Yoshino Sushi Honten — Restaurant in Tokyo

First time in my life to eat fish. At 36, I already had eaten some stuff that had been caught from water, first in France, dry, chewy, stinky stuff full of mean sharp bones, then in Japan for 4 years, raw pieces of red, tasteless and hard flesh over the rice. Untill you eat that quality of seafood (or better) you actually don't know and can't imagine what real high quality good fresh fish is. The most basic piece of tuna there is so much better than the best piece in any of the rotating belt sushi restaurants and sushi restaurants chains. Even just by the look, you can feel the softness. In the mouth, it's creamy as butter thant would have been made from fish flesh. They amount of fish, rice, wasabi is perfectly balanced, the soy sauce is not too aggressive, colors, shape discretely enhance the experience. There I discovered what actually a good sushi is. Unforgettable. The restaurant is small, with about 12 counter seats and 20 table seats. Decoration is simple but sufficient, traditional Japanese style and wooden tables. No English menu, no English spoken and cash only accepted for payment. The atmosphere is very clam and quiet. Of course, prices go from high to incredibly high à la carte and for dinner, but you can get lunch sets from a ridiculous 14 euros and up. The staff de and chefs are kind and helpful. Reservations are preferred but not always mandatory. Coming to Japan and missing this level of sushi quality is like failing...

Yoshino Sushi Honten is one of the older restaurants in Tokyo, having opened in 1879. Make sure to get here early. I was the first person in line by arriving 15 minutes before opening. However, just half an hour later, the restaurant was packed and had a line snaking around the corner.

The menu is in Japanese and the staff do not know much English. What you need to know is that the sushi comes in sets here. You’ll want to get either the largest or second largest set. I went with the largest set if 11 pieces (2 pieces not shown in my photo due to lack of space on the plate - they came separately later) for 3,630 yen ($25.50 USD at time of writing).

The sushi was good. I’ve had both better and worse in Japan. Overall, I enjoyed it and felt that the price was good. I wouldn’t go too far out of your way to eat here, but it is still a good place to have lunch if...

I have decades of experience eating sushi in Tokyo . The sushi is good high quality and freshness and fine taste. Prices are good for the quality. The reviews are over hyped for sure. Everything is in Japanese only. So basically not foreign friendly. The staff has some attitude about waiting outside until invited inside. With a reservation everything is more pleasant. There’s only set menus but can order al la carte too but staff never explains this option. Because they push the set menus to make everything easier. The sushi chef’s are average at best. If you’re visiting the area then okay to drop by if you don’t mind waiting in line. So, reservations are highly recommended....