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I was over at Sushi Azabu, a branch of the Michelin starred New York based sushi restaurant located at The Table at Isetan The Japan Store… Headed by Chef Toshihide Terado who comes from Hiroshima, and who has spent 6 years in the actual Sushi Azabu New York,and a few years in Nagoya, Japan, this restaurant serves traditional Edo-mae (Tokyo-style) sushi hand made from fresh-from-Japan fishes…

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I was there with two friends, Leoniel, who is a chef and also AJ, a travel blogger… and we were seated in front of the counter where we had a mesmerizing time watching Chef Toshihide Terado prepare his dishes.

You can select from one of three types of courses; Koi, Azabu and the chef’s specialty choice (omakase)for your dining pleasure… The Koi is just priced at RM120 for an appetiser, 10 pieces of nigiri sushi and miso soup. For the Azabu course, it’s RM220 for an appetiser, two types of sashimi, chawan mushi, palate cleanser, seven pieces of nigiri sushi, maki mono, miso soup and dessert. The omakase which is also known as the Chef’s speciality will be served at the discretion of the chef is RM420.

Or alternatively, you can also choose to dine ala carte choosing from nigiri sushi choices of bluefin tuna, scallop to sea urchins.

The prices range from RM6 for the egg (tamago) to RM50 for the sea urchin or the prized tuna belly.

There is also a selection of cold and hot appetisers. This includes items like sweet miso marinated black cod, avocado with sea urchin and stewed swordfish.

The Sushi Azabu is a 40-seater restaurant… but I would say the best seat have to be at the counter… as you can watch the chefs create your food right in front of you… and perhaps even admire the good looking Japanese Chefs… heheheh…

For our Appetizer , we had the Ohitashi which consisted of Spinach, Enoki Mushroom and some seasoning that made it pretty refreshing and a pleasant surprise on the tastebuds…

Then we had 3 kinds of Sashimi – Saba (mackerel) Shiimaji (stripe jack) and Chitoro (medium fatty tuna) that came in a cute plate.. these sashimi were all delicately seasoned, fresh and fully packed with natural flavours from the fish.

The Chawanmushi came served piping hot, just the way I love it, and it was perfect… so silky smooth, the steamed egg custard came with some white fish meat and mitsuba leaf pieces. I could almost get an orgasm just eating this.. but ok.. not gonna be so crude..

Our fourth dish was the Grilled Spanish Mackerel came next, served with a pickled ginger root. I liked this simple yet well seasoned traditional dish but Leoniel seemed to find it a bit too dry…

My fifth dish was errr…. Some Stewed Kim Mei Dai Kama (Golden Eye Snapper Fish Cheek) . Ok, this dish did kinda catch me and my companions by surprise as I think we did not quite consider eating fish cheeks served with some French beans and we were kind of toying around with the prettily coloured dish wondering where to start and how it would taste… It came with some gravy since it was stewed, but it was really very delicious, and there wasn’t any small bones to poke my mouth… I was kind of disappointed that I finished it and would have loved more…

Then came some Hotaru Ika as a Refreshener before we started on the main dish,it was some baby squid served with some Japanese Mustard. I am not quite a fan of wasabi, to tell the truth and the Japanese Mustard had wasabi blended in it… but you know what.. it was actually very nice…

The main dish was of course, hand crafted sushi, hand made right in front of our eyes by Chef Torahide Terado…

He placed a small sushi stone plate in front of the counter with some ginger and proceeded to put one by one of the sushi on the plate, but since Leoniel and AJ seemed to be waiting for more sushi, and did not touch theirs, the chef took back their sushi and made them a whole set on a bigger plate….

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I opted to go with what the chef decided to serve me, and it was one sushi at a time… I had some Kim Mei Dai (Golden Eye Snapper) , Chutoro (tuna) , Kasugo (Sea Bream), Toro Maki (Tuna Belly), Aji (silverback), White Shrimp, Shiro, Ikura(salmon roe)   and the exclusive Uni (Sea Urchin) which is priced at RM50….

One thing about these nigiri sushi is it is just perfect to be eaten just like this, since the chef will have made his sushi with a tiny pinch of wasabi and brushed on some soya sauce on each piece as he deem appropriate, and even add some lime or yuzu bits if necessary…

I enjoyed my nigiri sushi while tucking into slices of gari or sweet pickled ginger to kind of cleaned our palate so we can enjoy the sushi better..

We had some piping hot Miso Soup served in the midst of enjoying the sushi….with seaweed and tofu inside it….

And wash the whole meal down with copious glasses of Green Tea and some very yummy Japanese Sorbet with Yuzu syrup and shaved fresh yuzu

Note –  Sushi Azabu is a pork free restaurant, but it is an establishment that serves alcohol and certain dishes may be using vinegar made with some rice wine or sake, so it is not suitable for the very staunch/fussy Muslims…

Thanks to ISETAN The Japan Store, Chef Sam Makoto Saito and Chef Toshihide Terado for having us.

Address-Sushi Azabu,The Table Level 4, ISETAN The Japan Store KL, Lot 10 Shopping Mall, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

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