There’s a small sushi place near (?) where I live that caters to the locals. It’s a good spot I’ve wanted to introduce for a while, and this time I somehow got lucky and managed to bring my camera along.
It sits in an alley like this.
It’s a tourist area, but it feels like the middle of a quiet residential neighborhood. I went around sunset. At places like this, once the day’s ingredients run out that’s it, so it pays to go early.
Sake flask
Sake goes great with sushi. This place only had one local sake to order, so there was no choice, but contrary to my worries it turned out to be perfectly drinkable.
Hamachi
As with most sushi places like this, if you order the chef’s omakase, they take care of you. It’s not the season, so it wasn’t at its fattiest, but it was pretty good.
Akami and hamachi
While I was busy photographing the hamachi, the akami arrived. I guess I got a bit too into taking pictures. Too bad there was no otoro on this course, but the akami alone was enough to enjoy the taste of tuna..
Squid
The photo came out yellowish, but it’s ordinary squid sushi. Maybe because it’s fresh, it has a nice chew. But squid is pretty mild, so they could have gone a little lighter on the rice.
Seared salmon
Rich autumn salmon, lightly seared with a torch. Salmon really is best aburi-style.
Shrimp
They use quite a big shrimp. Shrimp is a pretty common topping, but at this size it’s well worth eating..
Uni
It seemed a little melted, but that fantastic melt-in-your-mouth taste was the same as ever.
Aji (horse mackerel)
They served it with real gusto. It usually comes in small pieces, but maybe because this place does Osaka-style sushi, it’s generous. So it lacks the neatness of Edomae, but it’s good in its own way, working just as well for a meal or with drinks.. For a neighborhood sushi place for ordinary folks, you might not need anything more.
Sazae (turban shell)
This was the best of the day. It’s a big turban shell, so they can make nigiri out of it. The balance of freshness and chewiness beats abalone.
Crab
Sure, crab is in season in winter, but when it comes this big, how could I complain?
Anago
It’s topped with a little salt. It seemed to have been prepared a while ago, so it wasn’t in the best condition, but it’s quite big and fills your mouth.
Eggplant
A piping hot eggplant dish, on the house. How did they know I love eggplant.. It’s well soaked in Japanese-style dashi. Really tasty for a freebie.
Yudetako, boiled octopus
A sushi-shop classic. The balance of chewy octopus and sticky rice is perfect.
Unagi, eel
The eel tastes like what you’d get at a regular eel restaurant, but it’s nicely prepared.
Sazae tsuboyaki
They took what was left after making the nigiri and cooked it like this in the shell. The slightly bitter taste of the turban shell’s innards is superb. It’s been a long time since sake tasted this good.
Geso, squid legs
The sauce was a bit strong and tended to drown out the sushi, but it wasn’t bad. Squid legs are tasty just grilled, too.
Hotate (scallop)
True to Osaka style, the generous portion wins me over right away. The ingredient itself is nothing special, but eating this much of it makes me very happy.
Tamago
Pretty ordinary. The other sushi were so good that I can let this one slide.
Kaisen maki (seafood roll)
When the tamago came out I thought that was the end of the chef’s omakase course, but they gave me a bit more to go with my drinks. Tasty, but I was starting to get full.
Ikura
The freshness was good too. That was the end of the omakase course, and from here on I ordered à la carte.
Sazae tsuboyaki
The turban shell was so impressive that I ordered it again. This time I properly caught the fire show ^_^
Sazae
You just pull it out like this and eat it. The taste.. the best of the best, of course
Octopus, hamachi
Still great the second time around..
Grilled anago
This time I asked for the anago on its own instead of as sushi, but the sushi is much better after all. Bad call..
After eating my fill like this (to be honest, I nearly cleaned them out of ingredients, so I felt a bit sorry for the customers after me..) and even getting takeout wrapped up to bring home, it came to only 5,000 yen per person. Taste, portions, price: I’m completely satisfied with this place. Maybe not often, but I’ve made up my mind to drop by once a season to try the local specialties.