Kimura — Restaurant in Tokyo

Dining at the restaurant of the Pioneer of aged sushi, @sushikimurakoji Featuring The appetisers before the nigiri course. Clam soup - sweet with strong umami flavour Abalone risotto - with the abalone liver to give it a nice flavour with a hint of bitterness Sea urchin soba - sweet and briny with chewy soba Grilled Anago - nice, hot and crispy with delicious flavour. Raw Cold blue crab - marinated with brandy and squid guts i think? Nice and salty with natural sweetness from the soft crab meat. Think of the Korean style raw crab, but elevated. Not for people who hate guts. (I am a guts lover) Perfect way to whet your appetite before the nigiri starts Featuring the start of the nigiri Rice and seaweed - when you have rice and seaweed so good you can eat it straight up. The vinegar was able to penetrate right into the core of each grain, making the rice so flavourful and strong. The rice also has some bite which contrasts greatly with the soft aged meats. Squid - nice and sweet with a very creamy finish Shima Aji - nice and tender with a wonderful sweetness and fatty ness Isaki - grunt fish which is usually chewy is beautifully tender with great flavour with Aging Aji - Horse Mackeral so sweet and fatty with just the right amount of lunch from the vinegar cure. Masu - King salmon aged for 1 month until it becomes almost like salmon mousse. So sweet and delicious which pairs beautifully with the rice Kinmedai - Golden Eye snapper aged for 9 days to tenderise the meat and give it a nice sweet flavour Awabi - a huge piece of abalone cut using the wave cutting method to break through the tough fibres and give it a better mouth feel. So tender and delicious, almost like Chinese braised abalone but better. Uni - a mountain of sea urchin and rice to pamper you silly. So sweet and chock full of umami Iwashi - Sardine aged for 9 days to break out the fatty flavour and make it so tender and delicious. I usually hate it because of the fishy ness but this was utterly perfect. Last few pieces Katsuo - Smoked bonito which is marinated quickly in a mustard soy to give it a nice sharpness to cut through the smoky ness and fatty ness of the fish Mekajiki - Swordfish aged for a whopping 57 days. No he is not crazy, he is a mad genius. The swordfish becomes so tender and delicious with a huge umami hit which hits you the moment you bite into it. This to me is his pièce de résistance, his Hail Mary. So damn delicious! Anago - Conger eel grilled perfectly until hot, crispy and delicious Tamago - baked sweet egg omelette to end the wonderful meal Overall, Kimura Sushi gets a whopping 10/10. If you are a sushi aficionado, you have to give ages sushi a try. It may not be for everyone but it’s a must try experience in my book. He is so friendly and his Mother is the sweetest lady you will ever meet. Working hand in hand with her Son to deliver an experience you will...

If you are interested in trying a different type of sushi, I would recommend Sushi Kimura in Futako Tamagawa. It’s always a remarkable dining experience at Sushi Kimura no matter which season you go. Chef Kimura develops an one-of-a-kind technique to prepare the aged fish and the sushi rice, hence, the flavor and the texture is transformed into something transcendent. This isn’t the typical Edomae style sushi you’d find on the streets of other parts of Japan. The dinner progressed in the flavor profile he designed. Kimura’s not afraid to serve relatively unknown cuts as long as they are optimal products of the season and of his aging processes. Appetizers were very different; creamed shirako risotto, marinated crab, squid liver, etc. Afterwards, there was the shari simply wrapped by nori. The shari was flavoured with akazu (red vinegar) produced in a small-batch style from Kyoto and has been aged for 3 years. Aged fish sushi was impressive and matched perfectly with okan. One to note: the sake was always warmed up by Chef when you ordered and he tasted it prior to serving you to make sure it matched the dish you were having. Chef is definitely at the top of his...

Sushi Kimura Setagaya is a masterclass in aged fish and refined technique. Every ingredient is handled with such precision, from the ultra-fresh fish (never frozen) to the carefully aged selections that bring out deep, complex flavors.

The atmosphere is just as memorable as the food—everyone, from the chef to the guests, to the woman who helped us choose our drink pairings, made the experience feel warm and inviting.

Each dish was a standout, but a few truly blew my mind. The brandy-marinated swimming crab was unforgettable—the combination of rice, sansho pepper, and clams aged for a week added layers of umami I’ve never tasted before. The tiger fugu shirako bowl was genius; the two puffer fish were only used for the broth, perfectly highlighting the silky richness of the shirako itself. And then there was the oyster sauce risotto, made with Iwate Prefecture Endo No. 4 rice, which was the kind of dish that makes you stop mid-bite just to take it all in.

This isn’t just sushi—it’s an experience, and one that I can’t wait...