Step through a tiny, paved passageway in a Mohamed Sultan shophouse and past a light-bathed Zen garden, and you’ll find a counter with 12 seats, each place set with a mini karesansui garden for you to rake your own way to Zen-ness, and a welcome in the form of a poem printed on a tiny piece of paper.
You’re at Sushi Takahashi, the first outpost of the Tokyo restaurant by young culinary talent Jun Takahashi.
Sushi Takahashi (Photo: CNA/Dillon Tan)
In Ginza, the cosy establishment has a dedicated following. Chef Takahashi, who trained at three-Michelin-starred Tokyo restaurants, is known for his interesting takes on otsumami, like a signature crab croquette; there’s also a signature Awabi with Uni Handroll featuring fried abalone, abalone liver sauce, uni tartare and fresh uni.
Signature crab croquette: Snow crab, crab bisque, Italian autumn truffles, cream. (Photo: Sushi Takahashi)
It’s not him, however, you’ll see presiding over the counter here, but his protege of eight years, chef Rinto Sasagawa. The head chef is just 24 years old but is already a master of sushi and kappo-style kaiseki. One imagines him moulding nigiri in his hands while still in diapers. The energy he brings is befitting: A meal here is traditional in form and executed with the utmost care, but with unexpected twists of subtle flair.
"Competition between two eels": Anago, unagi, sansho pepper, seaweed salt, wasabi, pickled sansho. (Photo: May Seah)
“Competition between two eels”, for instance, is a dish that features unagi and anago – freshwater eel and saltwater eel – served in two different ways, such that it becomes a little game to guess which is which.
Scallop chawanmushi: Hokkaido scallop, scallop dashi, black pepper, yuzu, lotus root crisp. (Photo: Sushi Takahashi)
Then there’s the scallop chawanmushi, which, when its vessel’s cover is lifted, immediately indicates that it’s not as boring a dish as it sounds. When the spoon hits, the steamed egg’s pale, silky surface blooms into floaty flowers, like very fine tau huay. On the palate, it’s strongly black pepper-forward without being weighed down, the floral notes of the pepper a welcome surprise.
In addition to the requisite trio of tuna cuts, the nigiri lineup includes less commonly served fish like menuke, a deep sea rock fish from Hokkaido with a rich fattiness, gently seared by applying hot binchotan charcoal to each slice. The amaebi or sweet shrimp also hits a home run with a whisper of moshio salt and a topping of Oscietra caviar. But the classic saba sushi, finished with ginger and spring onion, is Sasagawa’s personal favourite, with its oceanic flavour.
Uni and ankimo rice bowl (Photo: May Seah)
After the nigiri comes an interesting petite rice bowl featuring ankimo or monkfish liver rice, dotted with traditional pickles and topped with Murasaki uni from Rishiri island in Hokkaido, the last of the season.
Dessert is a handmade muscat grape daifuku with crystal-clear mizu shingen mochi, because Sasagawa doesn’t want to simply serve a platter of predictable fruit.
Karesansui Zen garden platter: Ikura with dashi and yuzu zest, buri with radish paste and chilli pepper, marinated aged ankimo. (Photo: Sushi Takahashi)
While unobtrusive in the tradition of sushi masters, Sasagawa possesses a buoyant sense of humour that’s limited only by his proficiency in English. At the same time, his youth belies long years of discipline and training. His hands have progressed from being covered in cuts when he first started as an apprentice, to very supple from constantly perfecting the art of sushi.
Hailing from Shizuoka prefecture, Sasagawa’s father designed traditional tea rooms, shrines and temples; and his grandmother is a renowned tea master. He walks in their footsteps every time he performs the matcha ceremony at the meal’s end. The earnest solemnity of the ceremony is also about cherishing those who have been brought together in the moment, he said.
(Photo: CNA/Dillon Tan)
Sasagawa found his calling in his formative years when he became entranced by a sushi maestro’s precise cuts and delicate hand movements, and began a discipleship under him. He spent countless hours immersed in cookbooks and visiting fish markets at dawn. After work, he practiced his skills into the wee hours of the morning.
For the young chef, the essence of his craft lies in the shari, the precisely calibrated, vinegared rice that is shaped between his deft hands. The shari at Takahashi is a very balanced one that allows the fish to bask in the spotlight.
(Photo: CNA/Dillon Tan)
To allow himself room for expression while carrying traditional skills on into the future, Sasagawa is interested in the link between cooking and chemistry. His aim is to understand the concept of “delicious” from a scientific perspective, starting with the fundamentals and building on knowledge, he said.
So, a meal at Takahashi exposes you to the bonito fish aged for three years that is shaved down to make the dashi for an asari clam soup, but also drizzles caramel sauce on top of the tamago served towards the meal’s end with a picture-worthy flourish.
Tradition might be unchanging, but deliciousness is not.
Takahashi is at 4 Mohamed Sultan Road.
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You’re at Sushi Takahashi, the first outpost of the Tokyo restaurant by young culinary talent Jun Takahashi.
Sushi Takahashi (Photo: CNA/Dillon Tan)
In Ginza, the cosy establishment has a dedicated following. Chef Takahashi, who trained at three-Michelin-starred Tokyo restaurants, is known for his interesting takes on otsumami, like a signature crab croquette; there’s also a signature Awabi with Uni Handroll featuring fried abalone, abalone liver sauce, uni tartare and fresh uni.
Signature crab croquette: Snow crab, crab bisque, Italian autumn truffles, cream. (Photo: Sushi Takahashi)
It’s not him, however, you’ll see presiding over the counter here, but his protege of eight years, chef Rinto Sasagawa. The head chef is just 24 years old but is already a master of sushi and kappo-style kaiseki. One imagines him moulding nigiri in his hands while still in diapers. The energy he brings is befitting: A meal here is traditional in form and executed with the utmost care, but with unexpected twists of subtle flair.
"Competition between two eels": Anago, unagi, sansho pepper, seaweed salt, wasabi, pickled sansho. (Photo: May Seah)
“Competition between two eels”, for instance, is a dish that features unagi and anago – freshwater eel and saltwater eel – served in two different ways, such that it becomes a little game to guess which is which.
Scallop chawanmushi: Hokkaido scallop, scallop dashi, black pepper, yuzu, lotus root crisp. (Photo: Sushi Takahashi)
Then there’s the scallop chawanmushi, which, when its vessel’s cover is lifted, immediately indicates that it’s not as boring a dish as it sounds. When the spoon hits, the steamed egg’s pale, silky surface blooms into floaty flowers, like very fine tau huay. On the palate, it’s strongly black pepper-forward without being weighed down, the floral notes of the pepper a welcome surprise.
In addition to the requisite trio of tuna cuts, the nigiri lineup includes less commonly served fish like menuke, a deep sea rock fish from Hokkaido with a rich fattiness, gently seared by applying hot binchotan charcoal to each slice. The amaebi or sweet shrimp also hits a home run with a whisper of moshio salt and a topping of Oscietra caviar. But the classic saba sushi, finished with ginger and spring onion, is Sasagawa’s personal favourite, with its oceanic flavour.
Uni and ankimo rice bowl (Photo: May Seah)
After the nigiri comes an interesting petite rice bowl featuring ankimo or monkfish liver rice, dotted with traditional pickles and topped with Murasaki uni from Rishiri island in Hokkaido, the last of the season.
Dessert is a handmade muscat grape daifuku with crystal-clear mizu shingen mochi, because Sasagawa doesn’t want to simply serve a platter of predictable fruit.
Karesansui Zen garden platter: Ikura with dashi and yuzu zest, buri with radish paste and chilli pepper, marinated aged ankimo. (Photo: Sushi Takahashi)
While unobtrusive in the tradition of sushi masters, Sasagawa possesses a buoyant sense of humour that’s limited only by his proficiency in English. At the same time, his youth belies long years of discipline and training. His hands have progressed from being covered in cuts when he first started as an apprentice, to very supple from constantly perfecting the art of sushi.
Hailing from Shizuoka prefecture, Sasagawa’s father designed traditional tea rooms, shrines and temples; and his grandmother is a renowned tea master. He walks in their footsteps every time he performs the matcha ceremony at the meal’s end. The earnest solemnity of the ceremony is also about cherishing those who have been brought together in the moment, he said.
(Photo: CNA/Dillon Tan)
Sasagawa found his calling in his formative years when he became entranced by a sushi maestro’s precise cuts and delicate hand movements, and began a discipleship under him. He spent countless hours immersed in cookbooks and visiting fish markets at dawn. After work, he practiced his skills into the wee hours of the morning.
For the young chef, the essence of his craft lies in the shari, the precisely calibrated, vinegared rice that is shaped between his deft hands. The shari at Takahashi is a very balanced one that allows the fish to bask in the spotlight.
(Photo: CNA/Dillon Tan)
To allow himself room for expression while carrying traditional skills on into the future, Sasagawa is interested in the link between cooking and chemistry. His aim is to understand the concept of “delicious” from a scientific perspective, starting with the fundamentals and building on knowledge, he said.
So, a meal at Takahashi exposes you to the bonito fish aged for three years that is shaved down to make the dashi for an asari clam soup, but also drizzles caramel sauce on top of the tamago served towards the meal’s end with a picture-worthy flourish.
Tradition might be unchanging, but deliciousness is not.
Takahashi is at 4 Mohamed Sultan Road.
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