Sushi Namba Hibiya (Tokyo, Japan) – Still Chugging Along
Sushi Namba Hibiya (Tokyo, Japan) – Still Chugging Along
by NoodleThings
3 Comments
NoodleThings
Namba’s influence on the younger generation is impossible to ignore but I think a lot of his innovations have spread sufficiently enough that it’s no longer a wholly unique selling point – especially when he’s not actually keeping to the temps on the paper all that much (which also isn’t that important in my opinion, the directionality / intention is the point I feel)
Namba’s sushi is very good, full stop. It is, however, also something I’m not the greatest fan of – I think where the restaurant still shines is in his temperature control which I feel has the most effect with the hikarimono (all of which I enjoyed this meal) and his natural instinct built on his experience which I think shines best with his high-quality tsumami. In the distant past, Namba’s fish quality was good but not particularly great – but this has long since changed and I do genuinely think he makes the most of the premium fish he’s getting in nowadays for his specific style of sushi.
I did not take fulsome notes on the courses – the meal was conducted entirely in Japanese and my Japanese is shit nowadays. Here’s what I wrote down:
Namba
1. Tako saejima 2. Ankimo, really good w the wasabi but not the greatest without 3. Sumi ika, felt like a textual thing – slightly sweet but not one of the better I’ve had 4. Kasugo, good not great – I’ve had a decent amount of kasugo on this trip though so a high bar to clear for sure 5. Hokkigai from Hokkaido, nicest of the three I’ve had this trip and the first that was not grilled (I do usually prefer this lightly grilled though) 6. Kawahagi cut into batons mixed with its liver and chives w shari, very good – loved the shari covered in the kimo jouyu. Honestly my favorite tsumami tonight 7. Iwashi from hakodate, Hokkaido. First taste and mid palate were fantastic, finish kinda faded a bit earlier than I’d like 8. Hotate grilled and then pulled apart on top of the kombu and shari, very fun 9. Kujira, only kujira this trip. It was alright, not hugely into it 9. Katsuo with shio from tamanegi, good not great. Katsuo flavour was too big for his shari 10. Sawara from toshuzimi(idk lol), a lot of the fish here have a great opening and middle but end kinda a bit 11. Mine saba from kyushu, prepared as shimesaba. This one was really nice – with salt and sudachi 12. Kinka saba. This was nama saba and it tasted different – more bloody (good way) 13. Ezo awabi in thick dashi, really really nice 14. Dashi with shari and marukita “golden phoenix” uni 15. Maguro kake (fried) with wasabi stem and what tasted like kimo shari temaki, delicious 16. Kanpachi, relatively large fish apparently – pretty good 17. Akami, eh 18. Chu toro, very nice 19. Kohada with oboro, excellent 20. Otoro 21. Anago kyuri temaki with tsume and goma topping. Good but I prefer those ankimo kyuri temaki 20. Kinki misojirou, quite good 21. Tamago
Extras
1. Shiro amadai, they beat me down I’m using shiro amadai now lol. Good, honestly I know this is a good season for this fish but I haven’t loved any of the ones I’ve had recently 2. Mine saba x2, ordered again to try and nail the difference. I also liked the two saba + the kohada the most that night 3. Kinka saba x2, see above
I’m always happy to come, even if it’s not my personal preference for sushi, and I do hope he cheers up a bit more (he’s been sad a lot of the times I’ve seen him) – he was the first sushi chef to ever follow me on instagram so I am rooting for him (as dumb a reason as that is lol)
ylkim30
Glad to see you are back in Japan. I will be interested to hear your thoughts about the restaurants there.
And I do hope he feels better too. He seems like he is dealing with some health issues. A little dour when I ate there last, but he cheered up a bit as we were leaving and we let it be known to him we appreciated his hard work. I think it also helped one person in the hanare was able to converse with him in Japanese.
voabarros
Someone gotta ask it so it might as well be me: how did you manage to book? I’ll be in Tokyo in April, do I have a chance?
3 Comments
Namba’s influence on the younger generation is impossible to ignore but I think a lot of his innovations have spread sufficiently enough that it’s no longer a wholly unique selling point – especially when he’s not actually keeping to the temps on the paper all that much (which also isn’t that important in my opinion, the directionality / intention is the point I feel)
Namba’s sushi is very good, full stop. It is, however, also something I’m not the greatest fan of – I think where the restaurant still shines is in his temperature control which I feel has the most effect with the hikarimono (all of which I enjoyed this meal) and his natural instinct built on his experience which I think shines best with his high-quality tsumami. In the distant past, Namba’s fish quality was good but not particularly great – but this has long since changed and I do genuinely think he makes the most of the premium fish he’s getting in nowadays for his specific style of sushi.
I did not take fulsome notes on the courses – the meal was conducted entirely in Japanese and my Japanese is shit nowadays. Here’s what I wrote down:
Namba
1. Tako saejima
2. Ankimo, really good w the wasabi but not the greatest without
3. Sumi ika, felt like a textual thing – slightly sweet but not one of the better I’ve had
4. Kasugo, good not great – I’ve had a decent amount of kasugo on this trip though so a high bar to clear for sure
5. Hokkigai from Hokkaido, nicest of the three I’ve had this trip and the first that was not grilled (I do usually prefer this lightly grilled though)
6. Kawahagi cut into batons mixed with its liver and chives w shari, very good – loved the shari covered in the kimo jouyu. Honestly my favorite tsumami tonight
7. Iwashi from hakodate, Hokkaido. First taste and mid palate were fantastic, finish kinda faded a bit earlier than I’d like
8. Hotate grilled and then pulled apart on top of the kombu and shari, very fun
9. Kujira, only kujira this trip. It was alright, not hugely into it
9. Katsuo with shio from tamanegi, good not great. Katsuo flavour was too big for his shari
10. Sawara from toshuzimi(idk lol), a lot of the fish here have a great opening and middle but end kinda a bit
11. Mine saba from kyushu, prepared as shimesaba. This one was really nice – with salt and sudachi
12. Kinka saba. This was nama saba and it tasted different – more bloody (good way)
13. Ezo awabi in thick dashi, really really nice
14. Dashi with shari and marukita “golden phoenix” uni
15. Maguro kake (fried) with wasabi stem and what tasted like kimo shari temaki, delicious
16. Kanpachi, relatively large fish apparently – pretty good
17. Akami, eh
18. Chu toro, very nice
19. Kohada with oboro, excellent
20. Otoro
21. Anago kyuri temaki with tsume and goma topping. Good but I prefer those ankimo kyuri temaki
20. Kinki misojirou, quite good
21. Tamago
Extras
1. Shiro amadai, they beat me down I’m using shiro amadai now lol. Good, honestly I know this is a good season for this fish but I haven’t loved any of the ones I’ve had recently
2. Mine saba x2, ordered again to try and nail the difference. I also liked the two saba + the kohada the most that night
3. Kinka saba x2, see above
I’m always happy to come, even if it’s not my personal preference for sushi, and I do hope he cheers up a bit more (he’s been sad a lot of the times I’ve seen him) – he was the first sushi chef to ever follow me on instagram so I am rooting for him (as dumb a reason as that is lol)
Glad to see you are back in Japan. I will be interested to hear your thoughts about the restaurants there.
And I do hope he feels better too. He seems like he is dealing with some health issues. A little dour when I ate there last, but he cheered up a bit as we were leaving and we let it be known to him we appreciated his hard work. I think it also helped one person in the hanare was able to converse with him in Japanese.
Someone gotta ask it so it might as well be me: how did you manage to book? I’ll be in Tokyo in April, do I have a chance?