TBA
Nozawa Bar
Long-awaited visit to Nozawa Bar, currently a Michelin 1* sushi place under Chef Sada. It's a bit of an expedited meal, kind of like Kosaka in New York City, only with less personalized attention. Chef Sada has a whole staff working with him, and while he cuts all the fish, sears everything himself (somewhat disappointingly, directly with the butane torch and not with a piece of charcoal), your actual service is by his assistants.
That said the meal doesn't feel rushed, more just feels constantly on pace. With final prep and service done by at least three assistances, the 21 courses (22 including dessert) come out at a steady clip, just enough time to enjoy each dish or piece of sushi, and enough explaining done. The first seating at 6:00pm started slightly late, but we were still done by 7:40pm, so just over 90 minutes; that gave Chef Sada and his staff ample time to recover for the second seating at 8:30pm.
None of the fish were exceptional; to be fair, with all the competition around, it's extremely difficult to stand out. Nozawa Bar stays sushi-focused, with really only one non-fish dish. Starter was uzaku, cucumber and unagi in a vinegary sauce. Quite good but difficult to say it was amazing. Octopus from Hokkaido was carved in front of the diners, served with little New Zealand lobsters in what was a very conventional yet exsquite presentation. Bluefin Kama toro sashimi (collar) was very good, but again, more conventional than anything.
Among the rest of the meal, akamutsu (ruby snapper) was superb, ko ika (baby squid) had a nice texture and firmness, isaki (grunt) and uni were both very good quality, with the uni being a particularly generous portion. Sawara (Spanish mackerel), like the isaki, was of good quality but not exceptional. Hotate was uniquely and surprisingly firm, and the shabu shabu waygu from First Light Farms in New Zealand was superb.
Ankimo (monkfish liver) in a yuzu and citrus sauce was okay, a generous portion was probably too much given how rich ankimo is. Mirugai (giant clam) was politely firm, like the hotate, and the aburi kinmedai meant that a second place (not just Hayato) serves it. The quality may not have been as good as Hayato, but was still easy to enjoy. Maine lobster was served both as nigiri and as a hand roll; while lobster is enjoyable, three lobster dishes was a bit much-- perhaps why there was no botan ebi/ama ebi tonight as that would have been too much shellfish.
Meal wrapped up with a rather generic tamago, lacking the complexity of the best (see Sushi Inaba or Sushi Kaneyoshi for 1* competitors with more effort here), although seeing it stuffed with rice was a new one on me-- and there were four pots of rice used over the meal, for optimal freshness and focus on the warm, loose rice that Nozawa is known for. Throw in a mandarin sorbet, mixed berries, and hojicha at the end, and it was a pleasant meal, although not up to the ridiculous quality berries that Hayato (2*) does.
In the end, Nozawa Bar was quite good, but if you want a special meal, it felt slightly lacking vs. the better of their competitors.