Sukiyabashi Jiro

Not as good as I expected, but better than I thought. Not sure if that makes sense. Dined here on April 1^st 2016.
No, Jiro’s is not the HEAVENLY BEST SUSHI EVER experience that I expected, but is indeed one of the best sushi bar’s that I’ve been to. The rice has more vinegar than any other sushi bars so if you don’t like traditional sushi this might not be your thing. Out of the 20 pieces, 5 (tako, kohada, tamagoyaki, kuruma ebi, akagai) was the best that I’ve ever had. 10 pieces were as good as the best I’ve had at other sushi bars. 3 – 4 pieces were not as good/​a bit worse than the best that I’ve had elsewhere.
Yes, the atmosphere is intense, with nobody speaking and Jiro just looking down solemnly at his sushi. Yes, getting a reservation with Jiro himself is very hard. But overall, it’s still the best sushi omakase I’ve had, granted I have not been to other famous establishments such as Yoshitake/​Mizutani etc in Tokyo.
P.S Nakazawa, how can you spend 10 years learning to make tamago and still have it taste 10x worse than what I had at Jiro’s?

This has been on my list of places to eat for a while. I was very disappointed. Having friends and sushi chefs forewarn me of the experience is not great and don’t expect too much because you’re in and out in 30 minutes. I was already prepared, or so I thought I was. I had indigestion while eating the sushi. Every time I picked up a piece of sushi another one would miraculously appear. I normally eat fast but this was a bit too extreme. I honestly felt like throwing up.
Onto the sushi– all would’ve been forgiven if the sushi was out of this world. But this was clearly not the case. The sushi was overpowered by vinegar. At one point he put too much wasabi and I started tearing! When he served the eel he put way too much sauce and I couldn’t taste it.
When I finished eating the staff basically rushed me out so they can serve the next guest. Can you believe paying $ 325 and being rushed out in literally 30 minutes? Plus Jiro was NOT going to take a picture with me. The staff told me he was too busy and to come back an hour later. He MAYBE will take one with me. I just got lucky because another group finished and he finally agreed to take one with me.
Tip: If you’re not Japanese than he won’t even acknowledge you. It’s a waste of money. Go elsewhere. They’re all about making money and not about quality. Michelin should reconsider of taking their star away.

good
すごくおいしいです。

It’s absurdly famous, and they know it. The sushi is absurdly good, and they know it. Edo-​Style sushi, which is Jiro Ono’s and Yoshikazu Ono’s (the eldest son from the movie) focus, is intentionally a wordless and fast-​eating meal style. The restaurant’s tirelessly high quality standards for their fish supply (from a dealer named Fujita, who is the Kobe Bryant of fish-​sellers at Tsujiki Market) and exhausting daily preparation routines really pay off. The food will certainly not disappoint you.
That being said, I wouldn’t go back. Yoshikazu treated me (an American) very differently from other diners nearby, and the restaurant dropped the ball on some pretty basic logistical details. I witnessed Yoshikazu publicly yell at one of his underlings, an utterly unheard-​of behavior in Japan in general and at a high-​end restaurant in particular.
The sushi, like I said, was utterly incredible. Here’s a dorky play-​by-​play if you’re interested:

When I was able to secure a reservation 6 weeks ago I was so excited. Out of all the 12 Michelin starred restaurants I had scheduled on this trip this is the one I was most looking forward to. I knew there were strict rules that I had to follow: do not be late, wear a collar shirt (they mean it — they nearly rejected my friend who turned up with a sweater) and focus on the food and eat it as soon as it served as the quality of the sushi degrades within minutes (meaning no pictures of the food).
Now after having swallowed 20 sushis in 20 minutes I felt a big need to debrief with my friend and decide whether we enjoyed it and wanted to go back. Both of us were happy we went there and neither of us want to go back. Personally I even came to the sad conclusion that I did not enjoy it.
The fish was beautiful both in look and in taste; I wished I was able to take pictures. The most memorable ones were the otoro which melted in my mouth, the uni which tasted the smoothest and nicest I ever had. I liked the octopus although I was expecting it to be softer based on the movie. The clam was good too. The shrimp was nice as well. All of them were served slightly warm.
The rice as reported by everyone else has a higher vinegar content. It was good and fluffier than most although some of my pieces were falling apart.

Rubbish !
Huge pieces of mediocre sushi.
Fixed menu no sashimi.
Extremely expensive as most of the menu consists of cheap stuff like egg, regular tuna, squid etc.
Very vinegary, overpowering by the end of the meal.
Sushi should be composed by you in the order you feel like with small delicate prices that fit nicely in your mouth in one bite.
If you randomly walked in to any sushi place in Tokyo you would get better sushi than this 50% of the time and at a fraction of the cost.
20 – 25 minute meal, relentless.
If you never had sushi in Japan before or don’t know what to order perhaps you might think this is good?
It’s not. It’s a tourist trap. Nothing is special by Tokyo standards apart from the price.

To start, let me try to advise you on reservations. It seems that a few people on Unilocal utilized the concierge at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo to assist, and this is what we did. If you find the Park Hyatt to be pricey for your taste, one strategy is to apply for a Hyatt credit card (not a plug, hear me out). Yes, there is an annual fee, but signing up grants you two free nights at any Hyatt establishment in the world. Even the Park Hyatt. To get your free nights, you have to spend $ 1,000 within the first three months; just buy your plane ticket with the card and there you go. We also had the added benefit of being in Japan as May turned into June, so we had two chances to try and score the reservation. If you don’t know by now, reservations for any given month are taken on the first calendar day of the prior month. So for reservations on any date in May, they’re taken on April 1. For June, they’re taken on May 1, and so on. We did not have luck in May, but did snag a June lunch reservation. Our two-​week trip to Japan started in Tokyo, traversed through the south to Hiroshima (and Rabbit Island!), then back to Tokyo. You might want to consider this to double your chances. Others seemed to have luck with Visa Signature concierge, but I did not. Just allow yourself enough time to find the restaurant, as you don’t want to miss a reservation if you manage to get it. Anyhow…
I likely cannot state what other solid reviews of Sukiyabashi Jiro already have, other than to affirm the exquisiteness of the sushi and the dedication to the craft that is evident as you partake in the experience. It equates to around $ 330 USD. If you are one of those who don’t have the palate or interest in what Jiro is offering, there’s no sense in wasting your time or money (don’t go just to say you went). If you’re interested in enhancing your experience even deeper, visit the Tsukiji Fish Market first (Jiro’s vendor, featured on ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi’). Jiro Ono was not present during our visit, but his son was.
Compared to other sushi establishments we tried (including Sushi Sho Masa, which I highly recommend), I truly find the meticulousness and the blends of the preparation here to be the best I’ll likely ever have. Some of the negative you have heard you may find true, depending on your expectations. We did not feel particularly «rushed», although you are served 20 pieces at a rate of about one per minute. Afterwards, you are moved to a table where you finish with melon. The tuna, gizzard shad, mackerel, and squid (among other pieces) are truly delectable and melt in your mouth. The unique vividness and acidity of the rice complements Jiro’s offerings superbly and further speaks to the craft. While I obviously had higher expectations than what you’d find in America, it still managed to exceed any expectations I had. I’d recommend skipping on the soy sauce or chopsticks and go with fingers-​only. We asked the host if Yoshikazu Ono would take a picture with us, which he politely did outside the entrance. I wouldn’t go so far as to say he is not personable, as he advised me not to pair a particular piece with soy sauce.
For half the price and double the food served, Sushi Sho Masa is also an outstanding choice. Our meal there lasted three hours, consisted of nearly 50 pieces, and chef Masa is extremely personable and thankful for your patronage. I will say that Jiro seems to have gained much fame because of the documentary and Obama’s visit there, and during research, we did keep running into the consensus that Jiro is (somewhat) overrated to the Japanese. But this should not discourage you. It’s an experience you won’t forget, but a trip to Japan (particularly Jiro) will ruin your appetite for American sushi fare.

Here’s what you need to know: 20 courses. 22 bites of food. 20 minute meal, Oh, and a slice of melon at the end… Pure sushi perfection! 3 Michelin stars (if you care about that stuff given its politics) is well deserved. You don’t get to choose the fish. It is Omakase (chef’s set course menu).
It takes months of coordination and preparation to get a reservation on the day — or even week — of your choosing, IF you are one of the lucky ones. In my case, the hotel I stayed at during my trip to Tokyo (Park Hyatt) was able to get it done. The reservations are taken on the 1^st of each month for the following month only, so I got my confirmation on Dec 1^st for a mid-​Jan date. In a recent change, the restaurant now retains multiple staff who speak good English to converse with the multitude of nationalities represented by their diners /​patrons on a daily basis.
I prepared, researched, learned about sushi to get ready for this meal, and it did not disappoint. While I would not say that each piece of sushi I had was life altering or game changing, many of their offering are worthy of that highest level of praise. So much so that I will savor that feeling and taste of those morsels for years to come; namely, the uni (sea urchin), unagi (eel), the maguro (regular tuna) and chutoro (medium fat tuna from the upper belly), the tako (octopus) with salt on top, and the tamago (egg that looks and tastes like cake). I’ve eaten all of this same fish many times before at other sushi restaurants but NOTHING is at this level of purity and depth of flavor, or at this superior level of quality. The wasabi is the real deal — prepared with authentic «wasabi» root scrubbed over a shark-​fin board, and is perfectly proportioned for each piece of fish. The rice is excellent and very vinegary; I absolutely love the big elegant bucket of rice Jiro-​San and his son Yoshikuza-​San have between them as they prepare sushi in perfect symphony.
They do keep a small bowl of soy sauce next to each diner but I didn’t go near it for fear of overpowering the taste of any of the fish. If you absolutely must, then never dip the rice in soy, only the fish side.
Jiro-​San, who has been declared a national treasure by the country and is 94 years old, is understandably slower than his son in preparing the sushi. However, he is quiet, laser focused, meticulous, and efficient in his preparation of each and every piece of fish. He served us the first piece of sushi (as if to give his personal touch and initiate out meal) and the rest of our dinner was served by Yoshikuza-​San since we were seated in front of him. Jiro-​San served 4 patrons simultaneously who were seated around him.
We even took pictures outside the restaurant with Jiro-​San and Yoshikazu-​San. However, you have to be aware that there is absolutely no taking pictures of the food or preparation allowed inside… at all. The restaurant does give you a souvenir napkin and menu (simple folded paper that is date stamped) to take home with you.
$ 300 per person (Jan 2016) — that’s $ 15/​minute — and worth every penny :) I almost regret eating as fast as I did, even though I’m sure Yoshikazu-​San loved it since he was efficient in his preparation and served us at the exact desired temperature. But perhaps another 5 minutes at the counter to stretch the meal to 25 minutes would’ve been great ;)

I am an avid sushi fan and approched this restaurant thinking that it would not blow me away in so many respects read my full in depth review
The abridged version is that I was truly impressed by the consistency of taste, sharp acidic rice to bring out the flavor identity of the fish, toasted nori, and some of the best examples of sushi pieces I have tasted to date (boiled prawn, aji jack mackerel, salmon roe ikura, tamago). I liked that there were no crazy sauces or garnishes or over preparation. It is really just about the flavor of the fish. This was definitely an experience worth the trip to Japan. I was charged 35,100 JPY per person in December 2015.

Probably the best sushi I’ve ever had. It’s 20 courses in a small sushi bar that you can only get into if you have the local hookups or stay at a very nice hotel like the Park Hyatt where they can make the reservation for you.
Was the sushi executed perfectly? Yes.
Was the menu full of interesting and also familiar seafood? Yes.
Was each item of sushi the best of that type of seafood I’ve ever had? Yes.
Was it expensive (especially factoring you basically have to eat it in 20 – 30 minutes)? Yes.
Was it a relaxing/​fun meal? No.
Am I glad I went? Yes.
You pretty much come here to see what the national living treasure of Japan can do and the skill he has perfected. There’s no doubt when you’re eating here you’re experiencing something amazing but you’re also (at least as a first-​timer) probably going to be a nervous wreck and feeling pressured to eat fast (which you do sort of need to do). Once you complete the sushi, they move you to a table for green tea and a delicious melon — then you don’t have to really rush but no one really lingers.
Some reviewers have commented that the rice is more vinegary than what they were used to and I’d agree but it’s delicious. Also, I was surprised by the tamago at the end (which if you saw the documentary, some poor guy had to spend like 10 years mastering) which ended up almost like a cake in consistency and taste versus eggy.
They seemed to have become more western friendly as they now have at least one apprentice who speaks conversational English and they take credit card.
I definitely recommend the place as a bucket list sort of experience. I’m sure regulars here are a little more relaxed here and can enjoy themselves a little more and they seem to get off menu items. For tourists, it’s a worthwhile, albeit short, experience.

If you are sushi connoisseur and wants to experience sushi experience to the next level, go eat here! For me, It is life altering experience! I thought the movie was just overblown dreamy camera trick, but it is much much more than that. Jiro san, was the one that serving me at that time along side Yoshikazu.
Reservation. If you live in Tokyo, best to hand in 15 000 yen reservation holding fee, and come in person 3 – 4 weeks in advanced to book it.
Myself, I don’t live in Tokyo, and I don’t speak Japanese. So calling your amex concierge, or visa signature is your best bet. I did mine 2 months in advanced and got a lunch time slot.
The food. the 20 maestro pieces comes as a symphony of taste. I notice that the vinegar are much more pronounced than the other sushi. However I also notice that the vinegar helps to elevate the flavor of the fish. The acidity embedded in the shari helps bring natural sweetness of the fish. It’s been almost 2.5 years since I ate there, yet I still remember the sensational experience in my tongue, how every fish touch it and start to dance in my mouth. from the softness of the halibut, to the complex flavor of tuna, to the melt in my mouth of OTorro, and the snappiness of the squid and octopus… ah I am smiling just to be able to recall of them all in my memories.
I came out as a different man. Thanks Jiro Ono. I am seeing the beauty in your creation.
20 minutes flat 20 sushi + super sweet melon at the end. Life is beautiful!

Is ti expensive? Yes. Is it too fast? Yes. But is it perhaps the most exquisite, quite frankly best sushi you will have in your life? Heck yes.
20 pieces in 25 minutes for lunch on our first day in Tokyo and Japan. And served directly by the master himself! A surreal and delicious experience. Each piece was perfect, and watching Jiro was like watching a ballet performance — beautiful movements, always the same, complete efficiency. And he smiled at me when we sat down, which I did not expect either.
Thanks to the Park Hyatt for making the reservation for my husband and I — this is a gapped approach since the reservations are made on the first of the month for all of the following month, and I think it’s better if someone who can speak Japanese calls.
I will long be dreaming of the sushi Jiro made my husband and me.

Let me keep this short and sweet. Best sushi I ever had. Timing of sushi on point. Great service. I was so excited that perhaps it was first time I was ever nervous in a restaurant. Jiro personally served us and I felt so honoured. Lived up to the hype. Thank you Jiro!

It has always been my dream to dine here at Jiro’s and this review is from March 2014 after I have been to Sushi Nakazawa in NYC (one of jiro’s apprenteices)
of course only omakase = 20-​course meal chef selection
we got 19 piece of sushi (included tamako yaki = egg)
and 1 piece of melon for dessert
I also asked if I could take photos and were told that photos of food are allowed but not the photos of the shop or the chefs
without further notice, the first piece of nigiri sushi was placed on my plate
it was hirame (flat fish) …Hirame elsewhere would be all white but here it has small red stripes … Jiro also brushed soy sauce on top and put wasabi in the nigiri already
a lot of people find the rice here to be «too sour» as he put vinegar in the rice but I found it to be just right! Although my friend elt that he put in too much of wasabi
the sushi was arranged in a way that allows right-​handed guests to grab it easily… I am left-​handed and Jiro (as in the movie) quickly noticed that and told his son and the apprentice that «the lady is left-​handed» — IMPRESSED … I did not get the same kind of treatment when I dined at Sushi Nakazawa (Nakazawa-​san seemed to ignore this fact but the waitress was attentive and later served tea from the other side)
Regarding the size of the nigiri — in the movie they mention that Jiro made sushi smaller for female customers in order to keep the pace even through out the course as ladies tend to eat slower than men? or maybe eat less? I did not realize any significant reduction in the portion of my sushi compared to my two male friends
next = Sumi-​ika or squid I found the wasabi for this piece to be «a lot» more than the amount I was always used to and it almost made me cry (but I had to force myself really hard not to let my teardrop fall lol) the squid was very chewy… totally love the texture
Next = 3 different kinds of Tuna
starting with the lean = AKAMI
again, it was marinated in soy sauce before being served to us so no need for soy sauce!
ちゅうとろ chuu toro
medium fatty tuna — a mix of the crunchy texture of the lean and the tender texture of the fatty tuna
one of the most anticipated piece of the night おおとろ — fatty tuna. the tuna melted in your mouth (well…it was marbled with fat: P)
my plate was constantly wiped by either the apprentice or the oldest son (Yoshikazu)
next up = kohada こはだ which tasted kind of like mackerel (saba) to me …
at this point, I started to eat wayyyy too fast for my friends to keep up with me and so I felt that the piece just got bigger and bigger (probably Jiro had realized that this lady ate faster than the other two men)…
Torigai = Cockle shell. plumpy and chewy …
tako = octopus. salted on top with wasabi underneath = perfect combination
Akagai = Arc Shell. it was chewy, yet soft enough for you to be able to bite it thru without having to put too much of th effort … (not like those chewy as squid or tako)
Aji あじ (horse mackerel) it was soft which greatly contrasted the texture of the former 3 pieces (chewy-​ish) and the meat was lean with trace of fat
Kuruma ebi (boiled prawn) … the prawn was sooooo huge
saba: IMO the most basic staple for Japanese cuisine but the saba here is different! It was fresh and the taste was rich … definitely a whole world apart from all the sabas i have eaten my whole life
hamaguri (clam shell): back to crunchy and chewy texture once again… brushed with soy sauce on top
iwashi (sardine) this fresh iwashi were very tasty.
UNI!!! (sea urchin) Jiro’s uni tasted rich, fresh yet no trace of the «fishy» smell. The nori was thin, crisp and delicate… a final product of hours of nori sheet fanning over a coal fire
Kobashira (baby scallop) the scallops were sweet, crispy wrapped in the perfectly roasted nori
next up = salmon roe (ikura). everything was perfect, the roe was so fresh and HUGEEEEEEEEE
Anago (sea eel) it was so soft and tender … the sauce was not overly sweet which was great because sometimes chefs tend to put on too much sauce and it takes away the taste of the eel itself.
tamago: the texture was just right… spongy like a sponge cake
after almost half an hour– we had finished 19 pieces of sushi/​nigiri
Dessert:
The melon was brought out and it was the juiciest melon I had ever had in my life…
it seems like most of the customers are actually foreigners! and Jiro + his son are not xenophobic as some people claim. If you come out as an ignorant «gaijin» then they would DEFINITELY treat you horribly but if you behave yourself and be nice like we did heart emoticon … then Jiro and Yoshikazu are actually very nice. even though we are young enough to be their grandchildren (or even great-​grand kids), they still treat us with the same kind of respect they give to other «grown up» (aka middle-​aged and above) customers.

Unfortunately by the time I confirmed my Japan trip, Jiro’s was already booked up. (Pro tip: If you aren’t staying at a hotel, credit card concierges can also do restaurant reservations!) But that didn’t stop me from stopping by!!! It’s literally located in an exit at the Ginza subway station (which is huge). By the time you reach the Starbucks — you’re pretty close. When you find the exit, there are double doors that take you into this fancy hallway with restaurants — in front of you is the acclaimed Sukiyabashi Jiro.
There is a door that goes from the walkway to the kitchen… It was slightly ajar… I saw Jiro’s oldest son having a late lunch with the kitchen staff. I felt a little faint from the star power. I was tempted to knock and be like «sumimasen, can I get a picture? «but my companion cleverly steered me back into Ginza station…

I nabbed a reservation here through my credit card concierge service… who knew those things actually worked? Anyways, I’m not really sure how to rate this properly. The night we dined, the set menu was ¥33,200 per person which is a lot of money. Of the 19 pieces on the menu I would only re-​order 9 if I went to an a la carte place. So I paid top dollar for a lot of stuff I don’t really like. For example, I have no doubt that the boiled clam I got was of the highest quality in the world and prepared by the master. But I’m just not a fan of clam. I ate it, it was ok. I would rather allocate my dollars to something else like toro. So it’s the pitfall of an omikase menu and not a fault of Jiro, exactly.
On the positive side, the tuna trio, unagi, amberjack, needlefish and uni were just otherworldly good. I don’t even like uni under normal circumstances but it was insane how good it was here.
Is it worth it? Well I am glad I went once but I probably won’t return. I’m honestly intimidated by jiro though because he is so well respected that maybe my review says more about me than it does about the restaurant. I consider myself to be a discerning sushi eater but maybe I’m more of an amateur than I thought…

We had a wonderful dinner with Jiro. Every piece of sushi was divine. Alongside drinking sake… perfect. I’ll never forget this experience. As I had previously watched the documentary, sitting at the sushi bar felt like we had somehow been transported into the movie. Watching him and his son make the sushi felt like some sort of 3D version of the film! Amazing.
Jiro and his son were extremely kind. It really seemed like they love to make sushi. After the meal, we all took photos together and spoke a bit with Jiro but not for too long since they were closing up for the night. It seems they only opened up that evening for dinner just for our small group. Wow.
It was about 43,000 yen per person. Sounds about right for a lifetime experience.
Also they gave us towels with the restaurant name on them as omiyage. :) So kind!

Ah, the famous Jiro, of the documentary, with the Obamas, and the massive internet hype. Somehow our hotel concierge got us in for lunch. But I’m gonna be bold here and say don’t be upset if you can’t get in. Really. I know it’s easy for me to say having experienced it myself, but I walked out thinking it really wasn’t worth the hype.
They have an 18 piece omakase, and they present the menu as a guide at the beginning. They ask if you have any restrictions/​preferences– personally I literally just can’t do a hot stinky piece of eel at the end of a long meal– so I said that and they gave it to me anyway. Meh.
For most of the time we were only two of three people at the much bigger counter. This allowed Jiro to serve us at lightning speed, and of course you have to eat each piece as it comes out because the temperature is precisely controlled. We had a very fat trip before that and I have a small appetite to begin with, so imagine. 18 pieces. 20 minutes. Anxiety. It was rough. Life is hard.
The fish wasn’t the best we had the whole trip. It was hard to get past that and recognize the taste of the rice, the artfulness, which was all quite good.
I will say I’m glad i got to experience it, and Jiro even took a picture with us at the end (yeah, we went there). It was not my favorite of the trip.

«Are you Obama’s Family?», asked the taxi driver, grinning ear to ear. He was reveling in his ability to make a joke in English. I obligingly smiled, then started really laughing. I had just given the name of my destination; Sukiyabashi Jiro. President Obama, along with the Prime Minister of Japan; Shinzo Abe, had recently dined here. It was fresh in everyone’s mind.
Like most Americans, I was made aware of the restaurant when Jiro Dreams of Sushi hit theaters back in 2011. I’m a fan of excellent food, and while not a true sushi connoisseur, I made a mental note to eventually visit Japan with the sole purpose of eating at Sukiyabashi Jiro. Getting reservations sounded difficult, but not impossible. I’m all about challenges, and I was ready to finally make it happen.
My strategy was to get a concierge to make the reservation for me, since you need to «know someone» in Japan. I used Hilton Honors points to make a speculative booking at the Conrad Tokyo for one night, then contacted the Conrad Concierge and got them on board with my plan. «I’ll eat anything, will take any time slot, and would prefer the original location». Sukiyabashi Jiro only accepts reservations on the first day of each month, and books the entire month that day. The concierge move was successful, and I ended up with a lunch reservation. Original location. I was advised not to wear any «perfume». The price was 30,000¥, with cancellation fees of 15,000−30,000¥.
I immediately booked my trip around it.
On arrival, I was seated at the 10 seat sushi bar, along with 3 others. There was a sign out front, stating that they were at capacity for the day. I was given an extremely fucking hot towel for my hands. There really isn’t another way that I would prefer to describe the heat level. They do not screw around at Sukiyabashi Jiro, nor –I’m sure– are they able to feel the heat the same way my untrained, soft, candy-​assed American hands do. I applaud them.
I was then handed a meal-​specific menu for that day, and was asked if it contained anything which I would not eat. My immediate response was that I will eat everything.
The squid and the urchin were calling my name.
I ordered green tea, but immediately regretted not ordering Asahi, which I soon saw my fellow diners receive. Thankfully, that would be one of only two mistakes I would make during my visit.
Jiro’s son, Yoshikazu Ono made each piece for me. Early into the 19 courses, we did the squid. It was absolutely astounding. Each additional piece, just escalated in complimentary flavor during my journey. Tuna, followed by semi-​fatty tuna, and finally, straight-​up fatty tuna. The flavor was subtle, and complex; operating on several levels of taste. An umami-​tsunami, if you will. The rice was –as it should be– the centerpiece of the experience. The timing and delivery of every piece was planned with the same deliberation as every other facet of the preparation. I had high expectations, which were met, and slightly exceeded.
I’m a quick eater, and as such was very comfortable with the pace of the meal. Though it seems intimidating, I never felt uncomfortable in this environment. The menu was finished out with Tomago (egg sushi), which tied in wonderfully with the preceding urchin, salmon roe, and eel. I was then asked if there were any specific pieces which I would like to repeat. I opted for another squid, and semi-​fatty tuna, none of which came cheaply. I think heaven on earth could be surmised as eating your way into bankruptcy at Sukiyabashi Jiro.
Afterward, I was seated at one of their 3 tables, and given what appeared to be honeydew melon for dessert. Like everything else here, it was perfect. Ripe, sweet, and juicy. After finishing, the host approached and asked if I would like to have a picture taken. After gently retrieving my jaw from the ground, I quickly agreed. Following him out the front door, I found Yoshikazu waiting for me. It was a pretty epic moment. We then bowed to each other, with my «arigato», and with a friendly wave, his «see you next time». I was a bit overwhelmed at this point, and began to make my way back up to the street level. totally. forgetting. to. pay (Mistake #2). It wasn’t a big deal, thankfully. A laugh was had, and we quickly settled up.
Final thoughts: I can’t say that Sukiyabashi Jiro was the best Sushi I’ve ever had. It would be an insult to compare it to the meager, landlocked food that I used to call Sushi. I’ll just stick with most honest statement I can conjure; it was the best meal I’ve experienced to date. All 25 minutes of it.

What an experience! There are a bunch of really good reviews already, so I’ll just say: go there but be prepared for one of the quickest meals of your life.