Before going to Sushi Kanesaka, I was preparing to spend my evening in a formal environment with an austere sushi master leading the show. Instead, I found myself in a friendly and vibrant place where the chef Shinji Kanesaka san was chatting with his guests and obviously enjoying doing so. Shinji Kanesaka san is a young man (he used to work at Kyubei) practising a hundreds-year-old craft, so strict rules of traditional sushi making are applied but at the same time, he brings in some youth and modernity in the ambiance. Everybody working at Sushi Kanesaka was young and joyful, different from what I expected.
Like Sushi Mizutani ( see my previous post), Sushi Kanesaka is situated on a basement floor in Ginza with only 14 places around the sushi counter. Like Sushi Mizutani, the fish quality was extraordinary, but the rice was very different -much more al dente. You could almost feel the separate grains of the rice. I don’t know which rice I preferred though, both were perfect in their way. And like Sushi Mizutani, the sushis were impeccable little treasures.
As a matter of fact, Sushi Kanesaka has 2 Michelin stars and frankly, I don’t know how sushi could be more perfect than at Sushi Kanesaka. (Versus to Sushi Mizutani which has 3 Michelin stars and was as good but definitely not better to have a higher rating.)
The first dish of the chef’s omakase was a crab. Very simple but unforgettable at the same time…
