I’ve always thought to myself, the best sushi in Tsukiji must be Sushi Dai since I queued 3-4hours for it. but to my surprise, there is actually something even better. though a different style, I definitely preferred this sushi bar over Sushi Dai. there is something about the way they prepared it which makes every piece pretty much perfect. PLUS there was completely no wait. well unless if you have a big group. I think this place is pretty local since up till now I have not found any blogs about this place in English and it is not infested with them English speaking foreigners (yet.) but since my blog ain’t that popular, I hope this place wouldn’t be crowded with foreigners the next time I go there. if you’re a famous blogger, please do not blog about this place HAHAHAH. PLEASE. also, because there’s 3 shops, there SHOULDN’T be a queue =X. and what is this unknown (to English speaking foreigners) sushi bar called?

しゅうとくにごうてん or Shutokunigouten or Shutoku.

the specific shop I went to was 秀徳 1号店 Shutoku Shop no.1.
(update 2017: went back and dined at shop no.2, it’s very similar but I still prefer shop no.1!)

don’t ask me why are there so many names. there are just so many names when I searched for it in Japanese :S. but I generally call it Shutoku.

I was actually recommended by a friend living in Japan whom had been to Jiro’s and since he strongly recommended this place, I decided to give it a shot when my sister comes (because I wanted to go to exclusive places with people whom are important to me ^_^.)

IMG_5971 copy

the downside of this place is that it does not have an English sign so finding it will be tad more difficult but don’t worry. I got you. hence here are some pictures to help you. hahaha.

IMG_5972 copy
it looks like this from the outside and the only English sign here’s the “The Edomae Style Sushi” to be honest, I’ve NEVER heard of Edomae sushi until one day I came across a friend’s post and I was shocked to see how the sushi rice was brown. but it was actually red vinegar. so Edomae literally means Edo front sushi or Edo Style sushi, where the sushi is said to be a little sweeter and saltier than the usual sushi today because they had no refrigerator back in the past. hence they had to use different methods of preparation to elongate the life of each of these amazing “fast food” if you do not know that sushi was meant to be eaten on the go back in the days and not like expensive pieces of art today.

IMG_5974 copy

to start off, they served us hot tea, ginger and a fluffy cube of sweet egg. unlike some places where the egg tasted more like cake, the ones here were adequately sweetened. I am no egg expert but I kind of prefer the hot steamy tamago yaki instead of the cold ones. but this one was definitely very fluffy and yummy!

IMG_5975 copy

I wasn’t actually expecting much since when I went in the shop on a Thursday afternoon, it was pretty empty. but seemed like they started strong by serving something very visually captivating.

IMG_5976 copy

Kawahagi. or trigger fish was the first sushi. I am not sure but I think what was put above was either fish liver or Shirako.

and the taste? phenomenal. I was shocked on how good the first piece was. instead of just enjoying the fresh sashimi, they tend to be very good in mixing textures and tastes of these raw fishes and it was like fireworks in my mouth. the what I believe is shirako above was very creamy while the trigger fish had a little chewy texture and it just tasted amazing.

IMG_5978 copy

the chef was actually preparing for us and another pair of people hence the different types of fish. will talk about the menu at the bottom of this post. next was mirugai, a type of shellfish.

IMG_5980 copy

the way the mirugai or geoduck prepared was so unique, I’ve never had it prepared like this ever before. the mirugai was crunchy, and clams may taste a little fishy but with that hint of wasabi there on the top, it kind of brings out the sweetness of the clam and the cuts somehow just made it even more crunchier in the mouth. in a very weird way but it’s true.

IMG_5985 copy

next there’s the CHUTORO. my favourite type of sushi. the one in focus should be the normal toro, which still looked amazing.

IMG_5986 copy

here, a better look of my chutoro. my sister said it looked like a piece of marble hahaha. but chutoro, which is the semi-fatty tuna, is actually the best cut of tuna since it ain’t too fatty nor too lean. another way of saying it is.. it’s just perfect. I know you can already tell that it looks beautiful. but it was literally the best chutoro I’ve ever had IN MY LIFE. when I had this sushi, I wanted to cry. it was that good. it melted in my mouth like pure butter and yet the strong flavour of tuna wasn’t overpowered by the soy sauce. and look at the picture, look at how thick they were!!!

IMG_5994 copy

next, this is obviously, the OTORO. so in many places where their chutoro wasn’t as satisfying, the otoro is normally better as it has more fat. likely, this place’s chutoro was so perfect it almost seemed like nothing can be replaced by it. and I was wondering how the otoro would taste like.

IMG_6000 copy

to my surprise, the otoro here was slightly seared and I am not sure if most of you know, but having it slightly seared brings out the fattiness of the sushi. and this was just.. a sinful piece. mmm.

IMG_5988 copy

then there’s the Ebi.

IMG_5992 copy

the head of the prawn was so crunchy you can just eat the whole thing by it’s own and the flesh? fresh.

IMG_6004 copy

and another favourite. fresh hotate. I am actually not a big fan of hotate as there wasn’t much flavour to it.

IMG_6001 copy

topped with a pinch of salt and a good amount of lemon!

IMG_6006 copy

the hotate was cut horizontally and again, it was the crunchiest hotate I’ve ever had. I think I like this much more also because I really hated the sea water taste embedded into the normal hotate served in other restaurants but their way of preparing it totally brought my idea of how hotate tastes into a whole different level. never knew it could be so crunchy, so flavourful and so delightful =3. it’s sweet too! guess it’s something like how you add salt to hot chocolate to make it taste sweeter.

IMG_6007 copy

next! UNI. an amount so generous, that it was literally overflowing.

IMG_6008 copy

I would never eat uni normally because of how fishy it tastes but this was just.. so fresh that it tasted very buttery and the texture was also very smooth. and it just melted in my mouth T_T. MMMMMM….

IMG_6011 copy

our sushi chef here may be young, but he definitely know what he’s doing!

IMG_6013 copy

and something that I’ve been waiting for. the lightly seared wagyu beef from miyazaki. and this sushi was called.. the Ozakigyu. I was actually attracted to this piece of sushi when my friend sent me pictures of the sushi’s from this restaurant. but this is not everything yet.

IMG_6014 copy

then, he adds some generous amount of uni.

IMG_6016 copy

and voila! it is also urged to consume this quickly.

IMG_6018 copy

this piece of sushi. is the reason why you should come here. okay, also for the chutoro and hotate which was absolutely amazing too but THIS PARTICULAR SUSHI, was the bomb. at least for me. I asked and apparently to order this individually, it costs 2,000yen (RM70), so it is much better to have this with the lunch set rather than ordering it individually.

IMG_6020 copy

and for such a beautiful sushi, of course I recorded my reactions =D.

IMG_6022 copy

ever had beef that melts in your mouth? okay, so I have a “oh my god this is so good look” but this time, it was so far beyond that that.. I had no words for it. I just smiled throughout. because it was PHENOMENAL.

IMG_6023 copy

like nothingelseintheworldcantastebetterthanthis kind of phenomenal. I actually had the same reaction for both the chutoro and hotate except I did not have any pictures of me eating it. ahaha.

IMG_6025 copy

another piece of art. Ika.

IMG_6026 copy

now don’t it just look amazing?

IMG_6027 copy

with a few drips of soy sauce!

IMG_6028 copy

and topped with thinly sliced ginger. okay. I will be honest, I do not like Ika. and the best Ika I’ve ever had was still the one in sushi Daiwa. I am pretty sure it is because I do not know how to value Ika. but the way it was sliced though. so pretty! however if I were to come back, I will opt to change this for something else.

IMG_6029 copy

and the 10th sushi? Anago.

IMG_6030 copy

and the anago served here was served with a pinch of chunky salt. it was lightly seared so it was a little fatty and the salt just brought out the sweetness of the eel.

IMG_6033 copy

and last but not least, the very juicy uni + ikura. drenched with a generous amount of their special soy sauce. MMMMMMMMM. best handroll! period. oh, and this alone costs 1500yen too. so get it during lunch!!! because the lunch set is super worth it.

IMG_6034 copy

and that’s the end to my very satisfying meal. thank you.

CIMG0299 copy

very satisfied customers =3.

IMG_0561 copy

here’s the map to the restaurant. they have 3 restaurants and 1 uni bar in Tsukiji. I recommend dining at their sushi bars than having it on a separate table because you can see how they prepare and also have it right away. if you were to have it on a separate table, they would have to finish all the sushi and put it on a plate then serve it to you and believe me, a few minutes makes a huge difference for sushi!

lunch menu (11am-3pm. L.O. at 2:30pm): omakase which consists of 10 sushi + 1 handroll.
2700
4000
6000
8000

the higher the price, the better your sushi. they have stuff like chutoro and uni for the 4000yen omakase while they have the expensive wagyu and uni + ikura handroll in the 6000yen set (which I ordered) and even more expensive stuff for the 8000yen (which was wayyyy out of my budget. my initial budget was 4000yen but I really wanted that wagyu T_T) and… dinner starts at 5,000yen. but most of the dinner menu is more like.. a complete set meal instead of just sushi’s.
here’s their website which is only in Japanese.
there is also a clearer map on tabelog here.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

9 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Yap Beng Kiat
Yap Beng Kiat
7 years ago

Hi Jamie,

Just wondering, in terms of price to price comparison between Shutokunigouten and Sushi Dai, is Shutokunigouten is much more better? Let say I planning to go there, is it friendly to go without Japanese speaking background? Your help would be much appreciated!

Eliness
7 years ago

Hello Jamie ! I’m a french girl who had her first trip to Japan at the beginning of October. Just wanted to tell you that thanks to you, we went to Shutokunigouten, and followed your advice by picking up the same menu as yours.

We ate the best sushi we ever had in our entire life. Seriously, I did not know I could get teared up by eating ! That’s how good it was ! Thank you so much for the recommandation, you made two very happy people that day 🙂

Winston
Winston
6 years ago

Hi Jamie, thank you for the very informative write up on Shutoku. Just wanted to clarify something. You mentioned that the specific shop you went under this review was 秀徳 1号店 Shutoku Shop no.1, which I presumed you meant Shutoku Honten (or the main shop) and that in 2017, you dined at their shop no.2 instead, and although very similar, you still preferred shop no.1. However, the links you gave at the end of the review point to their 2nd shop.

So was it their main shop (i.e. 秀徳本店) that you prefer or their 2nd shop (秀徳 2号店)?