Sushi Matsunami

An awesome experience & delicious traditional sushi!

After the conveyor-belt sushi place we were planning to eat at was full, we searched for another sushi option nearby. The gods must have been guiding us to Matsunami for my family’s last night in Tokyo! We didn’t realize that it was such refined dining, with an omakase menu, before entering. The entrance is very subtle & we cannot read kanji, so we were unsure that we had arrived at the right location. To our unsuspecting American family, it was a bit intimidating at first!

The dining area is a small bar located upstairs, staffed by only the chef & his wife. Even though we were clearly foreigners who only speak a few phrases of Japanese, we felt welcome & they were patient with our questions. Thankfully, half of our family had dined omakase before & were familiar with some of the customs!

The sake was very good, sweet & smooth. We were given several vinegar-based side dishes which we weren’t familiar with. One was a jellied seaweed, which even my western palate enjoyed! The sushi was all extremely good quality, with perfect texture & seasoning. Though we mostly had invertebrates (uni, squid, arkshell clam, etc.), which I do not generally prefer, even I could appreciate the subtle flavors expressed by the expert preparation. The anago was particularly delicious! Melt-in-your-mouth texture & only a lightly sweet seasoning. It was all clearly sourced locally & fresh. The miso soup was also exquisite!

It was a wonderful experience getting to watch the chef prepare the sushi right in front of us. We were the only customers late on a Monday evening & it definitely felt as though we were being served by a family member in their own kitchen.

Overall it was a fantastic experience that I was happy to be able to share with my visiting relatives. The price might catch you off-guard, if you have not had omakase before. It is definitely for special occasions! But very much worth the expense.

Very high quality Edo-mae sushi.

Best of my life. I have been there 3 times over 2 Tokyo visits.

Perfection

The fish preparation is excellent, and the sushi is a bit imperfect from time to time as it is shapeless or scattered, but it is still a sushi worth eating.