I've only had ikura before, so this was a different experience! Loved every popping bite. We also had the pleasure of having sujiko - immature salmon roe, enveloped by a thin layer of ovarian membrane. He later explained that it softens the texture of the clam. We asked him what he was doing, and he replied 'Bad clam!' as he smacked his next piece. We noticed him smacking the piece of clam before making it into nigiri. The preparation of the hokkagai was pretty funny. The signature iwashi maki was beautiful as well! Dainty pink in color, delicate texture and flavors mixed with the strong sardine taste. I was very impressed with the presentation of the yari ika, topped with salty, fermented snapper stomach (interesting, right?) - super pretty spikes all around the fish! He didn't show how they made the fish look like that, but it was beautiful, a piece of art. Loved the soft texture of the buri toro with a hunt of yuzu zest. When we had the steamed abalone with its liver sauce, they followed it up with a ball of sushi rice to make risotto with the leftover liver sauce.

Loved the kasugodai and rice straw-smoked sawara! I've had hickory-smoked sawara, but this one had a different smokiness to it! Also had kawahagi topped with its own liver.

We started with some kitchen courses - one that stood out was the renkon maju topped with nodoguro with shrimp broth. The chef first brought out a big chunk of tuna and explained that he had dry aged the bluefin tuna. We had some interesting pieces I haven't seen on other omakase menus, and I've been to plenty across the country! Chef Takeda himself made most of the nigiri for us, so it was fun to watch him slice up the fish and make the nigiri. The omakase is ~$350 per person, so it's certainly pricey, but I say it's worth every penny for the stellar experience!įirst of all, the head chef and servers speak Japanese, so I appreciated the authenticity of the atmosphere - everything from the greetings to the chefs talking to each other. We had a reservation for 2 at the earlier seating of the signature omakase.

Sex and Sushi by Tassa Desalada