Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Sushi Takumi Shingo (寿司匠進吾) @ Aoyama Ichome, Tokyo

Cuisine: Sushi
Charged Price: JPY30,000 per person without alcohol
Visited: 9 November 2015
Food: 9/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Services: 9/10
Scale: [1=poor ---- 5=average/standard ---- 10=outstanding/exceptional]

Sushi Takumi Shingo is another excellent sushi joint among many sushi restaurants in Tokyo. No star, no Michelin thingy but worth a detour. As in usual sushi place, it is very small with sushi counter of max 10 seats only. This place is in a few minutes walk from Aoyamaichome Station. Pretty much convenient but it can be difficult to find. The front door of the restaurant is rather small. We even got lost at first. Luckily, we happened to ask for direction with a lady who happened to be a staff of Sushi Takumi Shingo. Spot on (lol).

Sushi Takumi Shingo (寿司匠進吾) @ Aoyama Ichome, Tokyo

The entrance is a little difficult to spot

At Sushi Takumi Shingo, things were really nice with high quality ingredients. Rather relax ambient. Chef Shingo is friendly too. I am not so sure whether there are choices for sushi course here. But what we had was some 30 kinds of sushi / sashimi / appetiser altogether and the bill came to be around JPY30,000 per head. The meal just went on and on, from 8pm to almost 11pm. Chef Shingo managed the flow fabulously with help from 1 assistant. The flow just did not stop until one point when Chef Shingo asked whether we were full. However, we felt a bit greedy and we ended up having a rather big meal. I will not go through all pieces here. There were too many really. What I can say is that I like this sushi place and will return without camera to fully enjoy it.

Hamaguri (蛤) or Clam

Umi Budou (海ぶどう) - Sea Grapes

Sashimi: Engawa (縁側), Hirame (鮃), Kue (九絵)

Ika (烏賊) - Squid

Aji (鯵) - Horse Mackerel

Akami Zuke (赤身漬け) - Marinated Red Tuna (9/10) was one of the highlight for me. Classic red fillet but packed with flavour. Good contrast between sweet and sour. So tender and smooth. I personally prefer this over chu-toro and o-toro.

Tako (蛸) - Octopus (10/10) was one of the very best you may find. Wonderfully tender to the bite. Not chewy at all. A bit of wasabi and salt paired amazingly well.

Kinmedai (金目鯛) - Splendid Alfonsino (10/10): I like the bit that natural flavour of kinmedai played a big role here. Sweetness of kinmedai with a small touch of shoyu and lightly vinegared rice seemed to come at the balance portion.

Kohada (小鰭) - Gizzard Shad

Akami Zuke (赤身漬け) - Marinated Red Tuna

Tako (蛸) - Octopus

Kaki (牡蠣) - Oyster

Kinmedai (金目鯛) - Splendid Alfonsino

Kuruma Ebi (車海老) - Prawn

Hokki Gai (北寄貝) - Surf Clam (9/10) was a big piece of bouncily tender surf clam. It came along with chili powder. If it was blind tasting, I might even think it was great quality of grilled squid. Anyway, you may forget those typical hokki gai elsewhere. This is another world of hokki gai.

Sawara (鰆) - Spanish Mackerel (10/10) was another unexpected goody. It gave impression similarly to kinmedai but just less fattiness. By the way, the pickled turnip was so delicious too.

Saba (鯖) - Mackerel

Hokki Gai (北寄貝) - Surf Clam

Sawara (鰆) - Spanish Mackerel

Pickled Turnip

Nishin (鰊) - Herring

Awabi (鮑) - Abalone (10/10) was without doubt the Kaiser of shell in my humble opinion. So soft on the touch. Flavour exploded at the first bite and it went on and on. So long aftertaste. Chef Shingo does surely prepare the very top class abalone here. In my experience, the one that may outclass Sushi Takumi Shingo in term of awabi is Sushi Mizutani.

Shirako (白子) - Fish Milt (10/10) was another undeniable choice here. Creaminess was the key. Lightly sour and a small touch of wasabi went perfectly with its natural sweet taste. I would just love to have more.

Awabi (鮑) - Abalone

Shishamo (柳葉魚) - Willow Leaf Fish

Katsuo (鰹) - Bonito

Shirako (白子) - Fish Milt

Nodo Guro (喉黒) - Black Throat Sea Perch

For those fatty fillet range, buri, chu-toro, and o-toro were delicious but they were all outclassed by Kinmedai Kawa (金目鯛皮) - Skin Part of Alfonsino (10/10). It was the skin part of kinmedai that was lightly torched. With a bit of grated daikon and ponzu, it was heaven on earth.

Buri (鰤) - Amberjack

Chu-Toro (中トロ) - Medium Fatty Tuna

O-Toro (大トロ) - Fatty Tuna

Kinmedai Kawa (金目鯛皮) - Skin Part of Alfonsino

Pickled Radish

Ankimo (鮟肝) - Angler Fish Liver (10/10) and Uni (海胆) - Sea Urchin (10/10) were just incredible. I went speechless with these two. Heart-melting bites. For ankimo, there seemed to be a thin slice of daikon inserted inside to give another dimension too (if I was not wrong). 

Ankimo (鮟肝) - Angler Fish Liver

Ikura (いくら) - Salmon Roe

Sulmi Ika (鯣烏賊) - Flying Squid

Uni (海胆) - Sea Urchin

Amadai (甘鯛) - Tile-fish

Aoyagi (青柳) - Trough Shell

The meal ended with 2 kinds of tamagoyaki: one with ebi (shrimp) and one with fish dashi. Both were good but still not great. Choices of dessert were sorbet. I opted for pear sorbet and it was at satisfaction.

In short, thank God I found you.

Hand-rolled Toro

Tamagoyaki (卵焼) - Sweet Omelette

Pear Sorbet

Sushi Takumi Shingo (寿司匠進吾) @ Aoyama Ichome, Tokyo
Floor 1 Win Aoyama (ウィン青山)
2-2-15 Minamiaoyama
Minato
Tokyo 〒107-0062
Japan

Open Hours: daily 06:00pm - 11:00pm for dinner
Tel: +81 (0) 3 6434 0074

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