Of the four sushi places you named, personally I think they are good in their own way but for me Yoshizumi is on another playing field entirely on his own. It’s not just the superior quality of the ingredients but the fine tuned execution, balance, and nuanced flavors that while are inspired by some of his favorite places overseas, do take on lives of their own. Plus he can get fish varietals that nobody else can get or even if they can, the others don’t have the skill set to prepare and do it right. The rest is up to the customer to appreciate it all. The setback is that now the cost of the meal rivals Ginza Tokyo, but I must say even he is executing at higher levels than most there.
There is a lot of work that goes into all the fish. If you taste complexity, there were at least many other steps involved prior to serving. I haven’t had any mehikari this year or last (bad timing on my part) but the last time I did, chef dried it first before miso marinating and grilling it. Possible it could be a new prep now as the chef always seeks out new flavors to keep himself challenged (and to keep customers coming back).
Chef clearly thinks about the flavors of food and sake to go together, and it ends up working so damn well, better than quite a few places in Tokyo even. I bet you can figure out a dry champagne or white wine profile you might enjoy with the otsunami.
Glad you like Yasuke, it’s one of the best sushi focused sake ever built. So much complexity as the sake comes down towards chilled to lightly chilled and even more so over the course of the meal. Aromatic, yet so much structure and wonderfully dry but clean on the fish with a lingering mid palate. The best combinations are shellfish, squid and quite a few of the otsumami and some sushi. You do have to palate cleanse a bit in between nigiri pieces as I find some fish muted the mid palate and finish of the same a bit interestingly but comes back into play later.
Surprised you didn’t like the bluefin akami. If that’s the case you will absolutely hate wild bluefin akami at high end sushi places in Tokyo that have less character and nuance, plus they don’t age it as long and many times don’t marinate. And in fact taste more gamey and more iron like which is not my thing but don’t tell that to the culinary jet setters
Unless you have very specific tastes, I would say go with the sake pairing! Yoshizumi-san loves sake and has carefully considered the selection to match his food. Of course you could also tell him “I really like x” and then let him choose the sake.
I was just there for the extended tasting last month.
If you really had to go with just one sake (I would have loved to do the pairing, but was afraid of getting too sloshed to enjoy the food - lol), I thought the Hitakami Yasuke was some magic potion. It went well with pretty much every single bite I had there.
I ended up going with the full pairing for $115 I believe it was. It included four (maybe five?) pours. The bottles were all in Japanese and I can’t recall the names - party foul, apologies!
While I did enjoy the pairings, I found the selections to be somewhat unadventurous, i.e., in the realm of what I’m already used to drinking. They were largely described as “smooth”, “elegant”, “dry”, etc, and had fruity notes, which I do very much like to drink, however, when doing pairings it’s fun to be pushed out of your comfort zone.
Yoshizumi’s sake pairing also might have suffered a bit in comparison to the last pairing I had at Sushi Noz in New York, which was absolutely exceptional and boundary pushing (for me at least, whose booze boundaries are admittedly narrow). Noz has a dedicated sommelier so perhaps it’s not fair to expect the same level of program from a place that does not have one.
All that said, next time I’d probably just order a bottle at Yoshizumi, though I don’t regret trying the pairing.
EDIT: I should note that I am (as evinced by the above) far from a sake expert and it’s entirely possible the nuances and greatness of the pairing was lost on me.
Thanks for the report. Did you enjoy the food at Yoshizumi?
What did specifically did you really like from the Noz pairing and why did find it boundary pushing? I’m just curious myself, as someone who is getting more and more interested in sake, but comes from a background in wine/food pairing.
I think a pairing can be exciting if you get to try a style or a specific bottle you’ve never had before, but ultimately the drink and the food should at the very least compliment one another. Even better if they elevate one another.
I agree with @beefnoguy that the rice is at “god level mode”: sour and assertive and each grain cooked just to the right level of bite. I could be mistaken, but I also felt like the temperature of the rice was being adjusted for different types of fish.
As for the neta, you can taste the skillful prep the chef is putting into every piece, his aging techniques are straight up masterful. Highlights included:
Bonito sashimi served two ways - the texture was out of bounds
Iwashi (sardine) cut roll with shiso, sliced cucumbers and some other greens I missed
Aji - It seems like this is called horse mackerel everywhere but LA, where it’s called spanish mackerel. Wonder what that’s all about.
Kohada - I didn’t recognize it as kohada when it was served to me and so I had to ask was it was. When the chef told me, I asked him if he removed the distinctive silver skin, since it wasn’t visible. He told me he serves kohada skin side down so that upon biting into it you get a more meaty, flavorful bite than you would with skin-side up. Thought that was interesting and had never seen this approach before.
Ankimo - Ultra smooth and rich, insane
Aori Ika - Such a creamy texture, ordered a second round of this
Raw ebi (can’t remember the kind) topped with uni
So yeah, as already noted by others, Chef Yoshizumi is at the top of his game. Really thankful to have had the chance to try it and would return in an instant next time I’m up in the bay.
One thing boundary pushing (for me at least) about the Noz pairing was that it didn’t just include sake but sparklers, beer, and wine. As for the sakes, they varied tremendously in body and flavor. For example, with dessert, they served an aged sake that was amber color and sweet like a port wine. Other sakes were just super complex and odd in their flavors. It could be argued that these kinds of sakes don’t pair well with a delicate food like sushi, but I thought they worked well. It reminded me of having Chef Shige at Shibucho in Los Angeles serve red wines with his nigiri. Not something I would ever consider doing, but it was different and fun and still worked. So by boundary pushing I guess I just mean different from the more smooth and neutral sakes I’m used to. Again, I am very far from a sake expert, so it doesn’t take much for something to expand my boundaries.
If you ever find yourself in Kyoto and want to get a sense for how diverse sake can be, I highly recommend this place. The owner is a bit brusque but he’ll pour you some insanity.
They’re both truly exceptional, top tier sushi restaurants that - in my humble opinion - would not be out of place beside Tokyo’s finest.
That said, for me personally, Yoshizumi has a minor edge due to the rice - which had slightly more smack and umami than Noz’s (also fantastic) rice - and the neta selection, which was broader and showcased a wider variety of textures.
A few reasons why the rice is god level, and it’s all in the details.
Sushi Yoshizumi is using rice by Sumidaya (if the plaque near the inner entrance by Sumidaya is any indicator, as the left most side actually says “Yoshizumi” in kanji) imported from Japan.
Their motto/philosophy/approach is the rice of Edomae. It is also entirely possible that his rice is custom designed and polished according to spec or his specs. Either way it works wonders.
The sushi rice vinegar he uses is currently regarded as top of the line, by Iio Jozo brewery located near Miyazu, Kyoto (one of the top producers of quality vinegar). It’s very expensive and it takes considerable skill to use this vinegar properly in the way he does. Not only has he figured out the correct blend ratios but there is actually more work put in to get it to the results and taste he needs for the entire duration of a meal. It appears that Noz uses the same brand of vinegar although there’s not much other information around.
I am unclear on the rice cooking process. But glad you also see why I say it’s god level and how it matches so perfectly, and the seasoning of the rice is at the right pitch. If you are lucky enough to experience them prepare the rice when they do shari-kiri, the aroma in the air is amazing (and yes Iio Jozo’s vinegar and the blend, is wonderful on the nose).
I went to Kurosaki (Shibuya) this past February, and only found out after I returned, that they also use the same vinegar. However Sushi Yoshizumi’s rice has his beat for sure.
Please try Hitakami Yasuke (Houjun Karakuchi) Junmai Ginjo next time you go. If this were the only sake you have, it works for a majority of the meal, although you may notice some sushi may cause certain profiles of the sake to change, mute, and/or accentuate and this changes throughout the meal which I paid very close attention to when I first had it when he started carrying the sake. Outside of Sushi Sho Waikiki and maybe Sushi Ginza Ondera Waikiki, no other restaurant in the USA carries Hitakami Yasuke. The astringency and balanced acidity/umami is quite wine like of a drinking experience.
