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1.23.2014

D A I S A N H A R U M I



When we were planning for our trip to Japan, the key thing that we had in mind was food. Where were we going to get some great food and how do we get it. That was the key question. Me and Janice are sushi lovers so naturally, when we were planning to go to Japan, we were at a loss as to which sushi-ya to try. While we would have loved to give Saito, Sawada, Mizutani or Jiro a try, we could only afford to eat at that level so many times before we went way over our budget. We read about Daisan Harumi as a cheaper and easier to book alternative so we thought we would give it a try. This place was no slouch either, being ranked the 19th best sushi restaurant in Tokyo by Tabelog (Japanese review site) in October 2013.

Daisan Harumi
Tokyo, Minato-ku, Shinbashi 1-17-7


This was our first taste of Japan as we arrived in Narita at 5pm and our reservation was at 7:30pm – let’s just say it was a mad rush to get there on time. We did not even have the time to go to the hotel to drop our bags off so unfortunately we carried our two big luggages with us into the restaurant – they were nice enough to accommodate though I would not recommend doing that (restaurants in Japan are typically very, very small). We went with the omakase (chef’s specialty/choice) as we often do at any good sushi restaurant. We started with sashimi which included Ika, Red Snapper, and Flounder. We then feasted on an assortment of nigiri to get an idea of the amazing variety that Japan is privy to. One of my favourite dishes surprisingly was the grilled unagi however. Small bite size pieces which just melted in your mouth. The smokiness from the grilled char marks was delicious! Daisan Harumi is a fairly foreigner friendly intro to high end sushi – the chef’s assistant even brought out cards which explained the types of fish that we were eating in English! The chef himself though, did not speak very much English at all so conversation during the meal was a bit difficult.

The meal was a good one to get us started in our culinary journey in Japan but over the course of our trip, we started to realize that we did not enjoy Daisan Harumi as much as we did other restaurants. The price per person was about $185 USD and for that amount, while we were relatively full, we did not get blown away by the food. Perhaps we are sushi snobs and had very high expectations and therefore we left a bit underwhelmed. Still, compared to Shiro’s in Seattle and Sushi Sam’s in San Francisco, Daisan Harumi ranks right up there with the two of them. Sushi Yasuda in New York served sushi that was more to our liking however. We went to five different sushi restaurants on our trip and here’s how I would rank them:

1. Sushi Iwa (by a country mile)
2. Sushi Dai
3. Daisan Harumi
4. Sushi Midori
5. Sushi Zanmai

9 comments:

  1. When I used to eat sushi I thought I was a hard headed critic! When I lived in Japan, I tried all places I could get and found a few I liked. Sometimes the name and popularity of the place does not live up to how good the food should taste. But, it's so much to try different places and be a self-proclaimed food critic :)

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    1. Haha I would never think that I am an expert in food at all - it is all personal preference and all so judgmental. I just love sushi and I'm not naive enough to think that just because a place has a lot of reviews that it is the best. That's the best part about Japan! Outsiders may focus on michelin stars but locals know that even if a place looks like a hole in the wall - the food could be incredible!

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  2. I am a huge fan of sushi, too! My husband even learned how to make them at home! : ) I am very picky of sushi restaurants and I do prefer non-fancy ones, at least here in San Francisco.

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    1. Mmm SF has great sushi too though - my favorite is one near San Mateo called Sushi Sam :)

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  3. I love sushi, but I'm always afraid to eat it though because one year I got a bad case of the stomach virus after eating at a sushi place, and I vowed that I would not eat sushi again unless I made it, it is covered up at all times and was made within the last couple of hours, and if the place is credible. Great photos btw, everything looks so nice.

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    1. I would never eat sushi at a place that doesn't look clean. Sushi is just so popular that you have lots of people trying make imitations but trust me, try going to one run by Japanese owners and you'll taste the difference :)

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  4. i'm not a fan of sushi. maybe it's because my first try was a disaster. i'm still reluctant to give another try though. haha. maybe some time in the future.

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  5. I am craving sushi now! It's been months since I've eaten any...

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  6. Absolutely jealous of your sushi experience. Looks so fresh and amazingly delicious!!!

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