Restaurant Number 2: sushi obana.

Saito-san ranks it as A+ on his sushi guide.

Review

Super friendly service as always and I requested for a longer nigiri course, I have 6 additional pieces, torotaku was as service.

1)Kaiware nigiri
2)Torotaku with shiso futomaki(service)
3)14 days aged Kanpachi was the bomb
4) No. 1 Murasaki uni maki
5) Hamaguri
6) Anago

Maguro is just crazyily good, personally I belive no one else has better maguro and uni, especially true in the winter season.

Cons

Ikura less magical and nimono(e.g. Hamaguri) and kaimono(e.g. akagai) were abit flat.


Score: 8.875/10

Reservation: IG DM+ Pocket Concierge

Price: 38,500jpy for extended nigiri course

Conclusion: Always good, with winter being extremely outstanding for maguro.

Restaurant Number 3: tomidokoro.

Saito-san ranks it as A on his sushi guide.

Review

A number of empty seats(all for sundays in Dec) appeared on ikyu in early-Nov for tomidokoro and I quickly booked it despite multiple folks saying that you need to know Japanese/go with a Japanese speaker.

Luckily I was not turned away and happy to be there.

Tsumami was generally traditional besides a tasty "charsiew which is not charsiew", likely made of maguro, but do correct me if wrong. Nigiri was as shared by many before, sour punchy shari and otoko-sized which appeals to my palates.

Shiromi did not have enough umami, but was still serviceable.

Maguro, Anago, hikarimono, aoyagigai, kurumaebi are good.

Cons

The punchy shari is not for everyone, my companion wanted to give up halfway through the course.

Neta felt a bit cold at times, but I guess it is up to personal preference.

Sato-san will introduce a couple of tsumami and stopped afterwards.

Flow is a tad too fast and efficient, my meal ended in 66 mins.

Score: 8/10

Price: 25,000JPY for full course(tsumami+nigiri)

Conclusion: Go enjoy the service and get out, understand that chef is shy and he likely won't speak to you too much.

Restaurant Number 4: Isshinzushi koyo(Miyazaki)

Review

Isshinzushi koyo is located in the residential area, ~20 mins away from miyazaki station.
It is a large restaurant with a very nice ambience, they have their own Japanese garden outside the restaurant, giving a very Zen feel.
I went on a Sunday evening and it was only me and my companion.
There is a focus on items around miyazaki region, which is usually a good sign for a non-tokyo sushiya as the premium items would have gone to Tokyo.

Tsumami was very good with a number of unique items like hirame and madai shabu shabu with everyone given a very large block of seasalt with lemon squeezed onto it, shirako in mikan(tasted like a dessert rather than savoury) and grilled ise ebi in broth(triple boiled using its own head).

Nigiri was of small size and neta were relatively small ginza-style. I thought I would be disppointed, but i love it as the shari had a nice acidic punch with a mild lingering sweetness. It was made using a blend of 3 types of aged akazu, salt, no sugar and a little honey.

Nigiri sequence started with chutoro and otoro and aging is used throughout several items.

Aori-ika was exceptionally good with 100 cuts to enhance its texture and sweetness, reminding me of namba-san's sushi. Everything else was generally good with no flaws.

Taisho and staff were super friendly and provided you with a good explanation of the food. If I did not read wrongly, taisho used to train overseas as sommelier so you could get wine pairing and he feels that sushi works well with wine.

Cons

Awabi was slightly tough and ise-ebi felt a bit overcooked, but might be due to a personal preference.

Score: 9/10
Price: 34,630JPY for full course(tsumami+nigiri)

Conclusion: This will be first on my list to revisit next time I am in Kyushu.

Restaurant Number 5: Sushi Nakamura(kumamoto)

Review

Sushi nakamura is located 20 mins walk away from Kumamoto Castle, making it a nice place to visit for lunch.

Lunch reservations(nigiri course only) can be made online through their website.

Nigiri was big-sized, with big slices of neta and shari had a slightly aldente bite with mild akazu accentuated with salt. It was punchy due to the salt but still elegant and not overly salty to the point that you will be grabbing for drinks.

Aging seems to be practiced and tennan tai kombujime tasted great. Everything was relatively good and if shiromi is good, it always makes a good start to the meal.

There are several pieces which he cut into multiple slices and layer them to enhance the umami of the sushi like sawara, otoro, konmaguro.

Neta were mainly from amakusa with the sole exceptions of otoro and kurumaebi from nagasaki and ikura from Hokkaido.

Flow of sushi as below:
Shiromi(x2)->sawara->kurumaebi ->otoro/konmaguro->kohada->anago->ikura temaki

Nakamura-san serves all the pieces and okami-san serves the drinks. They were very hospitable and nakamura-san will run out to send you off once you are done, despite of if there are any other guests still at the counter.

Cons

Anago tsume was a bit light/diluted though this happened to most of the fukuoka Sushiyas, so likely a matter of preference.

Chawanmushi was a bit plain.

Hagashi toro was served as tsumami and the seasoning was a bit overpowering.

Score: 8.375/10

Price: 12,100JPY for nigiri lunch course(11 nigiri+ 1 hagashi toro + 1 chawanmushi+ 1 tamagoyak)

Conclusion: I will definitely revisit next time I am in Kyushu.

Restaurant Number 6: Sushi Takao(fukuoka)

Review

Sushi Takao is a sushi restaurant well-loved by sushi lovers, yet have a bunch of mixed reviews of being too traditional and not keeping up with the times.

They do not allow photos like hashiguchi and it gives off the vibes of a sushi temple.

All the guests were foreigners on the night and remained fairly silent.

Taisho doesn't speak much other than the names and okami-san helps by providing the English names. His son who used to be a sugita apprentice helps out too.

Nigiri was small-sized with a firm centre and very mildly seasoned with komezu and salt. Kombujime and aging seems to be performed however I couldn't detect the umami coming from it. Shiromi was on the tougher side and hikarimono tasted fishy, there was no temperature control and everything felt cold. Maguro was from ishiji and no otoro was served.

Intriguingly, as I ate more pieces, the shari started to taste better and better. It is one which requires you to bite more which will then bring out the sweetness of the rice. The rice tasted delicious and elegant and made me want to eat even more sushi. The balance of the sushi was great as well. It somehow reminded me of hashiguchi except hashiguchi has a better neta especially hikarimono.

Flow was relatively quick as my course finished in 46 minutes.

Cons

Traditional sushi with no temperature control, no umami from neta.

Score: 7.25/10(Neta:5-6, Shari:8.5-9/10)

Price: 15,800JPY for nigiri course

Conclusion: This is not a sushiya for beginners but experienced sushi eaters would appreciate it.
I still think of the shari even after my trip and
I will look to revisit it to confirm why I like it so much. Personally I think it has one of the best Shari and much better than those mildly seasoned akazu shari used in sakai, kotan and karashima.

Restaurant Number 7: Sushi Sakai(fukuoka)

Review

Sushi Sakai has been well-reviewed and is famous for having 3 Michelin stars, not that I care about it.

Basically the customer service is good, serving is efficient and you have a lively ritual-like atmosphere where you hear their shouting and responding during the service, much like hyakushiki(izakaya) and everything moving efficiently like a factory-like atmosphere.

Tsumami was made by his various assistants and nigiri were all made by sakai-san.

Maybe it is a good sushiya by Fukuoka standards, but it felt boring to me. It just felt like a Tokyo edomae sushiya and they were just putting premium fatty neta on mildly season akazu-based shari and there was no personality. The brandishing of yamayuki receipts showcasing oma maguro and asking guests to take photos didn't help matters. Frankly, no one has a better maguro than obana-san.

They do have good items like fugu in ankimo sauce, akagai, kurumaebi etc.

Sakai-san will say the fish terms in English and will send you to the lift and provide you a packet of houjicha when you leave.

Cons

Boring milky/fatty neta on mildly seasoned akazu shari.

Score: 7.75/10

Price: 38,500JPY for nigiri course

Conclusion: Boring tokyo-like sushiya focusing on premium ingredients, do go if you want to experience the umi-style. I would rather recommend staying in Tokyo for edomae sushi.

Restaurant Number 8: Sushidokoro Tsukuta(karatsu)

Review

Finding resonance has a nice review of sushidokoro tsukuta and matsuo-san once trained at sushi kiyota.

Matsuo-san has a very interesting IG acc where he showcase experiments he has with his tsumami, rants/comments on his Europe travels and even creating AI girls.

Due to his frequent tinkering, you get some creative otsumami like aji in sesame soy sauce, marinated raw ebi in vinegar and soy sauce, scallop with ground pepper. Even his soup has some western influence with pepper added to daikon soup. On the same note, his counter is actually not made of hinoki wood, but wood from canada 30 years ago.

Nigiri was big and punchy, shari akazu-based and salty with adequate saltiness providing a good punch. Sake drinkers should love his style but I think the nigiri is highly accomplished that nigiri fundamentalists will love it too.

Highlights are kombujime raw ebi, kurumaebi, slow-cooked hotate at room temperature. Kurumaebi was boiled before start of course and still tasted flavourful despite not being humongous. Use of tokishirazu is interesting but not mind-blowing, no aka uni was served and of course no maguro as well. The sweet mushroom(I guess it might be shiitake, but I might be wrong) and wasabi maki at the end was surprisingly good.

There were many complaints about flow being too fast, but I felt it was ideal, everything took 66 mins with me and my companion the only guests for the night. He is actually okay with questions, so do ask him about the sushi if you have questions.

I was served by only matsuo-san and okami-san for the night and service was pretty good.

Cons

Same neta appearing multiple times for both sashimi and nigiri e.g. hirame and aori ika and mirugai and hotate and I got 2 same pieces of hirame.

Not good value for money at this price point as technically he should be able to get better neta and more varieties.

It is quite far from fukuoka, so might not be so ideal and there is not much to sightsee over there beyond karatsu castle.

Score: 8/10

Price: 25,300JPY for full course

Conclusion: Recommended to visit at least once for sushi lovers, but just go for the nigiri course.

Restaurant Number 9: Tenzushi Kyomachi

Review

Again another place which has been reviewed till the point of no-return. Just adding my personal views.

All nigiri-only and melon.
Use of salt, yuzu, yuzu kosho etc to add on layers of complexity like saltiness, sourness, spiciness.

Highlights pieces are grilled tachiuo with plum sauce, kisu with yuzu kosho as a restarter instead of kohada, sazae with okra, aka-ika with tobiko roe and uni, chutorozuke with his secret marinade. Tamagoyaki is really sweet and moist as he adds honey to it. He has a great tsume for his hotate nigiri as wel.

You get a choice of either uni or shirako as it is winter season. And if you choose both, you just have to pay 2000jpy more.

Personally, I think you get some highlights pieces and there were some pieces which were less than ideal personally. The main draw to me would be the interaction with Amano-san and understanding his sushi philosophy and his many jokes. Amano-san is super welcoming and knowing I am from a certain red dot, he will start giving me the names of the fishes in Chinese and English and he can even do it in Korean. When I told amano-san that I went to sushi sakai before, he asked so I drink, because sakai has a lot of nice sake. And when a regular joined in and suggested that Tenzushi is four-stars(compared to Sakai's 3 stars), Amano-san immediately bellowed,"No, I am five stars!". When I was ready to leave, Amano-san was like saying,"Bye, see you tomorrow."

Cons

Again I felt that it was overpriced and unless all pieces were perfect, it does not warrant a revisit. Some pieces like sawara was okay and shirako gunkan was nice but it might have been better just as a tsumami sans seaweed as it was too piping hot and by the time it cools down, the seaweed had become soft.

Score: 8.375/10

Price:59,500JPY(Tableall)

Conclusion: Recommended to visit at least once. Would only revisit if it was at least 20,000JPY cheaper. Personally, I would still prefer edomae sushi for its stronger impact, but entirely up to personal preference.

Restaurant Number 10: Karashima

Review

Karashima-san used to have kaiseki training and previously trained at sushi yasukichi.

Good otsumami, small-sized sushi and mild akazu shari with big grains and firm bite, hikarimono was serviceable.

He does an explanation of each item where it is from and other details like sakai-san from sushi sakai.

That is probably the only good things I remember, the rest were quite bad. Poor balance, poor processing of neta, wasabi attack, poor service, questionable business policy.

I did not face issues of selective neta quality based on whether you are a foreigner or local.

Cons

He need to improve his neta processing greatly, it's still much a work-in-progress.

He hands out oshibori to all his guests, but because my companion was too slow, he got impatient and just left it on the oshibori holder.

He declares upfront that he does not know english and for the otsumami sequence okami-san does a translation in the mobile app. Once you reached the nigiri sequence, there is zero translation at all.

Just before your miso soup and tamagoyaki, he will stop the service and start listing out 10+ items available for alacarte which was not in the original course items. This makes me ponder did I just do a omakase course or a set menu? The issue of a second menu is not a one-time occurrence as it was listed on some of the other Google reviews.

If you didn't order anything, you basically have to wait until he serves everyone their alacarte pieces before he start serving miso soup and tamagoyaki.

There is a separate 10% additional service charge I have to pay on the day on top of my jpneazy seat reservation charges(33880JPY) and you have to pay for your drinks. There is no agari, but yama tea or kirishima tea. Even water will be charged as it is mineral water. I did not know of this and got charged a total of 13000JPY for 4 cups of tea each and also 10% service charge. Though I am not sure what service is so deserving of this charge.

I was so sad that I have to go to hakata issou to wash away my sorrows.


Score: 6/10

Price:33880JPY(JPNEAZY)+6500JPY(Drinks + Service Charge)

Conclusion: Do not visit even if you are paid for it.

The last review

Restaurant Number 11: Kotan

Review

Kotan used to train at sushi hashimoto and again good otsumami, big sushi with big grains and firm bite. Shari is mildly seasoned with komezu and a tinge of akazu to let you taste the neta.

Again nothing too memorable besides decent pieces like shiroamadai, kurumaebi and sawara. Tsumami was better than nigiri in my view.

Service staff needs work as they flipped the aburi taichou sideways when serving.

Again, another boring establishment where it might be better to eat at a Tokyo sushiya.


Cons

Nothing too memorable, need several more years of training to be good.


Score: 7/10

Price:31000JPY(Tableall)

Conclusion: Not good enough for now.

Wow fantastic write-up, thank you! Great reference for future planning. Obana seems so full recently that I've never seen pocket-con openings at all.

Really useful contribution. Thanks, Yee How!