Sushi @ Sashisu Sushi Sakaba, KITTE, Hakata, Fukuoka

 

Originally one of the main hotspots for sushi casual dining in Osaka, a shop in Hakata has finally opened and with lots of fanfare. It was up for quite some time already, but I waited until the buzz died down a little before trying stuff out. Even then, the line was pretty long. But the wait was worth it. I am referring to Sashiru. 

Thirst breaker

Despite being open for weeks, the wait in line was about 30 minutes or so. Interestingly enough, there were a good amount of Koreans in the line. My friend pointed that out as he himself is Korean. After our long wait, we were finally seated at the best seat, the bar counter in front of the chef. And being a lads' night out, the first thing we got was some drinks, and a good highball came soon after. 

Epic

The first thing for the evening was their fabled potato salad. It sounded like an ordinary entre for most places. However, this was not most places. Loads of fish roe were placed on top of this amazing dish, giving it great colour. And the difference between textures and flavours just made this something very fun to chow down. It stood for a modest 400 yen. 

Tastier than it looks

The second appetizer was a serving of seasoned quail eggs. Despite its small stature, this was also quite tasty. Each egg was marinated to perfection. Although the menu does not describe as to what the marinade is made of, the most likely suspect will be soy sauce with brown sugar and cinnamon. This also stood for a reasonable price of 280 yen. A real star maker. But in the end, this is a sushi izakaya. And as such,  the seafood eventually made their mark. 

Whoops! One went away before I was able to take this shot. 

Being a sushi specialist, you will not go wrong with any of the options available. But for us the first choices we made were the tuna and salmon nigiri in three flavours. For the tuna it was based off three different cuts, while for the salmon, it was based on three different cooking styles. Both were incredible but if you are into flavour varieties, then the salmon is the best bet. The tuna was based on different fattiness levels. While in terms of the salmon, there was the fresh one, the charred one and another nigiri topped with fish roe and onions. The tuna selection stood at 520 yen while the salmon was for 450 yen. It all boils down to personal preferences really. 

The classic

We subsequently ordered a set of shrimp and squid. The shrimp stood for 150 yen for two pieces while the squid stood for the same price. It was simple, but still relatively tasty. And the freshness was really on point. The amberjack slowly came along where a set of two pieces stood for 260 yen and another set of two pieces for crab miso stood for the same price as well. The amberjack had a clean quality to it. It had a crisp fishy flavour, which you will probably be familiar with if you are used to sushi. 

Just too awesome. 

The crab miso was something else. Standing at 260 yen as well, it was out of the ordinary. In fact, it is not miso-paste at all. Rather, it was a paste made of crab insides. This made for a pungent yet delightful flavour. I really enjoyed it and if you are a fan of shellfish, you would probably be as well. There was even more sushi later on, but if I keep on going, I might as well write out the entire menu. Long story short, everything was reasonably priced and tasty to boot. 

Deep fried and golden.

However, sushi is not the only thing that this shop is great at. As you may have figured out with the appetizers, there is more to offer. So we decided to get some hot tempura to round off the meal. we had tempura "surume", which is akin to a savoury funnel cake and a giant shrimp tempura to which we shared between us two. The "surume" was priced at 400 yen and the shrimp was for 380 yen. 

A look into the premises. 

As the night was still a bit young, we sat down for another round of drinks. With lemon sours and highballs below 500 yen, it was cheap as it was dangerous. But with food so reasonably priced, at amazing freshness, and a fun atmosphere, this was a place I cannot recommend enough. In the end, the total bill stood at 4980 yen. Considering the quality of the food and drinks, this was a huge bargain. However, do note that customers can only sit in for only 2 hours. And looking at our past experience, I can see why some people might just settle in their seats to the wee hours. So if this has piqued your interest, which I think it already has, then the address to this amazing establishment is as follows:

〒812-0012 Fukuoka, Hakata Ward, Hakataekichuogai, 9−1 KITTE Hakata Basement 1