Sushi Matsuura

The stage is a sushi shop and as the curtain rises, instead of his business card the chef offers a negitoro roll (minced tuna with green onion leaves), presented by hand. Sushi rolls of monkfish liver and dried gourd strips are served with sweet, thick kijoshu (sake brewed with sake not water), taking a hint from pairings of foie gras with botrytised wine. All three key requisites of a good sushi shop are present: watchfulness, consideration and smiles. No wonder this performance is so well attended.

• A sushi counter led by a chef who started as a fishmonger, and treats the meal as a direct line back to fishermen and market wholesalers.
• The opening negitoromaki arrives hand-delivered, a small, precise ritual before the tempo settles into omakase.
• An unusual pairing of monkfish liver and kanpyo with kijoshu, a sweet, viscous sake, points to a house taste for rich, wine-friendly bites inside a classical sequence.

• Tuna and green onion in the opening negitoromaki roll.
• Monkfish liver, paired with kanpyo, dried gourd, as a signature flavour contrast.
• Kijoshu, used as a sweet, thick wine pairing alongside savoury bites.

Omakase sushi, classical and fish-led

Sushi Matsuura runs as an omakase counter. The chef came to sushi via the fish trade, and the meal reads like a sequence of thanks to fishermen and wholesalers, with a generous run of pieces and snacks.

What’s distinctive here

• The opening is a hand-delivered negitoromaki, tuna and green onion rolled and presented as a small ceremony.
• A signature pairing brings monkfish liver and kanpyo, dried gourd, together with sweet, thick kijoshu.

This is a quietly formal Tokyo meal, in a small room, where the craft is traditional and the pacing is controlled.