Sushi Tetsu — Restaurant in Shiogama

Have heard that the area of Shiogama has the most sushi restaurants per capita in Japan, so with the competition so strong we were expecting good things from Sushi Tetsu and it certainly did not disappoint us.

We come right on 11am for an earlyish lunch as they were opening. Before which, we heard all the staff inside do a bit of a huddle and psych themselves up for the day's work which was another good sign.

We got the 4500 yen sashimi set which came with 12 pieces of sushi and a crab claw soup. We were seated right at the counter so we got to see the sushi chefs work their magic right in front of us. Some of the chefs also spoke a decent amount of English and seemed very interested in conversing with us to find out where we were from and a bit more about us. The atmosphere was very friendly.

The sushi was some of the best we had in Japan, and at the price point I would say it had the best balance of price, experience and taste of any place during our entire trip. The experience itself was an authentic as you can get. We were the only tourists there, everyone else seemed to be locals dropping in for lunch.

Shiogama is a pretty easy stop on the way to Matsushima Bay from Sendai. If you're staying around Sendai I highly recommend a day trip to Matsushima Bay with a stopover on the way to...

Incredible experience. They are very welcoming even if you are not Japanese or speak very little of the language. I believe the head (?) Chef and owner speaks a little English. The ambience is sublime, as is the quality of the food. Do not skip the fatty maguro as it is a local specialty. They will anticipate your needs before they are even spoken, especially in relation to tea refills and hand towel changeover. Don't be afraid to ask for additional ginger, Wasabi etc and the menu you are presented upon arrival is not the full menu I believe so you can order daikon and other side dishes. Highly recommend the hairy crab miso. They gifted me a calendar, home made strawberry sorbet and a take home guide on 🍣 procedure carried out by the chefs. Make the effort and learn a little Japanese when you go here, if you...

Amazing experience ❤️

We had heard that Shiogama has the best and freshest sushi in all of Japan, and they were not lying!

My wife and I had the tuna menu, while my mom and her husband had a wider selection. We were blown away by the taste, and each piece of tuna melted in our mouths. So good!

Everyone were so friendly ❤️

The chefs helped us eat the sushi in the correct way using our fingers and only dipping the fish in the soy sauce, and not the rice. The chefs also made good conversation in a combination of Japanese and English, letting us practice our Japanese a bit ☺️

We finished of with the best strawberry sorbet, I have ever had. Just wow!

A fantastic experience, and the biggest recommendation. A huge highlight on our travels...