Gaienmae Takemoto (Tokyo, Japan) – Extremely Underrated Sushi Spot for Folks Who Like Tenzushi
Gaienmae Takemoto (Tokyo, Japan) – Extremely Underrated Sushi Spot for Folks Who Like Tenzushi
by NoodleThings
2 Comments
NoodleThings
Let’s cut the fat real quick – this is not some like a Tenzushi/“kyushu-mae” spot like the one that opened up in November – I mention Tenzushi as there’s a lot of similar taste profiles with the hallmarks of what I remember from my meals there – plenty of kabosu/sudachi/a lot of other citruses, salt, certain flavourful toppings, top quality tuna, salt as a topping for many nigiri, a focus on tate with very little jukusei or even nekase, etc etc). This isn’t a kyushu-mae spot but it is Fukuoka through and through
When I was younger the sushi I’d had at Fukuoka spots like Tenzushi, Yasukichi (don’t go now for obvious reasons), Morita, etc was like a second awakening and introduced me to how many different things sushi could be when backed with experience, talent and top quality fish. I think the biggest issue I’ve had with many of the spots in the US that attempt to do something similar (a lot of the “SF-mae” spots, Fukuoka-inspired ex-Masa Yugin which I haven’t been to yet but heard bad things about) is that the skill level just isn’t there – there’s so many fuckups in cooking and taste that it ruins some of the good/top quality ingredients these dudes are buying.
Takemoto in contrast was fantastic – I had actually gone to Kikuzushi earlier that day and truth be told, on the courses that both of them served (Kasugo, kohada, hamaguri, tuna, anago) I honestly preferred the Takemoto version (I liked both, just liked Takemoto’s take a little more – Kohada, hamaguri- or a lot more – kasugo, tuna, anago although I preferred Kiku’s shirako, shiro amadai and crab a little)
This is insanely easy to book, it’s a different pricy like most of what comes out of Fukuoka nowadays but if you don’t have a reservation at many of the top spots I’ve gotta say you can book this and generally feel happy. I’m honestly gonna go again this trip if I can find time for it
Courses were (didn’t take fulsome descriptions or pics cuz low charge from huge hassle getting back into Tokyo given flight delays n all):
1. Kawahagi with kabosu and salt + kimo jouyu, excellent but a bit much kabosu (not a lot, a bit) 2. Kasugo – fucking fantastic, absolutely mogged any Kasugo I’ve had this year. Sadly he didn’t have more so I couldn’t order extras 3. Aji, also fantastic – one of the better ones I’ve had all year 4. Sumi ika, very good – I liked the aori ika a bit earlier at Kiku a bit more but this was very good too 5. Shirako with a spicy red paste I forgot the name of 6. Akami, excellent 7. Chu-toro, alright – a bit flat tasting 8. Kegani Chawanmushi, really really good – I loved the Kiku crabs I had earlier today but this was up there man 9. O-toro, looked like jabara but don’t know. I loved it regardless 10. Kohada, pretty good. I said this was better than Kiku but it’s really more that I didn’t love either lmao. I like kansai-style kohada a bit more 11. Akagai, excellent – light bright touch of citrus form kabosu really brightened it 12. Uni, one of ogawa’s standard boxes. Pretty good, better than what I’d have of that box (granted didn’t really the provenance so hard to compare like that lol) 13. Shirakawa, great – a very fun and clean taste that actually went super nice with the citrus 14. Hamaguri with tsume and a bit of kabosu, amazing. My favorite of the trio and that’s saying a lot because I loved the Kiku version 15. Saba bozushi, I like this a bit more than Yoshizumi’s but I still prefer Katsu’s 16. Anago with salt and citrus, superlative – an amazing anago, you’d never tell they don’t use Ueken anymore 17. Anago with tsume, excellent as well but I preferred the former 18. Misojirou, there were more courses I just didn’t take photos/write them all down
I loved this, Tenzushi isn’t like that hard to book but this is really good if you can’t do that and don’t wanna go all the way down. They really should be more busy but I’ll take advantage of that for as long as I can lol
ANuclearNarwhal
How did you even find this place? It’s not even on Google Maps as far as I can tell and only has 15 Tabelog reviews! The photos look enticing and I am curious to try this style, you’re really tempting me to roll the dice on this place. How would you say it delivers for the price- there are a lot of good sushi ya’s in the 30k range, worth the extra ~10k yen?
2 Comments
Let’s cut the fat real quick – this is not some like a Tenzushi/“kyushu-mae” spot like the one that opened up in November – I mention Tenzushi as there’s a lot of similar taste profiles with the hallmarks of what I remember from my meals there – plenty of kabosu/sudachi/a lot of other citruses, salt, certain flavourful toppings, top quality tuna, salt as a topping for many nigiri, a focus on tate with very little jukusei or even nekase, etc etc). This isn’t a kyushu-mae spot but it is Fukuoka through and through
When I was younger the sushi I’d had at Fukuoka spots like Tenzushi, Yasukichi (don’t go now for obvious reasons), Morita, etc was like a second awakening and introduced me to how many different things sushi could be when backed with experience, talent and top quality fish. I think the biggest issue I’ve had with many of the spots in the US that attempt to do something similar (a lot of the “SF-mae” spots, Fukuoka-inspired ex-Masa Yugin which I haven’t been to yet but heard bad things about) is that the skill level just isn’t there – there’s so many fuckups in cooking and taste that it ruins some of the good/top quality ingredients these dudes are buying.
Takemoto in contrast was fantastic – I had actually gone to Kikuzushi earlier that day and truth be told, on the courses that both of them served (Kasugo, kohada, hamaguri, tuna, anago) I honestly preferred the Takemoto version (I liked both, just liked Takemoto’s take a little more – Kohada, hamaguri- or a lot more – kasugo, tuna, anago although I preferred Kiku’s shirako, shiro amadai and crab a little)
This is insanely easy to book, it’s a different pricy like most of what comes out of Fukuoka nowadays but if you don’t have a reservation at many of the top spots I’ve gotta say you can book this and generally feel happy. I’m honestly gonna go again this trip if I can find time for it
Courses were (didn’t take fulsome descriptions or pics cuz low charge from huge hassle getting back into Tokyo given flight delays n all):
1. Kawahagi with kabosu and salt + kimo jouyu, excellent but a bit much kabosu (not a lot, a bit)
2. Kasugo – fucking fantastic, absolutely mogged any Kasugo I’ve had this year. Sadly he didn’t have more so I couldn’t order extras
3. Aji, also fantastic – one of the better ones I’ve had all year
4. Sumi ika, very good – I liked the aori ika a bit earlier at Kiku a bit more but this was very good too
5. Shirako with a spicy red paste I forgot the name of
6. Akami, excellent
7. Chu-toro, alright – a bit flat tasting
8. Kegani Chawanmushi, really really good – I loved the Kiku crabs I had earlier today but this was up there man
9. O-toro, looked like jabara but don’t know. I loved it regardless
10. Kohada, pretty good. I said this was better than Kiku but it’s really more that I didn’t love either lmao. I like kansai-style kohada a bit more
11. Akagai, excellent – light bright touch of citrus form kabosu really brightened it
12. Uni, one of ogawa’s standard boxes. Pretty good, better than what I’d have of that box (granted didn’t really the provenance so hard to compare like that lol)
13. Shirakawa, great – a very fun and clean taste that actually went super nice with the citrus
14. Hamaguri with tsume and a bit of kabosu, amazing. My favorite of the trio and that’s saying a lot because I loved the Kiku version
15. Saba bozushi, I like this a bit more than Yoshizumi’s but I still prefer Katsu’s
16. Anago with salt and citrus, superlative – an amazing anago, you’d never tell they don’t use Ueken anymore
17. Anago with tsume, excellent as well but I preferred the former
18. Misojirou, there were more courses I just didn’t take photos/write them all down
Extras
1. Double aji
2. Double anago
3. Hamaguri
4. Shirakawa
5. O-toro
I loved this, Tenzushi isn’t like that hard to book but this is really good if you can’t do that and don’t wanna go all the way down. They really should be more busy but I’ll take advantage of that for as long as I can lol
How did you even find this place? It’s not even on Google Maps as far as I can tell and only has 15 Tabelog reviews! The photos look enticing and I am curious to try this style, you’re really tempting me to roll the dice on this place. How would you say it delivers for the price- there are a lot of good sushi ya’s in the 30k range, worth the extra ~10k yen?