Tokyo: đŁ
Mäneka
It was the lunch that almost wasnât! There was some ado this morning upon realizing that our anticipated lunch at Sushiya was actually today and not Wednesday, as we had thought. Thankfully it was still early and we had enough time to get ourselves to the narrow alleyway in Ginza where the 8-seat restaurant is located.
Two other pairs of Japanese diners filled out the space. Hashimoto Momaru was our itamae and conversed with us with English. He had a wakiita behind the scenes and two ladies in lavender kimonos tending to us. All of us ordered brilliantly green iced tea, which was constantly topped up over the course of our two-hour lunch. Kamala noted that she would be very caffeinated.
We (I) opted for the sashimi-nigiri combination lunch, while the other two groups had the nigiri only option. During an early marinated sardine course, the delicate fish slipped out of my hashi and splashed brown sauce all over the right boob of my white shirt. đłThe ladies were unfazed and quickly provided towels to blot it off. Clearly I would be eating the nigiri with my fingers in order to avoid further embarrassment.
Hashimoto-san moved with mesmerizing, balletic grace, putting on a visual and gastronomic performance. His rice was just the right acidity and his shari dissolved on the tongue. My favorite courses were the gently steamed tuna cheek, the lightly seared bonito, and the aji nigiri served with a touch of delicious âgreen onion paste.â It would be exhausting and boring to list each of the 15-some dishes we were served, but suffice it to say American sushi is really nothing in comparison. I will add that even I, a noted egg hater, ate and didnât hate his tamago, a real achievement.
Chef Hashimoto asked us what we were planning to do after lunch, to which we replied âshopping.â He recommended Uniqlo as being reasonably priced and let us know that he was wearing one of their shirts under his chefâs jacket. I spy a new sponsorship deal on the horizon!
But yes, afterwards we did go shopping. One of my main motivations to come to Japan again was to buy more sweatpants made for my fellow short-legged (actually averaged-length-legged, but inexplicably American clothing manufacturerâs donât seem to realize this) people. I hit pay dirt at the Adidas store.
Because our sushi lunch did not include our requisite daily pastries, we hit the Dominique Ansel counter at Mitsukoshi Ginza for almond and almond coconut croissants and my perpetual favorite, Frederic Cassel. Check out Anselâs cute Japan-only items!
Balaram
We awoke with Kamala reviewing our itinerary and reminded us of our 12:00 lunch at Sushi Ya for today, which for some reason some of us had thought was Wednesday, even though we all knew it was on the 12th. This is a small restaurant that seats 8 for lunch and dinner. The Chase Sapphire concierge service arranged the reservations for us apparently after several attempts to reach them. So we definitely did not want to miss this.
Mäneka, Linda and Kamala have been the navigators for us throughout this trip, finding the appropriate subway stops and routes to and from places. So BP has been merely a hanger on who can occasionally provide a charged phone for this activity, and very much appreciates the hard work done by all, on the fly. We got off to a later start than we intended and, as Sushi Ya is located in a small alley, took us until Noon to get to the restaurant. As an aside, many of the nicest places in Japan are in alleys. Though small, they are often well maintained and very pleasant to walk through. Many interesting shops and restaurants are located in these alleys. It is also amazing that in the era of box stores and Amazon, so many big and small businesses seem to be thriving in Japan. The main shopping area are always packed and busy.
Sushi Ya consists of a tastefully designed space with the chef behind a large rectangular counter with 5 seats along one side and 3 along the other. Chef Hashimoto explained there would be 2 courses, sushi and combination. The 4 of us chose the combination course and the others chose the sushi course. That is how the wonderful 2 hour lunch began. The artistry of the chef was amazing. He had a long and a short knife which he used expertly in cutting the slices of fish. His finger and hand movements were fun to watch as he prepared each item. The combination course involved some cooked items and Chef Hashimoto waved those in with the sushi pieces and was able to feed all 8 of us continuously. He prepared the wasabi from the root to begin the meal and placed large ginger on each of our plates along with excellent shoyu. BP committed a blunder right off by mixing in some of the wasabi into the shoyu, a no no at this type of restaurant where one puts, when necessary, a small amount of wasabi on the fish and then dips the piece into the shoyu before eating it. Some of the pieces, of course, already had wasabi put in by the chef. It was amazing that he, without looking, would pick up just the right amount of rice for each piece, shape it, add something like wasabi or a pickle or another sauce, put on the perfectly sliced fish or nori and deftly place it before us. One of the first pieces we had was a slice of fish on which we put salt only and ate without shoyu and it was terrific.
The chef knew enough English to engage with us and he genuinely seemed grateful that we had come from SF to eat at his place. He identified each of the seafood items and sometimes where they were harvested. He said he selects the seafood each day at Tsukiji market. Overall, an amazing experience to rival our Zaborin meals. Mäneka later said we were able to get a reservation here because he is still not as well known and because he uses less expensive seafood. Nevertheless, it was all tasty.
We went shopping for the rest of the afternoon and evening and picked up food items to eat for dinner later at our apartment. Mäneka spent time at the Adidas store and got some clothes which fit her better than similar ones at US stores. We all entered the labyrinth of Shibuya 109 but L and BP quickly exited and waited outside people watching and seeing the ads on the big screens including one by Steph Curry for Under Armour with Japanese subtitles.