Cuisine: Japanese (Sushi)
Price: JPY15,000 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)
Visited: 8 July 2014
Food: 8/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Value for money: 9/10
Services: 9/10
Scale: [1=poor ---- 5=average/standard ---- 10=outstanding/exceptional]
Previously I had been mentioning about a few restaurants from Hong Kong. At the same time, Deadly Bunny happened to be in Tokyo and did her duty in the search for great food. Without doubt, she did manage to visit a sushi bar. In 2011 we did
Sushi Saito in Tokyo and in 2013 we did
Sushi Tanabe in Sapporo, this time she paid a visit to Sushi Imamura (鮨いまむら) in the area of Shirokane, Tokyo. I would be describing briefly what she has recalled.
Sushi Imamura has been awarded 1 Michelin Star. The place does operate during dinner time only, except weekends when lunch service is also performed. She mentioned that Sushi Imamura is not a kind of large place just like many other sushi bars in Japan, which can accommodate around 10 seats. However, it is quite comfy and charming, though plain and simplicity. The restaurant is located around 500 meters from Shirokanetakanawa Station. So it is at some distance from other famous places which mostly are situated around Ginza area. The place is servicing in a humble manner with the owner chef and an assistant at the sushi counter serving customers while there is another lady providing refined services (in which Deadly Bunny believes to be the owner chef's wife). They all were very polite and helpful. Even though they could not speak in English well, they were trying their best to describe what they were serving.
Deadly Bunny also mentioned that the style of Sushi Imamura is rather different from
Sushi Mizutani in which she had experienced back in 2010. The rice was in al dente texture and was stronger in sour aroma, which was the result of akazu rice vinegar and salt, and the kind of seafood they served involves some more with marination. For the night, the omakase course was performed with around 20 variation.
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| Sushi Imamura @ Shirokane, Tokyo |
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| the entrance |
The meal began with 9 kinds of sashimi and cooked dishes. The first part was Suzuki (Japanese Sea Bass) - 鱸, Awabi (Abalone) - 鮑, Iwashi (Sardine) - イワシ, Ishigaki Gai (Ishigaki Clam) - 石垣貝, and Yaki Anago (Grilled Sea Eel) - 焼き穴子. Attention was on Suzuki and Awabi. Suzuki was brightly shiny with soft and chewy texture and full of minerality flavour. On the other hand, awabi was really soft and rich in natural flavour. These two were blessing dishes.
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| Suzuki (Japanese Sea Bass) - 鱸 |
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| Awabi (Abalone) - 鮑 |
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| Iwashi (Sardine) - イワシ |
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| Ishigaki Gai (Ishigaki Clam) - 石垣貝 |
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| Yaki Anago (Grilled Sea Eel) - 焼き穴子 |
Steamed egg with milder taste was then served to give customers a short break. Then followed by Katsuo (Skipjack Tuna or Bonito) - 鰹, grilled scallop and squid skewer, and Tachiuo (Beltfish) - 太刀魚. Indeed, Katsuo did not disappoint the diner at all with its sweetness and freshness that balanced well with sour taste of the sauce and chopped spring onion.
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| steamed egg |
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| Katsuo (Skipjack Tuna or Bonito) - 鰹 |
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| grilled scallop and squid skewer |
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| Tachiuo (Beltfish) - 太刀魚 |
After Tachiuo was served, sushi variation then started. It began with mild flavour range of Ika (Squid) - 烏賊, Isaki (Grunt) - 伊佐木, and Tori Gai (Egg Cockle) - 鳥貝. All of which were crafted with extreme care.
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| Ika (Squid) - 烏賊 |
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| Isaki (Grunt) - 伊佐木 |
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| Tori Gai (Egg Cockle) - 鳥貝 |
The next two were everyone (more or less if not so) favourite choices: Akami (red fillet of tuna) - 赤身 and Chutoro (medium fatty tuna) - 中とろ. The akami had been marinated in vinegar texture before hand such that it gave kind of sour taste. You may perhaps like it or dislike it as it is somewhat unexpected for akami. For chutoro, it was wonderful and melted right away in mouth with rich flavour. However, Deadly Bunny felt that though it was splendid, it cannot still match the level of the one of Sushi Mizutani.
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| Akami (red fillet of tuna) - 赤身 |
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| Chutoro (medium fatty tuna) - 中とろ |
Kohada (Gizzard Shad) - こはだ was next in line with its base flavour of sour which washed away rich taste of tuna well before two other red fillets were served: Kinmedai (Splendid Alfonsino) - 金目鯛 and Aji (Horse Mackerel) - アジ.
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| Kohada (Gizzard Shad) - こはだ |
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| Kinmedai (Splendid Alfonsino) - 金目鯛 |
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| Aji (Horse Mackerel) - アジ |
The last three were classic unmissable range of non-fish:
Kuruma Ebi (Peanaeus) - 車えび, Uni (Sea Urchin) - 海胆, and Anago (Sea Eel) - 穴子. Uni was well outstanding and perhaps the best of the meal (if not biased). Kuruma Ebi was a bit dry while anago was up to the standard for the kind of restaurant. The course then ended with the usual custard texture of tamagoyaki and the unusual homemade ice-cream for sushi place instead of Japanese melon. In brief, Sushi Imamura is another interesting sushi destination for sushi lovers.
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| Kuruma Ebi (Peanaeus) - 車えび |
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| Uni (Sea Urchin) - 海胆 |
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| Anago (Sea Eel) - 穴子 |
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| Tamagoyaki (Japanese Omelette) - 卵焼き |
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| Homemade Ice-cream |
Sushi Imamura @ Shirokane, Tokyo, Japan - 鮨 いまむら @ 白金 東京
1F Shirokane Haitsu (白金ハイツ)
5 Chome-8-13 Shirokane
Minato, Tokyo
Japan
Open Hours: For lunch Sat-Sun from 12:00pm - 01:00pm. For dinner Tue-Fri 06:00pm - 10:00pm, and Sat-Sun 05:30pm - 08:00pm (1st round) and 08:15pm - 11:00pm (2nd round)
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