I don’t see many reviews of Sawada in English, so I thought I would share a bit about my visit earlier this year. I made mental notes all evening and was able to remember the entire course absent a few minor details.
The evening’s seating was half tourists and half locals. That made for a fun dynamic with Sawada-san doing his best to juggle languages and the locals helping explain some of the more nuanced details he couldn’t. The ambiance was reserved at first, but after a few rounds of drinks the entire counter was engaging with each other and Sawada-san in a jovial manner.
Behind the counter sat a pot of boiling water for making tea and a binchotan grill – that’s it. For the grilled dishes, Sawada-san pulled pieces of binchotan and placed them on a handheld mesh grill to hold over the ingredients. The Anago and Kuchiko were slow grilled over the grill itself.
I enjoy the DIY nature of the early tsumami course. Sawada-san encourages creativity when adding salt, wasabi, or shoyu to each dish and recommended several ways to incorporate the uni with the other ingredients (aoriika and awabi).
Highlight dishes for me were the steamed tako (just the right texture), buri (peak fattiness season), and the Hagi aka uni. Sawada-san’s shari is reminiscent of my experience at Sushi Mizutani. Just a slight punch of vinegar.
Here’s a snapshot of the course. I’m pretty sure I captured all the courses, but I do not recall the exact locations the Fukuoka and Hokkaido uni were sourced from.
Tsumami
1. Steamed Snap Endou
2. Hirame – Sashimi, Engawa, and Kimo
3. Ishigakigai – Flash Boiled
4. Aoriika – Aged 12 days
5. Fukuoka and Hagi Aka Uni (to mix with the aoriika and awabi
6. Awabi – Steamed for 3 hours
7. Grilled Shimesaba
8. Tako – Steamed for 3 hours
9. Cherry Tomato (Palate cleanser)
10. Buri Ootoro
11. Chutoro – Oma 138kg
12. Chutoro and Murasaki Uni Maki
13. Grilled Kuchiko
14. Kamasu Maki – with Shiso and green onion
15. Grilled Kamatoro
16. Remaining Tsuma Daikon prepared as a temaki
Nigiri
1. Sayori
2. Akagai
3. Hoshigarei
4. Kohada
5. Buri
6. Katsuo (Ginger Shoyu or Garlic Salt Option)
7. Ikura
8. Akami Tzuke
9. Chutoro
10. Chutoro (closer to Otoro)
11. Otoro
12. Grilled Otoro
13. Bettaratsuke – Yuzu Flavored
14. Bafun Uni (Hokkaido)
15. Kuruma Ebi
16. Anago (Salt)
17. Anago (Tsume)
18. Tamagoyaki
19. Hozuki
Tsuika (Add-on)
1. Hagi Uni (Nigiri)
2. Buri
by m046186