Tenzushi Kyomachi, Tabelog 4.59, Gold, Kokura

Tenzushi is the most highly acclaimed Sushi restaurant that I have ever been to and it is also different than any other places that I have visited. There are 2 things that make this place stand out.

First, their unique style of producing Sushi. I think traditional Sushi places pursue perfection with so many restrictions. It is extremely minimalistic. So, in order to make better Sushi, other places try adjusting the temperature of shari, thickness of the neta, the ratio between shari and su, changing the aging process, how to store the neta and etc. So many subtle tweaks under the radar and those things all make Sushi such an interesting work of art. But Tenzushi ignores or circumvents those notion. They straight up change the sauce -they are famous for using Kabosu infused sauce instead of traditional shoyu, for instance- and add sub ingredient over more sub ingredient, whatever it takes to achieve the target taste. I found it is actually quite intuitive and interesting. Basically, what I felt was anything that has more than one thing on top of the neta, it is guaranteed that it would be great.

Second, they do not serve alcohol. Only nigiri from start to finish, all the way through. I actually asked Taisho regarding why. He answered me that by having alcohol and Tsumami, one would deprive themselves of appreciating more nigiri because humans have limits to how much foods they have. And the inventor of Tenzushi’s Kyushu-mae -as apposed to traditional Edo-mae-, the father of the current Taisho was felt serving alcohol is almost a cheating, quotes from Taisho was “Because it’s Sushi place, not alcohol and etc place”. While not serving alcohol indicates Tenzushi does not f around about their nigiris, it actually affects the duration of the meal too. It is quite shorter than the other places. TMI, the conversation about the shorter duration of the meal led to the no alcohol policy.

Details of the course are following

1. Chutoro, Bluefin tuna, marinated with Kabosu infused soy sauce from Shiogama

2. Ootoro, fattiest belly portion from tuna, also from Shiogama

3. Their signature, white caviar on top of sea urchin on top of Akaika squid, five different colors of sesames sprinkled on them. My favorite of the evening #1-

4. Kuruma ebi, Tiger prawn

5. Shime saba, Aged mackerel, Kelp, diced pickled ginger and spring onions, my favorite piece of the evening #2

6. Hotate, Japanese scallop

7. Kamasu, Barracuda, grilled to enhance the fattiness of the fish, more umami

8. Tachiuo, Cutlass fish, served with Bainiku -plum based sauce

9. Maguro zuke, didn’t take picture unfortunately, too busy devouring

10. Kisu, Northen whiting, first time having it raw. I have only had the fritter of it. This actually served with Yuzu Kosho, instead of typical wasabi. Taisho told me that he wanted ‘different spiciness’.

11. Shirako, Sperm sac of Fugu, seasonal delicacy that came earlier than usual. Super creamy.

12. Yaito katsuo, Binoto, served with ginger

13. Sazae, conch, served with Okra, This was the most unfamiliar combination among all, I think.

14. Head of Kuruma ebi, Taisho actually served this in Korean saying 새우머리

15. Amadai, Sweet seabream, served with its liver piece. First time having sea bream liver. Compared to Yankimo, it breaks more easily so that gets mixed with the fillet more easily too. My favorite piece #3

16. Anago, Salt water eel, massive piece of it

17. Toro Maki, Ground tuna belly meat served with white onion. On summer, they serve sea grape instead.

18. Tamago Yaki, honey and sugar mixture to sweeten it.

19. The dessert.