended by the sous chef. There was also another group in the private room. And while head chef Ishizaka san didn’t speak much, one could tell he takes a lot of pride in the dishes he put in front of us. He would often gently gaze at me to check my reaction and to make sure I was enjoying myself. He’s pretty chilled (or open-minded?) too because he didn’t mind the pair of (Japanese & non-Japanese) customers conversing loudly. And I noticed he alternate cooked dishes (otsumami) with the sushi-s. A pretty ingenious idea actually to prevent sushi ‘saturation’ especially since his sushi was pretty big.

IGBP who always had head chef Ishizaka san for their previous meals at Nishiazabu Taku suddenly had the sous chef for their 2019 meal. And he shared with me that there’s definitely a difference. So I would say it’s necessary to request for head chef Ishizaka san if one decides to dine at Nishiazabu Taku.

And a little more about head chef Ishizaka san… He didn’t start off being the head chef at Nishiazabu Taku. Kenji Ishizaka san was training at Ginza Kyubey when he crossed path with Takuya Sato san. On the fifth year of opening Nishiazabu Taku (2010), Sato san got Ishizaka san to come onboard as the second chef. And it was in 2016 when Sato san decided to relocate to Hawaii to help a friend (master chef Keiji Nakazawa of Sushi Sho-Tokyo) to open a sushi restaurant (Sushi Sho Honolulu) that Ishizaka san stepped up to become head chef of Nishiazabu Taku.

So do I recommend 1 Michelin starred Nishiazabu Taku? Yes, but it wouldn’t be a restaurant that comes immediately to mind if one asked me for sushi-ya recommendation in Tokyo. How should I better put it… It was a good meal but the dining experience didn’t leave a deep impression. But that’s because rather than trying to impress by taking out slabs of fishes, etc, head chef Ishizaka san allowed his dishes to speak for themselves. And that also meant he had minimal interaction with customers. It was as though he didn’t want to disturb us unnecessarily. So yes, if one is in a big group and would like a place where one could converse freely yet still be able to enjoy safe and good sushi, Nishiazabu Taku is definitely the place to go to.

And the lack of attention on social media meant if one left planning to the very last minute or have extra meal slots for filling, one should be able to get a seat at Nishiazabu Taku pretty easily. But having said that, don’t take the risk by booking a few days ahead only. At least 1.5 weeks notice please!

My meal came up to ¥21,600, including tax and service charge.