First trip back to Yoshizumi after last Japan trip was a week or two ago, it’s always fun to go back to your local sushi joint after going to Japan to better get a feel of the choices they make and their presentation style versus what’s on offer in Japan.
Yoshizumi’s still great and I love the rustic style with higher end preparations driven by Yoshi’s genuine fandom of sushi. It’s sort of like reading an Italo Calvino novel where you can feel how much this dude loves his craft and how seeps into his work.
Courses were:
Tsumami:
1. Mozuku, same as a previous write up and has been the standard for the last few visits
2. Sashimi plate – fukuei tennen buri, kanagawa kannuki and hokkaido tsubugai. The buri was pretty good – despite the colour I felt it was bled well, kannuki was alright and I enjoyed the tsubugai quite a bit
3. Yaitohata shabu shabu with momoji oroshi, ponzu, ichimi. Big and meaty, was really quite nice – I’ve been here a lot but oddly never had any of these shabu shabu options (granted with these I always worry how much the flavour sort of drains into the liquid)
4. Toyoma Meiji maguro – belly (otoro and chutoro) grilled, akami as zuke. Really quite good, Meiji maguro started up again recently and this prep was a fun tasting
5. Shirako zuke, musenshi shirako from raosu – were kinda nearing the end of these so portion was a bit small. I think you really need a larger shirako for this prep to come into its own but it’s still good, if a bit overly strong this time
6. Gomesaba bozushi always very good here – size and fat was great. I prefer the matsuwa masaba they’ll do later in the year but still great
7. Ankimo, this one was good not great. Just a little worse than his usual offering
8. Aburabozu misoyaki, loved it – everything I want misoyaki fish to be and taste was a pretty strong opening before the next nigiri
Nigiri:
1.Tennen kawahagi, very nice – bit much nikiri but excellent otherwise. Very fatty and strong tasting opening to start the nigiri
2. Tsuri Kinmedai from Katsuura, wonderful texture – great with his sour-sweet punchy shari
3. Sawara matsuemaezuke, excellent as always if a bit weaker than usual
4. Chutoro, Oma maguro from haranaka – excellent, lingered in a way I really enjoyed – was almost sad to see it go lmao
5. Sumi ika, nice and lightly sweet. Good texture
Sumi ika geso, smaller portion of this than usual
6. Sekami zuke, oma. Good not great
7. Akamutsu, good first flash but then disappeared w a lingering burnt end. Not the best version I’ve had here
8. Kohada, excellent – a bit more salinity than Im used to but it worked really nicely
9. Bafun uni gunkan, really good
10. Shirayaki Anago topped with tsume and sansho. Great I prefer kansai style anago but this had some of that crispyness while still being fluffy
Finishers
11. Torotaku maki, great as always. I’ll admit while I like Kanpyo maki/other classic maki I still prefer the glitzy maki like these – they got more popular for a reason :p
12. Tamago
Extras:
1. Meiji maguro tsumami x2, great as before – honestly even a little better as I felt the sumibiyaki cook was more even
1. Iwashi with yakumo, very good
1. Kasugo, good not great – I just keep comparing these to takemoto
1. Sawara matsuemaezuke, the same great but not the best version I’ve had here – this one’s texture was more my preference. Higher fat sawara have a tendency to either be the like type of supple and rich version that I like or the crumbly and kinda pasty version that I don’t – I think both are driven by the fat content but modulated by prep
1. Ankimo kyuri temaki, very good – kyuri was a nice brightness that helped the ankimo shine a little better
1. Kawahagi x2 as great as before
1 Comment
First trip back to Yoshizumi after last Japan trip was a week or two ago, it’s always fun to go back to your local sushi joint after going to Japan to better get a feel of the choices they make and their presentation style versus what’s on offer in Japan.
Yoshizumi’s still great and I love the rustic style with higher end preparations driven by Yoshi’s genuine fandom of sushi. It’s sort of like reading an Italo Calvino novel where you can feel how much this dude loves his craft and how seeps into his work.
Courses were:
Tsumami:
1. Mozuku, same as a previous write up and has been the standard for the last few visits
2. Sashimi plate – fukuei tennen buri, kanagawa kannuki and hokkaido tsubugai. The buri was pretty good – despite the colour I felt it was bled well, kannuki was alright and I enjoyed the tsubugai quite a bit
3. Yaitohata shabu shabu with momoji oroshi, ponzu, ichimi. Big and meaty, was really quite nice – I’ve been here a lot but oddly never had any of these shabu shabu options (granted with these I always worry how much the flavour sort of drains into the liquid)
4. Toyoma Meiji maguro – belly (otoro and chutoro) grilled, akami as zuke. Really quite good, Meiji maguro started up again recently and this prep was a fun tasting
5. Shirako zuke, musenshi shirako from raosu – were kinda nearing the end of these so portion was a bit small. I think you really need a larger shirako for this prep to come into its own but it’s still good, if a bit overly strong this time
6. Gomesaba bozushi always very good here – size and fat was great. I prefer the matsuwa masaba they’ll do later in the year but still great
7. Ankimo, this one was good not great. Just a little worse than his usual offering
8. Aburabozu misoyaki, loved it – everything I want misoyaki fish to be and taste was a pretty strong opening before the next nigiri
Nigiri:
1.Tennen kawahagi, very nice – bit much nikiri but excellent otherwise. Very fatty and strong tasting opening to start the nigiri
2. Tsuri Kinmedai from Katsuura, wonderful texture – great with his sour-sweet punchy shari
3. Sawara matsuemaezuke, excellent as always if a bit weaker than usual
4. Chutoro, Oma maguro from haranaka – excellent, lingered in a way I really enjoyed – was almost sad to see it go lmao
5. Sumi ika, nice and lightly sweet. Good texture
Sumi ika geso, smaller portion of this than usual
6. Sekami zuke, oma. Good not great
7. Akamutsu, good first flash but then disappeared w a lingering burnt end. Not the best version I’ve had here
8. Kohada, excellent – a bit more salinity than Im used to but it worked really nicely
9. Bafun uni gunkan, really good
10. Shirayaki Anago topped with tsume and sansho. Great I prefer kansai style anago but this had some of that crispyness while still being fluffy
Finishers
11. Torotaku maki, great as always. I’ll admit while I like Kanpyo maki/other classic maki I still prefer the glitzy maki like these – they got more popular for a reason :p
12. Tamago
Extras:
1. Meiji maguro tsumami x2, great as before – honestly even a little better as I felt the sumibiyaki cook was more even
1. Iwashi with yakumo, very good
1. Kasugo, good not great – I just keep comparing these to takemoto
1. Sawara matsuemaezuke, the same great but not the best version I’ve had here – this one’s texture was more my preference. Higher fat sawara have a tendency to either be the like type of supple and rich version that I like or the crumbly and kinda pasty version that I don’t – I think both are driven by the fat content but modulated by prep
1. Ankimo kyuri temaki, very good – kyuri was a nice brightness that helped the ankimo shine a little better
1. Kawahagi x2 as great as before