Sushiyoshi, Taipei
- K
- May 25, 2023
- 5 min read
Sushiyoshi was originally established in 1990 in Osaka by Chef Hiroki Nakanoue. Decades later he opened a branch in Hong Kong and how has restaurants in a few places including Taipei.
What caught my eye about Sushiyoshi was the fun element in it. Most items aren't presented in their raw form as is usually the case in a sushi restaurant but instead prepares them in a rather unusual way. It was also for this reason that I put it off for quite awhile as I've wanted to understand what traditional sushi was like first before veering into uncharted territory.
As with most Japanese sushi-yas the menu is Omakase only and they have 4 different menus spread across lunch and dinner: 3500 and 5500 NTD menus for lunch and 6500 and 8500 NTD menus for dinner.
I went with the 8500 NTD menu during dinner.
The course started with a rather playful take on a potato salad, presented on a spoon.
Layers of potato cooked such that it was crunchy, stacked on top of one another to give the feel of a millefeuille. The meal was off to a rather decent start.
Next up was a sashimi dish of Kinmedai (Golden eye snapper) and tuna. The dish was well-prepared with the proportion and flavour levels of the sauce being just right and the strips of ginger in the right quantity. The kinmedai was pristine, fatty, flavourful but as for the tuna this was the first clue that the level of ingredients here aren't top-notch.
Next up was the sushi portion of the meal. There would be multiple plated dishes served in-between the sushi to break up the meal.
First was a rather clean tai nigiri.
Next a dish of kegani (hairy crab) from Hokkaido with caviar. This dish looks heavy but what caught me by surprise was how light on the palate this dish was! Beneath the caviar was a very thick layer of light cream with chunks of kegani in it - balancing the caviar exceptionally well.
Back to sushi - kasugodai nigiri. In some places they marinate the kasugodai in vinegar and treat it in almost a similar way they treat kohada but here it was presented fresh with just a tinge of vinegar. A refreshing take and I definitely prefer this to one which is poorly marinated in vinegar.
Kanpachi sashimi with chopped shiso leaves.
Breaking the sequence of nigiri again was a dish of hotaru ika. It was accompanied with a dashi jelly which was visually pleasing but very weak taste-wise. Dashi is very delicate, it is rare that creative presentations of it lead to better or even the same level of taste.
Otoro sashimi.
For a reason that eludes me the wasabi was placed on top of the fish for this particular piece instead of beneath it. Now there is no 'proper' way of eating sushi but the generally accepted way is to use your hands (or chopsticks), flip the sushi then place it in your mouth.
If the diner were to eat it this way, it would lead to an intense burning sensation which was too much for the fattiness of the otoro to put out. Even if the diner were to put it the right way up and not flip it, thats even worse as the burning sensation would be on the roof of the mouth. Hence I really don't understand the idea behind putting the wasabi on top.
Usually the wasabi is put between the shari (rice) and the neta (topping). This is because if you were to flip it and put it in the first point of contact would be the fatty fish. The fish would melt, flooding your mouth with fish oils then the huge mound of wasabi hits. But because your mouth is flooded with oils, you need more wasabi to produce that kick.
Putting a mound of wasabi unprotected on top of the neta like that is asking for a fire in the mouth.
Next up was a dish of tomato, caviar with yellowtail. A rather peculiar flavour profile which somehow worked.
Now came the grilled fish. Today's grilled fish was sawara with white asparagus. The fish was a tad overcooked and dry, the individual strands were showing and could be peeled off individually and the fish oils could not be seen nor tasted. This should not happen in a piece of properly cooked fish.
The meal then turned back to sushi with the Akami zuke (marinated lean tuna meat) nigiri.
The tuna was sliced thinly and presented as two layers on top of each other. I haven't eaten enough sushi to know why this is done nor what the pros/cons are but one thing is for sure there is no saving tuna with very weak flavour.
Another challenge regarding akami zuke nigiri is the level of marination - sometimes its so weak you cant really taste soy, sometimes its as good as drinking soy, its an aspect of akami zuke nigiri that very very very few sushi places have mastered.
I have only had a good piece of akami zuke thrice - two were at super famous sushi places in Tokyo (Harutaka and Arai) and the third was in Singapore, but sadly it was a performance they struggled to repeat on subsequent visits so it was more of a one-off fluke.
Next was a cooked dish of fried abalone. This was fried not in the typical tempura batter but more of a fine crispy breaded texture, the chef explained it as 酥皮. The frying was very well done, but the abalone was a tad chewy and flavourless. It would have been a spectacular dish had the abalone been of good quality.
Next up was Sushiyoshi's signature dish - Botan ebi carpaccio with prawn head sorbet.
This was AMAZING. The sorbet was just sweet enough and chock full of umami from prawn heads and the carpaccio thinly sliced yet retaining that bounciness and sweetness that makes botan ebis nice. A dish with a playful spin that was done very sensibly. This was easily dish of the night.
Next was a 'cappuccino' which, forgive me but I honestly forgot what it was made of.
Bafun uni gunkan
I have always thought that uni sushi should be served without seaweed as much as possible. It distracts too much from the natural sweetness and brininess of the uni but it is sometimes unavoidable if the uni lobes are small, as is the case here.
Note that small lobes are not an indicator of quality (sometimes they are but sometimes no). Different species have inherently different sizes - for example Bafun uni will have smaller lobes than Murasaki and Aka uni.
The bafun uni gunkan here was a decent version. Nothing to shout about, but not much to pick on either.
The meal then came to a close with the quintessential Tamago. This was a little fluffy and moist with good texture.
There was one more piece before dessert - a tuna roll with the three main parts of the tuna!
Dessert was a citrus sorbet. A decent ending.
Sushiyoshi Taipei put up a decent meal. There were sparks of brilliance but at the same time some low points. It was nice enough to make me feel like visiting the original Sushiyoshi in Osaka, in search of more sparks of brilliance like the Botan Ebi Carpaccio.
Sushiyoshi Taipei
1st Visit, 21st April 2023
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