Have “Hiroto Gawa” at “Kintaro Zushi” along Asakusa Senzoku Dori.

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Today’s report is about “Kintaro Zushi” on Asakusa Senzoku Dori.

On my first day of the new business year, I decided to go to “Kintaro Zushi” wishing many good things for the new year such as a pay raise and being able to enjoy eating-out more in weekends. I thought this sushi bar would bring me the luck.

To write this blog, I studied the outline of “Kintaro Zushi”.

It was established in 1924, and the building was burnt down in the Great Tokyo Air Raid in 1945.
They rebuilt the business, and they have kept emphasizing inheritance of the authentic Edomae-Zushi (Tokyo-style sushi) techniques since then. Such effort brought the first prize in the national sushi contest to Kintaro Zushi’s chefs for 36 years in a row since the first year. According to its web site, they have opened 18 sushi bars so far.

The nearest branch from my home is the main shop, but I went to a different branch in Senzoku Dori because I was by myself and wanted to go after 10 p.m. to avoid the crowded hours. The closing time of the main shop was only 11, and Senzoku Dori opened until later than that.

The time I entered was a little before 11.

There were 3 groups of customers even though it was late at night.

Of course, I took the counter. No one else to share.

I ordered a glass of beer first, and then read through the menu.

While I was reading the menu, many ideas appeared in my head; Does the first order at a sushi bar have to be a Sashimi plate, but wait, do I have enough money……Oh I remember that there was a character in “Oishinbo” (Japanese famous gourmet cartoon) who goes to have gizzard shad sushi in every spring……oh should I eat it then……?
And I reached the conclusion.

Shiokara (salted squids, fish, or shellfish guts) for the start, and then a mayonnaise salad of scallops and Japanese radish to carry out the vegetable first-diet which I’ve been trying, and a grilled mackerel and deep-fried chicken later to fulfill my appetite. At last, sushi to complete this dinner.

I ordered my choice except sushi at once, and waited having beer.

The first one was an appetizer.

If my taste is right, the first one was pickled mackerels with vinegared miso.

The mackerels were not too strong, and the miso made it even better.

The next one was Shiokara.

I ordered the normal salted squids, but they had only sea squirts Shiokara on that day.

I had tried sea squirts once before. That was a close-out sale from a supermarket, and it was bad fishy-smelling and not good at all.

Of course, this one was very nice, not fishy at all, and the salt was just right.

It went very well with beer!

The next dish was a grilled mackerel.

To tell the truth, mackerel is one of my biggest favorites, so it was very difficult to keep myself under the control to take photos before I start eating it.

It was nicely fatty and delicious.

I had ordered a Japanese sake beforehand as I thought that sake would be the best for the fish.

As the menu said “the best selection of the local sake”, it was hard to choose one from many attractive labels. Finally, I took “Hiroto Gawa” which I had not tried yet.

There’s no way to tell it’s “Hiroto Gawa” after it’s poured in the glass…. Anyway, the taste was smooth and clear as water, but also, rich, deep, and good flavor like Ginjo Shu (a grade name of sake).

I rather thought that this sake is enjoyable enough by itself, than with foods.

Let’s see the next dish.

This one was not what I ordered. The staff told me that it was “Kurikara Yaki” (if my memory is correct) which was a grilled eel on a stick.

It seemed that the staff misheard “Torikara” (deep-fried chicken) as “Kurikara”.

There are not so many opportunities to eat eels, so I was glad to accept this mistake.

The eel was so soft and the sauce was great, too. I was so happy to have such nice grilled eel.

I was nearly full by then, so I moved to sushi to finish my meal.

I ordered horse mackerel, mackerel, gizzard shad, and conger because my favorite sushi items are silver-skinned fish and congers. I also took an omelet because once I read a book which said that the skill of the sushi chef appears in an omelet sushi.

All the sushi items were fresh, but not too fatty. The rice broke softly in my mouth.

The conger was soft, and the sauce was not too sweet.

The omelet was very nice with Japanese soup stock in it which made it nicely sweet.

While eating sushi, the chefs were chatting with the customers like good friends.

From my eyes, this sushi bar, Kintaro Zushi, had a good relationship in the local town of Asakusa, and the staffs and customers were familiar.

Nowadays we see many restaurants and bars which are trying to optimize the management based on data or research, or trying to show unique characteristics.

My parents run a ramen noodle restaurant for about 35 years, and I used to work there for a while. After this experience, I came to think that the ones which go along with the local are more valuable in management and so on than those which are slaves of numbers.

If I have chance, I want to visit this sushi bar once in a month or so to become a part of the people there.