We were sent here by my Japanese colleagues who insisted it was 'real sushi'. It was and it was great.
All decisions were taken out of our hands and my colleagues had arranged everything. We sat down at the counter and after a couple of minutes, the sushi sensei came out and greeted us. He spoke excellent English and he came from Fukuoka, a city famous for its fish and seafood. Ask a Japanese person where to get good sushi in Japan and you can guarantee that Fukuoka will be on their list.
As the sensei prepared our sushi, the polite and professional waiting staff brought out tea and our pre-sushi morsels. The tray had miso soup with fatty pieces of fish infused into it, chawanmushi (a savoury custard) with hidden bites of fish and shrimp, pickles with seafood and a salad. All of these were superb. The chawanmushi was particularly good. I have eaten it in a few places and never quite come to terms with it. This one made me crave more.
The sushi then was presented to each of us, the sensei wished us a good meal and disappeared backstage. The array before us was startling. The first piece on the platter was a block of omelette. In Japan, a high end sushi house is judged on their egg. It is often the first thing you eat to see if the sushi is worth ordering. All I can say is that the egg encouraged us to keep going. Slightly sweet and infused with fish broth, it was lovely. Next was an ikura gunkan (salmon roe 'mothership'). The salmon roe burst on the tongue as they were released from their cradle of rice and seaweed. Little salty treats. An uni gunkan followed. The uni (sea urchin) was buttery and melted on the tongue. Uni is one of those things that is hard to beat in terms of luxurious moreishness.
The next piece was an aji nigiri (horse mackerel). It was fresh and didn't have a strong 'oily fish taste'. In the progression we came to the hotate nigiri (raw scallop). This was a mind bender. It was the first time we had eaten scallop raw. It had a supreme amount of butteriness. It coated the mouth with its texture and gave a gentle scallop taste. A new favourite. This went hand in hand with the ebi nigiri (shrimp) that was barely poached and almost translucent. Again, until you have eaten shrimp almost-raw, you have no idea how fatty (in a good way) it is. It had the same effect as the scallop and coated the mouth.
The next row was the home straight and it started with tai nigiri (red snapper). This was a fresh and gentle piece. To follow was tachiuo nigiri (beltfish). This was another first and the silver skinned white fish was delicious and had a soft but rich texture. The penultimate nigiri was akami maguro (the deepest red part of the tuna from near its centre). It was amazing. As guilty as one feels eating blue-fin tuna, when it is put in front of you, you just eat it and enjoy its wonder. The last nigiri was otoro (the fattiest part of the tuna belly). It was slightly grilled to give it a caramelized taste. Toro is one of life's better experiences. Having had toro in Japan, I would say that this one was on money. It was ridiculously fatty and dissolved on impact with the tongue.
The final sushi were maki. Some minced toro maki, which were divine, and some refreshing cucumber maki. We were also given some fruit and a wonderful little orange mousse to finish off the meal.
The service was great and watching the sensei and his apprentice work, we noticed the care and attention was immaculate. The cut on every piece of fish was perfect. The apprentice took about ten minutes to cut some spring onions uniformly and the respect with which he treated the ingredients was amazing. The combination of superb food and excellent standards of service make Sushi Toku a must go to place. If you want a great sushi experience, then this is the place to go.
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