Sushi Kanesaka *2 Michelin Stars*

The main entrance has got no English on it. The building's name Misuzu in Ginza has got no english innit. Finding it is....some say it was easy but when both of us can't read japanese nor chinese....this proved to be an Indiana Jones adventure. We recee-ed the location in the afternoon....walking around Ginza to locate the street...then googled pictures of Misuzu building so we know how it looks like..

oh yea it was that bad.....I mean travelling in Japan.
There's no ABC which I can refer and compare with, unlike in Europe...we have no problem from Austria to Budapest and Seville in Spain right to the end of Cadiz facing the Atlantic Ocean. Though different languages but it uses the alphabet system. There's ABC!!! u know wat I mean?

Our recent trip to Taiwan and Japan was GAH!!!!
I understand better Russian than Japanese -_-"
Example: Chef was busy explaining to us on food preparation....JS was in a blanko face...Monkey just nodded her head continuously and answered..."haik....haik....haik....."
and when Chef ended with "dozo" which means please....it's a sign to start chomping and enjoying ur food...Monkey then replied with..."arigatooo" and then nom nom nhom chomp chomp chomp

JS: "U understood wat he said?"
Monkey: "No."
JS: ???? "Then??????"
Monkey: "Oh well just enjoy ur food and we'll figure out wat is that inside our mouth soon...spare the chef from explaining in English....they can't."
JS -_-" x 10000000000000 ini Monkey ah.....

Sushi Kanesaka is located in the basement of Misuzu Building. With no english and we can't read japanese....we took a shot...this has got to be it.

JS walked down and recognised this logo of 2 grains. To me it looked like 2 fans...instead of grains. Rice is very important in sushi making. Most chefs sourced their sea produce from Tsukiji market...so everyone's sushi has got to be the same quality right? So how do u differentiate ur restaurant from the rest? Hence rice is the key here...the fish were just an accompaniment to further accentuate the beauty of the grains that's dancing on ur tongue when u enjoy them.


We got our dearie Chef Oshino who's based in Shinji Kanesaka in Singapore to secure a reservation for us.
*read about our Msia street food adventure with Chef Oshino here*

Mise-en-place for the chef
yuzu, homemade pickled sliced ginger, water, japanese spices, salt, soyu, mirin and I have no idea wat's the rest, apart from a small basin for him to clean his hand occasionally.

The format here is counter seating and the entire restaurant can only accommodate 16 pax at once with 2 chefs including Kanesaka himself.

the "gari" aka pickled ginger was refreshing and served as a palate cleanser in between the sushis. While the freshly grated japanese horseradish aka "wasabi".....hmmm need I say more?

I can never accept japanese restaurants that served wasabi from powder or paste in Malaysia. This is such a no-no. It'll just kill ur fish. And the other no-no...u dun dunk ur dollop of wasabi into your soy sauce...just use ur finger and lightly apply some onto ur sushi.

Sea Salt for white fish, u don't use soy sauce for these beautiful white fishes.
I think all of us need a 101 Book to appreciate and consume sushis. Right?

The showpiece on the huge 1 metre working board. Nope it's not a table..in layman terms, it's a chopping board!!!! with an 18 inches knife fit for "harakiri" hahahaha.

raw baby white baits served with young grated ginger. Can u believe it, it was crunchy??? and sweet??? despite all the tiny eyes staring blankly at me, it was extremely yummy.

We opted for the "splurge" dinner menu at 30,000 yen. Again physically there isn't a menu here...it's Omakase format - meaning chef decides...but u just need to choose the "value" of ur omakase dinner.

2nd course into the dinner, we were already served Sea Urchin on a bed of tiny baby shrimps.
OMG.....Oh my freaking gawd....
usually sea urchins are served towards the end of the meal!! it felt like u get to eat ice creams before the start of ur meal. Such happy moments :))))))

We were served by the artisanal Chef SanPei. He's so immaculate, precise and is a true perfectionist. The beauty was he has worked at Shinji Kanesaka in Singapore, hence his english is very good for Japan's standard. We were def happy to hear him speak bcoz no one spoke english to us for weeks there!!!! horror!!!!!

chuo torro - the medium fatty part of a tuna. not too fatty and not too lean.

Dinner then proceeded with hairy crabs which was in season....it was de-shelled and re-assembled into its main shell. Life is good when u dun have to peel ur own crabs or prawns...wuahahahahaha

Ohhhhh.....I don't have to describe this....one word..heavenly...

JS had been oogling at this tub of pickled ginger the entire evening
-_-"
oh yea better than oogling at other ladies in kimono wuahahahahahaha

Chef SanPei is really disciplined...after ever slice of fish, he cleaned his "harakiri" knife and place it back on the original resting place. Before cleaning his slicing board. He then went to the back to retrieve something, something really precious bcoz it handled it with such delicate care.

When Chef SanPei returned, it was a beautiful urn with japanese artwork on it. There were painting of Edo period japanese with a dragon on it....He proudly dipped his long chopstick into the urn.....it was such showmanship hahahahaha. I was dying to see its content.

Black Lipped Abalone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
both JS and Monkey WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Chef SanPei was grinning and luffing at us
sorry we were like some sakai :P

this pic is so beautiful....I can stare at it the entire day :))))))))))

Chef SanPei then delicately slice it. See the way he holds it?
the abalone has been soak in sake and mirin.

I was just wah-wah-wah as he sliced it. Chef giggled at me....
Yeah couldn't contain my excitement....

ohhhh yummmssss
it was so delicious and firm with sweetness from the sake and mirin....as u slowly chew it u can taste the SEA. yes the SEA very briny like sea water :)))

and again and again...Chef cleaned his sword...err I mean his sashimi knife.

dusting some yuzu skin into our grilled dishes.

perfectly grilled Anago......anago is a sea eel...
unagi is fresh water eel. It's different in terms of texture and taste, even colors.

More torro on its way...
oh my~~~~~~~
look at its marbling

Check out the shades of the fish from dark to light...so u consume the leaner meat before moving on to the fattier parts.

for White fish, dip them into the sea salt. The correct way to enjoy ur sushi is with your fingers...yes not ur chopstick...Most of the time, the sushis are already seasoned with light soy and a slight tab of wasabi...but IF YOU REALLY need to dip the poor fish into the soy, dip only the fish part, not the rice...

bcoz rice tend to soak up more and then disintegrate and u will end up making a mess of urself and disrespect the way this piece of sushi was prepare for u.

Look at the grains. Kanesaka uses red vinegar for its rice, so the taste is so much more yummier. The rice was cooked to perfect texture, plump and juicy.

the fattiest part of the Tuna fish
ohhhh yummssss~~~~~~

slicing fresh squid without cutting it all the way through require years of kungfu according to chef. He did it so non-chalantly and with speed!!!!

Look!!! the space between each slice is the same!!!!! did he use a ruler to measure it apart?

Next he took out 3 lil containers with more mise-en-place of finely chopped spring onions and gingers.

all those mise-en-place just to prepare this mackerel for us

as we were busy admiring and enjoying our sushis....out came 2 sweet prawns already lightly fried. The skewers hold them in place.




Chef removed its shell in 3 easy steps. Fast precise and he even managed to keep the roe from its head intact!!!!


See the entire head is still intact with its roe
this was so yummy and creamie...:)))))))))))


Because the prawn is huge and difficult for ladies' petite mouth, chefs here are trained to cut it into 2 for their female guests. Oh well Chef didn't know I eat like a man...wuahahahhaa. :P opppssss

Bonito which has been cured on the outside with homemade soy. It has a beautiful smoky nose on it and firm texture.

the suddenly Chef SanPei took out a huge slab of FISH in front of us!!!

Chef SanPei: "Tuna Cheek!!!"
wah that must be a huge tuna to have such a big piece of left/right cheek!!!!!

Our eyes popped wide open again, when he placed a wooden box in front of us...we know wat's coming...this wooden box is singing to us!!!!

More ooni aka sea urchin from Hokkaido

Bcoz they want to showcase the freshness and creaminess of the sea urchin, the usual crisp seaweed was not used.

oh my oh my oh my!!!!
see wat I meant when I compared it with ice cream. This was way better coz it doesn't melt to temperature but melt in ur mouth...

Monkey: "Oiiiishiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" before closing her eyes
Chef Sanpei: "Arigato gozaimasu" and bowed low
shouldn't we be the one bowing in standing ovation to chef for such fine sushis?

The tuna cheek was seared...there's so much of yummy oil!!!

oh wow!!! wat a great piece of tuna cheek to end our sushi courses

Finally the must have in every sushi meal, Torro Negi
basiccaly finely chopped torro with even finer japanese baby leeks
this was like red curtain drawing to an end to an amazing performance

Steamed Tamago which is of a different style here. It's almost like custard.


Wondered how many trays of egg yolks did they use :P

As we were mesmerizing our wonderful scrumptious luxurious dinner, we watched Chef SanPei preparing for lunch service tomorrow. Storing away the fishes and fresh sea produce.


and again, cleaning and re-cleaning his knife :))))))
he's so anal.

We were almost sipping the last few drop of the Salon Champagne before we forget...oppps forgot to offer to Chef SanPei...
together we "kampai" and share more travel and foodie notes with him. It's so good that he could speak english :))))))))))

Happy Monkey :))))))))) bcoz it was so yummy we booked half of the restaurant 3 weeks from this evening for lunch. Bahahahaha. Yeah bookings need to be secured way way way in advance. Chef SanPei was busy locking in our booking and checking his "fish" inventory.

Later Chef owner Kanesaka-san himself came over to say hello and expressed his gratitude for being his patrons in Singapore as well :P Oh well not that we alwiz go....kekekekeke pockets not deep enuff. :P

The main entrance of the lil corner of Kanesaka. So now u understand why it's so difficult to locate even though it's in Ginza? Both of us walked home to our hotel, chatted amicably about the outstanding quality of fishes, the artisanal way of preparing edo-style sushi, its beautiful grains and of coz the friendly service.

Most of the artisanal restaurant in Japan do not accept non-Japanese clients unless u have been recommended by Japanese friends/business associates. Highly recommended and we will definitely return :)))))

Sushi Kanesaka *2 Michelin Stars*
Mizusu Building, Basement 1,
8-10-3, Ginza,
Chuo-ku, Tokyo.
Tel: +81 (0)3 5568 4411