Back to Ginza, Ground Zero for sushi restaurants. People come here after work for a bite and then proceed to drinks in one of many hostess bars and karaokes around here. Due to its close proximity to Tsukiji, many sushi restaurants were established here. So if you have been around since 1984, you can be called a survivor.
Sushi Kin specialises in Hokkaido seafood. Its ingredients are all fresh from Hokkaido. This is their Tokyo branch of the famous Hakodate establishment. Hokkaido style sushi is slightly different from the Tokyo variety in that the portion of the fish is usually larger. Very generous, but to the spoiled Tokyo city dwellers, some thought that it broke the rule of nigiri sushi – one mouth per sushi.
But I am not from Tokyo, so give me my big big piece of fish.
刺身盛り合わせ Sashimi Moriwase – we started with a generous plate of sashimi at USD 38. It came with 10 varieties of seafood, 2 pieces each, and of very high quality. You have the chutoro, live pacific clams and fresh akagai, yummy.
握り寿司 (にぎり) 松（10貫）Nigiri Sushi Matsu 10 pieces – Again top quality sushi at USD 40. The variety was similar to the sashimi, but the kani was real crab and not the artificially flavoured type you get from sushi chains in Singapore. And the ikura was also top grade ones that did not clamp together but popped individually in your mouth.
北海道帆立炙烧 Aburi Hokkaido Scallop – This was the special of the day. We ordered it without expecting anything. But hey, looked at the size of the scallop@, it was almost the size of a Subway cookie. USD 10.
The scallop was aburi – torched using a blowtorch – and then served wrapped with dried seaweed so that you can just pick it up and eat it. The scallop’s sweetness was not overpowered by the seaweed. Instead the salt actually enhanced the flavour of the scallop.
茶碗蒸し北海道風 Hokkaido style Chawanmushi – it was still chawanmushi, nothing special about it USD 7.
白子ポン酢 Cod Semen in Ponzu Sauce – it may sound yucky, but the creaminess of the shirako combined with the tardness of the ponzu was a match in heaven. One of my favourite dish, but I am not too sure about the cholesterol.
鉄火巻 Tuna Roll – the stomach filler for all sushi restaurants, you order maki rolls at the end. Teka Maki was made up of aged tuna – aged doesn’t mean not fresh, but a technique to enhance the flavour of the lean tuna.
Unfortunately my Japanese was only as good as my Russian, so I have to sit away from the Sushi Bar, where all the actions were taking place. The chefs were engaging the clients in friendly banter, you can hear bursts of laughter occasionally. And I observed that the people were talking among themselves too, even though they might have only met the first time in their lives in this restaurant.
I guessed with the high stress, lonely city life of Tokyo salarymen (and women), this was one of the outlets they can look forward to everyday to have an environment that would be relaxing and fun.
Highly recommended, it was a reasonably price, high quality place. I am sure there are even better ones, but for the price-quality ration, it would be ranked high up on the list.
English menu available with photos, so you won’t feel lost in there. But for the daily specials you would need to know a bit of Japanese. The service staff were made up of off-bar duty chefs so their English was also as good as my Russian.
Reservations recommended, particularly on weekdays.
Hakodate Sushi Kin
はこだて鮨金総本店 東京銀座店
8-7-9 Ginza Chuo Tokyo
東京都 中央区 銀座 8-7-9 龍真ビル １Ｆ
東京メトロ銀座線「新橋駅」3番出口 又は JR「新橋駅」銀座口 より徒歩6分
新橋駅から450m
316 meters from Shimbashi Station of Tokyo Metro.
Date Visited : Dec 2017
live2makan 
Pingback: Eating whale meat – a Japanese tradition – live2makan