I had one of the most amazing meals of my life in Tokyo. I was lucky enough to dine at Sushi Nishimura with Kenichi Ohashi, Yamamoto Akihiko and Moto Okoshi. This is a beautiful, small restaurant in Roppongi run by chef/owner Fumiteru Nishimura. We enjoyed a succession of amazing dishes, and compared the sushi-matching abilities of Chablis and Assyrtiko, with two examples of each.
My notes on the wines:
Gaia Assyrtiko Wild Ferment 2016 Santorini, Greece
From 80 year old vines, this is lively with fresh, open tangerine, citrus and pear notes. Juicy with some spicy depth. There’s some richness here, but also some mineral character. 91/100
Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys 2014 Burgundy, France
Complex and rounded with some stony character, ripe pear and citrus fruit, and a hint of apple. Quite generous for Chablis, but still typical. Drinking very well now. 92/100
Moreau-Naudet Chablis 2015 Burgundy, France
Nutty with citrus, pear and apple fruit. Textural with appealing stoniness and good acidity. Fruity, yet rounded too. 92/100
Sigalas Kavalieros Assyrtiko 2015 Santorini, Greece
Very fruity and generous with sweet tangerine and pear fruit. Lovely weight in the mouth.90/100
The wines all worked really well. It sounds a bit lame to say it, but there was no winner. All were good, and this raises the possibility of Assyrtiko as a useful choice in these situations – Chablis is already a well known option.
The first piece of sushi: typical for Tokyo, and seasonal, this was Kohada.
The second was amazing. This is red clam, a rare, expensive ingredient that is available from autumn to winter.
This was fatty tuna, and it is fabulously textured.
Octopus
This dish blew my mind: salmon roe over baked egg. Astonishing flavour, and the way the flavour is delivered as you pop the roe is remarkable.
This was a pair. On the left is tiny snapper, sandwiched with seaweed. On the right is blue fin tuna left to mature in the fridge for 12 days.
This is alfonsino, a deep sea fish with red skin.
Squid with Japanese citrus (sudachi)
Prawn
Saury fish: this is a long, pointed, aggressive looking fish.
Sea eel with sweet soy sauce.
We finished off with this lovely soup. It was a truly memorable experience.
A short film of the meal:
