Ichimura at Brushstroke, New York

Trying an omakase sushi meal has been high up on my agenda for a while. Having given up on trying to secure seats at Sushi Tetsu in London and Sushi Nakazawa in New York due to the demand  I was excited to find out that Mrs Nom managed to book us into Ichimura at Brushstroke during our NYC trip. In what was to be my first ever evening meal in the busy metropolis and what a fine one it was. Ichimura is located in the former bar area of Japanese restaurant Brushstroke, both held one Michelin star during our visit but Ichimura has since been awarded a second star in the 2015 Michelin guide for New York City.

Due to the small sushi bar setting seatings are limited to two per night at 6pm and 9pm. There were nine diners during our sitting and after after a short wait for the first set of diners to depart we were luckily plonked right in front of Master Ichimura, ideal seats to watch the master at work. 

Master Ichimura was very softly spoken asking us if we had any allergies as we took our seats, with a permanent friendly and smiley demeanour that lasted through the whole meal all of the diners including us couldn’t help but feel charmed by the Master. Below is a summary what we experienced during our sitting. Starting with an appetiser plate followed by sashimi and chawanmushi before the endless nigiri selection featuring some very fine fresh fish. Our descriptions wouldn't do the fish justice so we will let the pictures do the talking. Each piece was expertly cut exuding natural oils and served at the right temperature before melting in the mouth. Freshly grated wasabi and the level of soy was decided by Master Ichimura and he got it spot on each time.

Appetiser plate

Sashimi plate - chu-toro, mmberjack, striped sea bass, octopus, abalone, red snapper

Chawanmushi - steamed egg with Dungeness crab and truffle 

Sea bream

Isaki

Striped sea bass susuki

Kinmedai  - Golden eye snapper

Aji horse mackerel

Bonito

Serra Spanish mackerel

Amberjack

Herring

Shima-Aji - Striped jack fish

Red sea snapper

Sea urchin – Nagano and Hoikkido

Sea shrimp

Chu-toro, medium fatty tuna

Ikura – salmon roe

O-toro, fatty tuna belly

Grilled sea bream & Myoga plum sauce

For us the double layer chu-toro and o-toro nigiri along with the sea urchin were the best pieces of the night, but in truth all of the other fish we sampled were extraordinary. The meal has set a whole new benchmark for us when it comes to sushi, it may only be topped by visiting Japan, hopefully sooner than later. At $180 a head before drinks and at around £170 each with moderate sake it is certainly priced at the high end but for the quality of the fish it is a price worth paying.

Sake No Hana, London

Mrs Nom loves flowers and cherry blossoms in particular.  When I showed her a preview of the Sakura cherry blossom inspired bar at Sake No Hana it was on the priority list in front of anything else. To coincide with the cherry blossom theme at the Mayfair based bar and restaurant a special Sakura menu was introduced which is no longer available.

Along a range of cherry based cocktails, non-alcoholic drinks and desserts was a crystal double layer bento box which caught our eye. This was perfect for an alternative to afternoon tea for a light snack in between the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street which I was being forced to endure given Mrs Nom’s love of shopping.

The bento box consisted of two layers. The first being a beautiful sushi and sashimi assortment including salmon avocado, spicy tuna and California rolls, salmon sashimi and my favourite chu-toro tuna sashimi. The second layer contained seven spice chicken kuwayaki and a spring salad with sesame dressing. The pick of the lot being the chu-toro and chicken.

We washed this down with cocktails for Mrs Nom and a cherry iced tea for me with marasca cherries, jasmine tea and lime. Sadly they had run out of the cherry macarons. As quick as the cherry blossom season arrived it is now gone again. The small taste of Sake No Hana has us interested in trying the full restaurant.

Etsu, Liverpool

It amazed me when I tried to recall my last visit to Etsu, a previous favourite of mine.  It amazed me even more when I pinpointed it to May 2008 as I remember it being a birthday treat from a cousin.  Fast forward five years and the restaurant seems to be unchanged from my last memory of the place.  With the only other sources to fulfil our sushi fix being Yo and Sapparo in Liveprool, Etsu was the obvious choice for our dose of Japanese.

The temperature inside the restaurant was rather warm and I decided on a large Asahi to combat the heat and quench my thirst, Mrs Nom settled on a Calpis (not to be mistaken for cow piss).  We were indecisive in what we wanted to order and spent an age much to the efforts of our waiter who we had to request to give us longer, twice.  He probably thought get on with it already.

We eventually settled on the chicken yaki tori with teriyaki sauce, seared sea bass nigiri, a mixed sushi & sashimi set and the special fish of the day which was sword fish.  The yakitori came first and we were pleased to see that it had not been over grilled and was just right with a bit of colour.  We asked for the dishes as and when they were ready and the swordfish came next which surprised us as we thought the sushi would be first.  The swordfish was served with a salad, ponzu sauce and a bowl of white rice.

The sushi and sashimi set arrived soon after and our plate selected by the sushi chef included ebi, tuna and sweet omelette nigiri, tuna maki, mackerel and tuna sashimi. We supplemented this with seared sea bass nigiri.  We finished with  matcha cake with black sesame ice cream, only negative being the cake was a bit grainy.  Etsu remains the top Japanese restaurant in the city but with not a lot of competition.