Sushi Bar Yasuda

I watch a lot of food documentaries and TV shows and I came across Anthony Bourdain's recommendation of a famous Japanese sushi chef who came to the USA but then eventually moved back to Japan who believed that in order to be considered one of the best sushi chefs in the world, it must come from within Japan. I was lucky enough to have gotten a spot during the Christmas break because initially when I emailed to make a reservation, it was all FULL! Some people cancelled their reservation so I got in. It was a pretty neat experience seeing someone in person for the first time that you saw through a TV documentary. Chef Yasuda's English was pretty fluent so it was nice to be able to get a nice story about each sushi that was served and where it came from. He goes to the Tsukiji market daily to get his seafood and usually doesn't look for the most expensive or freshest items but rather the most unique items and fish/seafood that he feels would be great tasting during a particular season. Interestingly enough, he admits that so far most of his customers are non-Japanese. I guess it doesn't help when he made his name in the USA so not many Japanese know of him. I guess that's a reason why he felt something was missing and decided to come back to Japan. His menu was surprisingly not as expensive as initially thought.

At the time he offered 3 options:

• 10 piece sushi assortment (priced at 3600 YEN or ~$36 USD dollars)
• 12 piece sushi assortment (priced at 4200 YEN or ~$42 USD dollars)
• 12 custom sushi assortment (priced at 5800 YEN or ~$58  USD dolars)

I was kind of glad that for the most part, it was just my group eating at his establishment due to many people cancelling last minute so we got him to share his wisdom on sushi creations and what inspires him. I actually enjoyed my sushi here. Although my only complaint was the soy sauce/mixture he used to spread on the seafood was a little too tart for my taste. I prefer my soy sauce to be more on the sweeter side but aside from that minor complaint I was pretty content with my experience at the Sushi Bar Yasuda. If you've never heard of this guy, it may not be worth the trip to only come here to eat at his place but for me personally, I was curious to see how his sushi would taste since Anthony Bourdain is really close with him. I probably won't be a second time visitor as there are many other sushi places that I have bookmarked that I would like to try in Japan. It's simply too competitive here for sushi to go to the same place twice. I wish him good luck on his goal as trying to be one of the best in Japan!

Name: Sushi Bar Yasuda
Website: http://www.sushibaryasuda.com/
Address: 4 chome 2-6 Minamiaoyama Bldg 426, B1, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Google Maps: Click Here!

Front Entrance

Chef Yasuda!

White Fish

Salmon

Sea Eel

Sea Scallop

Squid

Tuna

Sweet Shrimp - Amaebi

Scallion Sprout

Sweet Egg / Omelet

Sea Urchin

Sweeter Sea Urchin

Blue Skin Fish

Thanks Chef Yasuda!