This May Be The Best Sushi Restaurant in the World
Too often, really expensive restaurants, or those identified as ”the best,” disappoint. Either because their cost can’t be justified, or they just don't live up to the hype.
But last night, I discovered a restaurant that lives up to the hype.
In fact, I knelt before the Master of Sushi, the Avatar of Sushi-dom, the Yoda of Sushi — Norihito Endo (below).
His 8-seat omakase restaurant is Ebisu Endo. (Ebisu is a the Shinto god of fisherman, bringing good fortune and luck — probably, mostly, to catch some fish!)
Endo trained for six years under one of the exalted masters of Japanese sushi, Takashi Saito.
Then, six years ago, Endo broke away and established his own restaurant.
(Endo really has sushi DNA; his grandfather was, and his father is, a sushi chef.
The 39-year-old chef goes to the market every morning with his dad to personally select his fish.
Chef Endo fills his eight seats once for lunch, and twice at dinner, seven days a week.
After 52,560 meals (24 seats/day x 365 x 6 years), the chef has, as you might imagine, nailed it.
Every course presents a perfectly formed, mouthwatering mound of fresh sushi.
Each morsel was pre-seasoned with wasabi, or fermented sauce, or glazed with soy or a secret sauce. There wasn’t a shallow bowl of soy sauce within sight. How the chef prepares your sushi is exactly how it is meant to taste.
One observation: Chef Endo is the King of Crunch. I’ve never known a chef, in America, Canada , France, Italy, or Japan, who has a better understanding of texture.
A small bowl of perfectly cooked soba noodles was dusted with crunchy bits of bottarga that crackled as we slurped up the noodles. Almost every dish Endo prepared had an element of crunch that added complexity to the sensory experience.
The chef takes his utensils as seriously as he does his food ingredients. He uses steel knives (the kind that can rust) to cut fish that will age for several days as the steel adds an element of oxidation to the fish being cut; if the fish is to be served same day, he uses stainless steel knives to maintain the purity and freshness of the fish.
Again, repeating what I said in an earlier dispatch about the cost of dining in Japan:
Endo is easily a 2- or 3-star Michelin experience. In America, the cost of dining at the French Laundry, Single Thread, or Quince, in San Francisco, starts at $1,000 per person but by the time you add wine, tax and tip, you are looking at $2,000 per person.
Last night’s extravagant dinner at Endo, enjoyed with whisky highballs, beer, and two bottles of sake, came to $320 per person , all in. No tax, no tip required. And even better, Endo lived up to the hype.
Ebisu Endo is at 50-0022 Tokyo, Shibuya, Ebisuminami, 1 Chome−17−2 R.
Tel: +81-03-6303-1152
Reservations can be made at omakase.in
More when it happens…..
Jim