When you spend a good amount years in Japan, you have opportunity to try all sorts of real sushi spots, from more of an affordable ones, the conveyor belt one, and some real deal ones in Japan. And I do love all sorts of sushi, especially the real deal ones…well, who wouldn’t? We’ve enjoyed some sushi in and around NYC, affordable kinds from Kumo Sushi, a conveyor belt one from Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, and a bite closer to a real deal one from SUGARFISH by Sushi Nozawa. Now, off to Sushi Azabu for some real deal sushi dishes!
The inside looked more modern than I expected, with a fully stocked bar and exposed brick wall. The pop of bright green towards the back was really cool. Passed that green wall, there is a narrow hallway, into a larger room in the back.
The back room was quite impressive. It was large with one of those sliding barn door, big light fixture and golden art on the wall. A great amount of natural light from windows, and the skyline. With all that light coming from everywhere, the gold sparkled beautifully, it was really wonderful setting.
We got a nice pot of Hojicha ($8), one of my favorite tea! It was interesting to see the description of the tea on their menu that says “Warm Smoky Notes With Distinct Notes Of Cocoa” which I completely agree. We were there for lunch, and we ordered the Chef’s Lunch Omakase ($150/person). It comes with Seasonal Sashimi, Toro Tasting, Chef’s Hot Appetizer, Chef’s Choice of Sushi (Nigiri), Miso Soup, and Dessert.
We dined at the Sushi Azabu during the summer, and the Seasonal Sashimi had five pieces with shiso leaf and wakame (seaweed). Octopus from Spain was grilled perfectly, so it is not chewy. It had great texture. The second one was a seared fish, although I don’t remember what kind of fish it was…sorry! It was amazing, perfect salty flavor, super fresh, and just melt in your mouth. Abalone was very plum, fresh and meaty. Kanpachi (I believe) was super fresh, with just the right thickness. So good, it melt in your mouth. Shrimp had a natural sweetness to it, very plump!
Next was Toro Tasting. This one had three pieces, Chutoro, Kamatoro, and Otoro. Chutoro is the back or stomach of the tuna, and totally melt in your mouth good. You almost don’t even need to chew The Kamatoro is gill flesh, more specifically, the fatty part of the gill flesh. It was torched on the exterior, I loved the texture of the torched part, so amazing! Otoro is the fattiest part of the tuna, it had a beautiful fat marbling that you could really see, and it was simply delicious!
The Chef’s Hot Appetizer was Gindara Fish with Shishito Pepper and Japanese Cauliflower. Gindara fish is more known as Black Cod in the US, with soft flesh and high fat content. It had sweetness to it, which was balanced nicely balanced with pickled cauliflower. The Cod was flaky, juicy, and the fattiness of the cod allowed it to melt in your mouth.
Chef’s Choice of Sushi (Nigiri) came with six pieces, and each piece already had their special soy-based sauce and wasabi, so need to have anything extra to dip them in. Perfect flavor on that part, you get to taste the natural flavor of each item without drenching them in excess sauce. It had Chutoro, Tai (Sea Bream), Soy-Marinated Lean Tuna, Shima-Aji (Striped Jack Mackerel), King Salmon, and Botan Ebi (Sweet Shrimp). The rice was packed just right, so they don’t fall apart as you eat them. Each one of them was scrumptious, some were meaty with firmer texture, some were fatty and melt in your mouth, and some others were plump and velvety. Absolutely delightful!
Then we had the second course of sushi, which included maki-sushi. It had Aji (Japanese Horse Mackerel), Uni from Hokkaido, Anago (Salt-water Eel), Tuna Maki with Pickled Daikon and Scallion, and Tamago (Egg Omelet). Aji was really plump, and had a great flavor. Uni was very fresh and almost creamy. Anago was fluffy and meaty, with the sweet flavor. Tuna Maki was not your average maki at all, sooo good! It had that crunchy texture from daikon, freshness from the scallion, and then the melt-in-your-mouth tuna… Delicious! Tamago was nice too, sweet and dense yet light and spongy, almost like a dessert. Perfect ending to all the rich and amazing sushi!
We did receive miso soup with the second sushi course, but I don’t really have much to say about the miso soup. It was just a regular miso soup, so I will leave it at that. It is always nice to have a hot bowl of miso soup with whatever the Japanese dish you are enjoying.
Finally, time for dessert! There was choice between Cheesecake and some Ice Cream, and we went with Cheesecake. It was a slice of Basque Cheesecake with a side of Vanilla Ice Cream to share. I must be honest, I was surprised (almost impressed) how thin the piece of cake was sliced. I mean, really thin! The cheesecake was very rich, perfectly sweet and velvety, amazing flavor. Vanilla ice cream was screaming vanilla! Even though the cake was not as much when it came to the portion, but it was packed with flavor, so we were both satisfied.
Their bathroom was located between the first room and the second room, in the narrow hallway. Be careful when you are opening the door, as a server or another customer might be walking by.
Inside was clean, simple, and well lit. I liked the use of light wood in here. They had TOTO toilet, as most of Japanese restaurants do. What impressed me was that their consideration and care of their patrons! They had “feminine products” in there in case you were caught off-guard by the monthly you-know-what.
We had an amazing sushi lunch here, every piece was super delicious, high quality, and made our taste buds to go crazy with happiness. Our server was not so friendly, but it was a-ok. That didn’t take anything away from our delightful Omakase at Sushi Azabu. I would love to go back again for more tasty sushi and/or other dishes!
Sushi Azabu – 428 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10013