The best sushi I have ever had in my life was at.... Jiro Sushi 2 in Roppongi an upscale Tokyo suburb. As you can see by the beautiful split piece Prawn Sushi below there is no expense spared. I found Jiro through a popular netflix documentary called Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It was in this film that a 90 year old Jiro dedicates his entire life to the art of mastering the craft of Sushi. (Read more below the image)
Jiro has only worked in one field in his life and thinks of himself as an artist not just a chef. He takes measures well beyond what any other restaurant owner would ever do to create the most exquisite meal you will ever have thanks to it's insane attention to detail.
He has two sons and the youngest went out on his own and started his own restaurant which is an almost exact replica of the shop in Ginza located in the Hibiya subway station. The only difference is that Jiro is left handed and his son is right handed so they are symmetrical. The Roppongi location has 8 seats at the bar and two tables each with four chairs.
My friend Marc joked that the two tables were there for guests to wait while they were told to sit at the bar. The irony is thats exactly what the tables are there for.
The lunch course is 18,700 Yen and is the best meal you will ever have. It is very hard to get into the Ginza location so I highly suggest everybody to dine and support his sons location if you are in Tokyo and would like to have the best Sushi meal of your life. My favorite pieces were the Sea Eel, Sea Urchin (I typically hate sea urchin but this was unbelieveable), The Prawn, all of the Tuna pieces, and of course the Tamago (egg). The amount of detail and thought that goes into each piece is something that you need to indulge in yourself and not for me to spoil.
If you have watched the film then you understand the importance of the Tamago and the work that goes into perfectly making that finishing piece. At the end of the meal you are invited to take photos with the chefs and they have books on Jiro which are signed by the famous craftsmen himself.
My favorite part of the experience beyond the meal was this one instance which I will write about again.
The art of Modesty
Jiro's son Takashi has been mastering the art of Sushi for almost his entire life (Jiro started when he left home at age 7 and is now 90). So with a life long of Sushi and the fact that a copy of Jiro Ono's book was signed and purchased the question was asked of his son:
Would you mind signing a copy of this book for me?
His answer was as follows:
"You think because Jiro is my father and I am his son that I can sign the book next to his name but he is Master and I am nothing but a student still. I will not be able to honor your request."
