Sushi Mizutani

Wonderful restaurant… could not imagine sushi being better anywhere else in the world… the chef even offered us some of his personal sake and whisky after our meal… highly recommended… would love to go back one day

Mizutani. It would be my first two Michelin star rated restaurant and first sushi bar in Tokyo. I was ecstatic at the opportunity to eat from one of the world’s best sushi masters. As a foodie, I was ready for my mind to be completely blown. Perhaps my bar was set too high but I left the meal questioning myself and tried to justify the experience to myself and friends.
Did I know food? What is good sushi? Does overall consistency trump the sublime? What was I missing?
If Mizutani was one of the best sushi bars in the world, then you can probably find better sushi without traveling to Tokyo. I was very disappointed.
If you’re reading this review, you’ve probably had damn good sushi before. And if I asked you for your favorite from one of those experiences, you might say o-​toro (fatty tuna) as a mind-​gasm of deliciousness.
Imagine o-​toro sushi was a superstar (Stephen Curry, Wayne Gretzky for instance) on a sports team. You’d imagine that at a two michelin star rated restaurant, that the entire team would consists of the greatest players on earth only bested by a 3-​Michelin star restaurant.
By that analogy, Mizutani was a team without superstars. I left the restaurant wondering how this could possibly be rated two Michelin stars. The uni was good, but wasn’t any better than other uni I’ve had-​in fact the seaweed could’ve been roasted more to establish better contrast.
There weren’t any pieces that were truly sublime. Every piece had great balance and texture but nothing stood out. I’ve had many preparations of sushi rice and fish, and watched the technique of many chefs. And over the course of a 2-​hour meal, I wasn’t convinced nor could I find anything that would differentiate Mizutani from other sushi chefs besides the fact he was in Tokyo and had access to the best fish in the world.
Perhaps it was a bad night, but especially if you don’t speak Japanese, your money can be better spent elsewhere.
Notes:
— Credit cards aren’t accepted, so bring cash.
— Pictures are not allowed.
— My faith in Tokyo sushi bars was restored the next evening at another spot.

Loved it. One of the best in Japan.

Quite simply the best sushi I ever had — it is a truly unique experience I would recommend to anyone !
However, I would question the price (min. 20k Yen per person) and the michelin stars because 1. There is little/​no creativity 2. Little effort is put into the set up or the service (it would be unacceptable for any michelin star restaurant in other countries to have no staff who can speak english — why is it OK in Japan?)
Either way, go for it if you can afford it — the sushi are awesome and the experience… truly Japanese !

Once in a lifetime…
I had the honor of dining with one of the world’s most renowned Sushi chefs in the birthplace of sushi with the master Mizutani san. As others might have mentioned, this is a notoriously difficult Michelin starred resturant to secure a reservation at. Double that if you’re a Gaijin and triple that if you don’t speak Japenese. Needless to say the cards were stacked against us but luckily our hotel concierge managed to secure 2 seats at the 10 person sushi bar where Mizutani san works his magic on the 9^th floor of this Ginza midrise.
We arrived promptly at 7pm, 6:58 to be exact. We took time in the ride over to study up on our Japanese as Mizutani san speaks little to no English, as is the case with his staff. He is the one and only chef. He has 2 or 3 other assistance who stand in waiting to deliver more rice, new fish, or any other command the master might request. Mrs. Mizutani also works along side her husband making sure guests feel right at home. We had heard that Mizutani was not fond of foreigners so we made sure to be on our best behavior. Beyond the few words in Japenese we were prepared to speak, we reminded ourselves no chop sticks, no soy sauce, no wasabi. We also decided no alcohol and to drink green tea which compliments all japenese cuisine well. Being this was my 35^th bday we dressed up for the occasion. All of which did not go unrecognized by Mizutani as he seemed very appreciative that we brought out best foot forward.
As we sat and waited, a Japanese couple, a lone Japanese gentleman and a Canadian couple joined us. The first question Mizutani asked is «Sushi or Sashimi and sushi?» We elected for just Sushi as this was our 3^rd such sushi meal in this trip and we decided to take the cheap route at ¥20,000/pp. Sashimi and sushi is ¥30,000/pp. The meal consisted of 14 of the freshest, best cut, highest quality fish Ive ever tasted. My favs were the squid, otoro and uni. Mizutani is known for his sushi rice and it’s the best I’ve ever had. He only has his assistant bring a small amount of rice at a time. Just enough to complete each round then he calls for more. The rice is sweet, light vinegary, fluffy and warm. The meal was quite at first but slowly I began to ask «Kono?» «Korei o-​toro?» Which Mizutani san seemed to thoroughly enjoy my effort and even more my ability to recognize the fish. As the meal progressed, the Canadian couple had not studied up in sushi etiquette and this was our saving grace as they unintentionally made us look better lol! When the gentleman tried to poor soy sauce and Mizutani san said «No Soy sauce!» in a stern voice I quickly turned to my Western counterpart and gave him a quick knowledge transfer of the dos and don’ts, Mizutani san Thanked me! I began playing interpreter with my limited Japanese vocabulary but high sushi IQ And began giving the names of the fish in English after confirming with Mizutani san in Japanese. He seemed to enjoy this and it was very much the highlight of our meal.
The meal lasted around an hour. He serves the fish quickly and kind if stank eyes you if you aren’t prompt with print it down. Our total for 2 was ¥42 800. Do roughly $ 400. Well worth the once in a lifetime experience. Oh and no pictures allowed but Mizutani san was kind enough to come out and take 2 pictures with us, and invited us back as he stated «welcome anytime!» As he walked us to the elevator.
Arigoto Gozaimas!

Sushi Mizutani is an absolutely amazing place.
Not only was itamae Mizutani incredibly friendly, his wife was very cordial as well. Sure, there is a language barrier, but everyone makes the best of it.
Note: this is not the 15 minute meal you get at Jiro, even though the edo style is very similar. You will be seated for around 2 hours, even if you opt for just sushi as we did.
Looking back on it, I’m glad we didn’t opt for the tsunami course. It added 10,000 yen to the meal per person, and honestly, it really didn’t seem worth the extra cost.
Come here for the meal of a lifetime!

Visited on ⁴⁄₂₁. We started from Sushi (you have the option of starting from Tsumami/​Appetizers — recommend as I saw scallops and abalone!) and it was overall a very good experience. The taste is very comparable to Jiro and Harutaka, pace is good (~15 pieces in 1.5 hrs), and Mizutani-​san himself is easy going (again, limited English so it will be great if you can speak some Japanese). Price is cheaper compared to Jiro’s. Although they don’t allow photos so couldn’t save those memories.

We had ineffably amazing sushi at Mizutani. Would recommend it to anyone.

It was another night, another Michelin star sushi dinner for us at Mizutani. Ho hum. It wasn’t our favorite, but it wasn’t our least favorite. Mizutani features a restrained, old school edo style sashimi and sushi tasting. Apparently it was the easier of 2 – 3 star rezzies as we got it twice and had to drop one.
No they don’t speak alot of English, but they’re in Japan, not America. And not they’re not like Disney friendly, but they’re not rude either.
I was suprised for the quality and the size of the pieces– if you’ve had a fat trip or a small appetite you might be able to skip the sashimi and go right to the sushi. We started taking pics to remember but got shunned– do it subtly.

Although it was a (very) close call getting from Narita to our hotel in time, my wife and I just made it to Mizutani in time for our 7 PM reservation. We got it literally 1 minute late, and we had already missed out on a couple pieces — so almost certainly make sure to get here on time, or be ready to endure some hard looks (perhaps? As a tourist, I have no idea how tardiness is looked upon in Japan, but I would imagine not well, generally). Similar to Jiro, the atmosphere is sparse, with at most 10 seats at the sushi counter, with wonderfully smooth finishes on the sushi bar. Mizutani himself was very sociable with the other Japanese-​speaking parties at the bar, but he doesn’t speak any English himself (at least from telling us what was abalone), and his assistant at the bar speaks only a few words himself — so come armed with a few basic terms in Japanese if you’ll feel yourself needing to communicate at all.
Once the meal starts, though, you’ll be pretty much glued to the preparation of the fish. Given this had a bit more of a formal feel to it, I didn’t bother trying to take any pictures, but the fish was absolutely delicious, and, with it being our first sushi experience in Japan, set the bar for our sushi experiences in the U.S. much higher than where they used to be. We did the starter/​sashimi, and you knew you were onto something special when you take that first bite of flounder sashimi and discover just how delicious the fish here is. What really stood out at the beginning was the bounty of ikura that is placed in a bowl and just served to you — no rice or seaweed, just the roe by itself. Definitely the best roe I’ve ever had — a little bit sweeter than the kind that Jiro serves but still incredibly fresh. All of the sushi was pitch-​perfect, particularly the fish (e.g. shellfish, clam, scallop, squid) that are generally served way too tough in the U.S. but come out great here — massaged enough to being easier to chew, but maintaining texture for different mouthfeel, along with being sublime (especially the squid). The tuna was phenomenal as well; if anything, my only comment with regards to the o-​toro (which I have experienced elsewhere) is that the cut was not quite as firm as others, leaving fatty strands to bite through once the rich succulence of the tuna meat was gone. The anago was so fresh here, with none of the leathery texture that comes from eel that’s a bit older, and the tamago was executed to perfection — a tad bit better than Jiro’s, although both are phenomenal, in my opinion.
While you have the option of drinking during the meal (and a group of businessmen having dinner there were refilling on the sake plentifully during the meal), I find that enjoying the sushi without any distractions to the palate is the best way to go. We had some tea at the end to finish off the meal, but otherwise, we stuck with water throughout (which was dutifully refilled). After the meal, Mizutani came out and greeted us and thanked us for coming, as well as admonishing me to improve my Japanese (I think!). Even though we couldn’t communicate as much, it was a very pleasant experience, and he and his assistant are both very friendly people. If you’re looking to come here to snap pictures, this probably isn’t the sushi place to do it at — just come to savor each and every bite over the 2 hours here (which is a bit longer than some other sushi spots will allow you time-​wise) and take in the magnificent experience while it lasts. And don’t forget — cash ONLY here… don’t find yourself up a creek without the requisite amount of yen bills at the end of the meal.

Here you dine between Raiden and Fûten on each side of the sushi counter (reproductions of Kennin-ji’s gold screen).
Mizutani made me discover abalone liver and needle fish and if only for that I would go again. But of course everything else was delicious too. The tamago tasted almost like a sweet cake.
We did not feel rushed at all and Mizutani-​san was quite jovial, contrary to what we had been told.

Sushi Mizutani is the best sushi we’ve had ever, we love sushi. I’m delighted to be writing the first review for this gem. This place is well deserving of its 3 Michelin stars! Hachiro Mizutani served us in this intimate setting; the entire restaurant sits 10 people max. The Sushi and Sashimi was yummy. If you know good sushi and can find your way to Ginza in Tokyo, I promise you won’t be disappointed. Mizutani is meticulous in his preparation and presentation. When it comes to sushi, you cannot find a finer place to dine. Well worth the ¥¥¥. You will need to book weeks in advance.