Sushi Dinner @ Sushi-Tei, Hondori, Hiroshima

In deciding to my Hiroshima trip on a high note, I opted for a original classic, sushi! And after some exploring around the Hondori shopping street, I was lucky enough to land myself in Sushi-Tei. 

Front of the house

Sushi-Tei is a Hiroshima based group of restaurants serving the finer things in life but at quite reasonable prices. Before you gripe about chain restaurants, rest assured that this place will get your monies worth. And this is a very serious sushi restaurant. No tramlines with revolving tuna here, the chef makes it in front of you and places it on a bamboo leaf. Yeah, it is as legit as it gets. 

8 minus 1

Being uncertain what I was keen on trying, I ordered one of their sushi set meals. Most places have three ranges: the low, medium and high. And as you might suspect, the quality and price range differs from the range. I usually ordered medium as it will be a mix of their finer ingredients and some of their less sophisticated ones. But I am on vacation, so I think it was just appropriate that I got myself the high range. The price came in at a very hefty 1600 yen for 8 pieces. High indeed. But to think of it, it was just 200 yen a piece, so its not too bad once you look at it in that angle. Despite the pinch, the food that came onwards was absolutely sublime. The chef that was by the counter swiftly yet delicately compressed balls of rice and lay on perfectly the topping before giving it one last squeeze in making sure everything stays in place. Some of the sushi pieces were served on a bamboo leaf while others we placed on a plate. 

Everything seems to glow!

In the end, I was given a feast for the eyes. Everything was so bright and colourful. And they taste as good as it gets. I would need to give a huge shout out for the fatty tuna. Despite being the usual star maker of any sushi meal, I just cannot give enough praise to it. The fish was soft yet chewy. The fat of the meat melted like butter once I popped it into my mouth and a little dash of soy sauce gave it a great personality boost. 

Anago was sublime. The sea urchin and fish eggs were good as well. 

Another one is the anago, or river eel. It was cooked to perfection and had a velvety softness. The marinade for it was sweet and salty, with a bit of woody and nutty flavour. It was just a hint and was very gentle to the senses. This is not a barbecue, so do not expect explosive flavours from such a dish. Still, I totally enjoyed this one. The sear urchin was as expected, sweet and slightly bitter, where as the fish roe gunkan were bubbles of salty flavour. One special thing that you were not able to see was the pacific clam. It was so delectable looking that I took it down before I remembered to take a picture of it! So if you were wondering why there are 7 instead of 8 pieces, now you know why. 

Length!

Despite having such a great meal, I felt that I would like to have a little more. And so I asked if they had any salmon. Lo and behold, the longest salmon nigiri known to man appeared in front of me not long after! It was fresh, sweet, fatty and absolutely terrific. 

This was a gentle storm that was dangerously approaching. 

And still feeling that I have stomach space for one more, I ordered another favourite of mine that did not appear in the set meal, which was the very delectable ama-ebi, or sweet shrimp in English. The shrimp was incredibly plump and yet had a delicate texture. It has that sweet taste as expected, and has a bit of a tender kickback once you go into it. It gave the impression that it was a fatty piece of meat but it is not. Just awesome. 

Simple, but a lot of personality

My last ala carte piece was the humble mackerel. Topped with some grated ginger and extra soy sauce, this simple fish had a more explosive flavour compared to the other things I had for this evening. The ginger gave it a mellow spiciness and the fishy flavour of the mackerel was distinct. Just prefect. 

Nectar of the gods. 

In between the prep for my meal I was able to have a chat with the  Nakao-san, the master sushi chef that was attending to me that evening. He was pleasantly surprised in finally meeting a foreign tourist after so long. Due to travel restrictions, the city has welcomed very few foreign tourists. And even if they are, there are most likely ones who are based locally, like myself. So while we got to know each other, he invited me to try a glass of his favourite nihonshu the Densho (伝匠)  from Gekkeikan breweries (月桂冠).

The cup once I was done with it. Should have taken a before and after shot though. 

The rice wine was smooth and sweet with a devious kickback once you slurped into it. It was a good aperitif to complement the entire meal. The establishment is pretty generous too. Although they served it in a sake cup, but it came with the drinking box, to which this glorious nectar is filled to the brim with. This luxurious drink also came with a fitting price of 800 yen. Oh hefty hefty!

Old faithful. 

Last but not least, I had to have a shot of Kurokirishima for nostalgic purposes, which stood for 400 yen for a shot on the rocks. I have written a lot about this shochu, so I think I might just as well provide you guys with the link here to have the full story as to why this alcoholic beverage is so important to me. 

Master chef  Nakao and his wares. Was a real pleasure meeting him. 

After all it is said and done, my total bill came at a whopping 3630 yen. It has been a long while since I spent this much on a single meal. But I had no regrets. The food was great, the staff was top notch, the restaurant was inviting and Nakao-san was a gracious host. I initially thought I would just have my meal and buzz off, but I ended up enjoying his company and sat down for almost 2 hours. 

Another angle of the establishment. 

If you are a serious sushi fan and you are somehow in Hiroshima, this is an establishment worth a visit. There are a total of 5 branches in the prefecture. However, if you would like to visit the one that I had eaten in, then the address is as follows:-

6-7 Hondori, Naka-ku Masuda Building 2F, Hiroshima 730-0035 Hiroshima Prefecture

You cannot miss this sign.