Sushi Nagomi @ Tokyo

I was visiting a client at Shinbashi and we decided to go for a sushi lunch. Most of the places around his office were fully booked; we were lucky this sushi-ya decided to seat us as there was a last-minute cancellation.

Sushi Nagomi is a typical sushi-ya in Japan where the owner is also the chef, and the wife is the waitress. Here the owner/chef was our 板前 itamae chef. The chef’s wife was our 女将 okami, taking care of the front of the restaurant. There were only 8 seats available per seating, and everything was prepared beforehand accordingly.

Horenso no Ohitashi ほうれん草のお浸し (cooked spinach salad) is a very popular, healthy, and of course tasty small side dish in Japan. Garnished with julienne torch ginger and a refreshing ponzu dressing, the spinach was delicious.

にぎり 九貫 Sushi 9 Pieces

The omakase came with 9 pieces of nigiri sushi, but if this was in a traditional sushi-ya it would be counted as 8. However it’s not the quantity that counts but the quality is all that matters. The fish were all specially selected and well prepared. The shari (sushi rice) was a non typical type made with akazu (赤酢 / red vinegar) that gives a reddish hue to the rice.

The ika sushi was flavoured with salt and lime zest, a very refreshing way for this delicious and sweet invertebrate.

Instead of a gunkan, the ikura sushi was simply placed on a ball of shari in a small saucer. The ikura was marinated in-house and therefore not too salty and yet flavourful.

Unknown to us, this radish is considered one of the sushi. Kind of strange to even count it as part of the meal in most sushi-ya but for the price we are paying for lunch, we didn’t mind.

巻物 Maki

To round up our delicious lunch, two types of maki were presented. I love tekka maki, but the kanpyo was equally outstanding as they used their own house-made dried gourd.

お椀 Soup

And finally something hot after all the sushi and maki. The miso soup was made with fish dashi and was not too overpowering.

デザート Dessert

And dessert was a simple slice of persimmon, which was in season. I prefer the soft, fully ripen persimmon but this crunchy one was equally delicious.

Afterthoughts

This sushi-ya caters to Japanese clientele usually, so there’s communication issue if there’s no local with you for meal, of course unless you can speak Japanese.

Our fellow diners said we were very lucky as they usually would not do walk-ins because they only prepare enough based on the booking. Call at least two weeks ahead for reservations and prepare to be delighted. Another thing to note for lunch, credit card is not accepted.

Sushi Nagomi 鮨 和美
2-10-2 Higashishimbashi 1F Nakagin Shimbashi Mansion, Minato 105-0021 Tokyo Prefecture 東新橋2丁目10-2 中銀新橋マンション 1F
Tel：+81 3-6459-0323

Visited Nov 2022