Tsukushi Sushi | つくし寿司 – Hirō, Tokyo, Japan (Sushi Riku Second Counter)

Tsukushi Sushi occupies the adjacent corner on the fist floor of the same building as Sushi Riku and Nihonryori Sasa. The back kitchens are all connected. How Tsukushi Sushi is and will be used is a bit ambiguous with limited information made public.

The decision to open was made by Toda-san last minute after finishing the week’s shikomi (ingredient preparation). The evening prior he opened seats on Omakase and the morning of he shared an Instagram story and email notification that he’d run a nigiri-only lunch course two days this week. He’s still finding the right rhythm for the counter and plans to run four days next week.

The L-shaped counter at Tsukushi Sushi seats eight with four to a side, but it’s rather spacious with the main preparation area occupying the corner of the L. A water line runs under the top counter that provides a soft sound of running water and a stream of cool water directly in front of each seat. This is a nod to the traditional way sushi was served – water to clean hands and noren above to dry them. I wasn’t sure if this was for looks alone or intended to be used, but Toda-san encouraged using the water. The noren is just for looks though!

The nigiri-only lunch was 15 courses starting with Kohada and finishing with a mini barachirashi. Akami, Chu Toro, and Uni were served but no Anago. Nigiri were very large in size with generous cuts of neta. Style-wise, they were a bit different than the standard Riku nigiri. It felt very much like going back in time to what a nigiri lunch looked like in the early Showa period.

Toda-san ran service with the assistance of one waitress and one apprentice that handled the cooked dishes in the back kitchen. The course ran 20K JPY not including drinks.

Start to finish ran 53 minutes, but there were only three guests. Myself and two other chefs that trained with Toda-san. There was a lot of conversation and feedback about the course, so I feel even with a full counter it would probably run an hour.

I enjoyed this meal more than recent nigiri-only lunches at Yuuki , Ryujiro, and Miyuki. It fills an under served segment and is probably now in my top three sushi power lunches next to Sawada and Yuuki.

It will likely be a while before Tsukushi Sushi is running on a regular cadence, but please check it out if you have the chance!