Hatou Tokyo

At Hatou, their early summer menu showcases the culinary mastery of 熊切さん. The otsumami, or appetizers, he prepares are consistently outstanding. This time, he skillfully paired a pleasantly bitter Ayu fish with the sweetness of baby corn, resulting in an excellent combination of flavors. The first hamo (pike conger) of the season was so delicious that it may remain unrivaled for the rest of the year.

The centerpiece of the meal consisted of 12 nigiri sushi pieces and 3 hand rolls, each impeccably crafted and aged to perfection. To complete the dining experience, Mr. Kumagiri served his renowned suppon soup and a delectable ice cream.

The diners around me were so impressed that they immediately wanted to make another reservation. However, the earliest available date Mr. Kumagiri could offer was in June 2024, emphasizing the high demand for his culinary expertise. Those fortunate enough to have secured reservations for 2024 can consider themselves truly lucky. Less

(SWIPE FOR MORE PICS) The other day I went to a popular sushi restaurant in Tokyo, Hatou, headed by young chef Daichi Kumagiri. A sense of warmth got to me when I saw this happening : when the four young chefs worked together to peel the shells of kuruma ebi with big smiles, so motivated and enjoying the moment. I was so touched.

@bernard.lin sent me an excerpt from the late Ryuichi Sakamoto in the book by legendary chef Ogata in Kyoto:

“I care about the well-being of the staff because I love the restaurant itself. And in turn, I can see that the employees respect the chef. I can look at their faces and see whether they are motivated by money, or if they are truly invested in the work they do. Another important element for determining restaurant greatness is the customer himself. Someone who is only interested in earning bragging rights that he has eaten at a famous restaurant actually ruins
the atmosphere. Just as with the staff, I can sense whether customers adore the restaurant and cuisine. And if that's the case, I'm happy to spend several hours dining there. Chefs must need a tremendous spirit and virtue to be able to reel in both quality staff and customers.”

I cannot agree more. When I was at Hatou, I could completely feel the respect from Kuma san to his team and to customers, he is so courteous and always smiling.

That day a gentleman came with his 80+ year old mother, and she ate everything and loved drinking wine and whisky. Kuma san was so caring and kept asking if everything was ok, if she was full or not, and if she had enough to drink. Other chefs helped to change our tea to make sure it was never cold. The continuous flow of “thank you” “please” was so genuine and real. This kind of heartwarming hospitality immediately makes me fall in love with the team and want to support their devotion to their career.

And of course customers in the restaurant make a huge difference. I have had meals where the food was excellent but the customers ruined the whole experience. Luckily here I enjoyed every moment. With the hardworking attitude and continuous improvement in nigiri skills of Kuma san, I am sure he will go far. Less

10th meal.

I doubt there are many people, left alone foreigners, who have been to this restaurant 10 times or more. So, now that I have, I’ll stick my head out.
This place serves one of the best otsumami one can get in Tokyo and by extension in the world. Yes, I believe that his overshadow the likes from legends such as Sugita-san and Sawada-san. The only place which in my book is on par is Saito-san. Here I said it! It most likely is going to burn me, but I cannot help.
He served five servings to start you off. The first dish was a cooked radish with spring vegetables in a pure vegetable dashi. How he can produce so much umami from only vegetables remains his secret. This was followed by Tachiuo (タチウオ / Beltfish), fried tempura style with a taranome (young buds of the angelica tree) served with salt into which he mixed white kombu powder. All of this delight was topped by a dish of Komochi yari-ika (子持ちの槍烏賊), a pregnant spear squid filled with its own eggs. Succulent, rich in taste and texture, a masterpiece. Second to last, a vegetable nigiri, strongly seasoned rice topped with Shungiku (leaves or dark greens from the glebionis coronaria plant, commonly known as “garland chrysanthemum” or “chop suey greens”). A bunch of strong flavors. To bridge into the nigiri part of the meal he served a Hamaguri (蛤 / Common Hard Clam) soup, very restrained, milky and very subtle to let the palate recover from the strong flavors before. What a sequence and composition!
His nigiris continue to improve and are now on a top level, the rice is seasoned with restraint, an emphasis on the acidity with very little or no sugar in the shari. It is cooked beyond al dente but still grainy, creating a nice texture on the palate. The 12 nigiri and 2 maki only contained, thankfully, 3 tuna netas. All of them are carefully sourced and seasoned to perfection to release the maximum umami. The neta star of the evening was the sakura masu (Cherry salmon) , a type of sea trout caught in Aomori prefecture.
This young men, is still in his very early 30ies, he opened his place barely two years ago, but is already a master of his craft. It is becoming hard to book and will most likely become impossible. Try to get one seat in this beautiful sushiya and enjoy your food while admiring the 8 meter long counter from Africa.

Less

Hatou is a wonderful restaurant. His otsumami being a trained kaiseki chef are outstanding and his nigiri improve every time I have been there.
A wonderful place with an even better hospitality. Now that I have been to so many restaurants of the Ichikawa group I noticed that all of them excel in provide an unbelievable service. There seems to be one doctrine: everybody is responsible for everything. And it works, so when the Taisho himself sees that there is an empty plate or an empty glass, he will take care of it immediately. It is so prefect and so consistent across all restaurants of the group that it must come from the Master himself. Less

Kashigiri at Hatou. Due to a cancellation we were the only guests. Great to have time to chat to the Taishō and his apprentice.
I still believe that he is producing some of the best and tastiest otsumami in Tokyo. For example his ayu, fired to perfection so it becomes equally crispy without loosing the required bitterness to make it great.
His nigiri skills are getting better and better., the chu toro and the aji being the stellar pieces of the evening.
Fantastic meal, looking forward to my next one at the end of this month.
Less

Uni hand roll
ウニの手巻き

鮨屋で一般的に使われるものよりも薄手の海苔を、炙りたてで用いている。

口の中に入れた瞬間に消えるので、海苔という固体の存在を感じさせず、食べているというより香りのみを味わっているかのよう。

ウニを邪魔せず、引き立て役として存在感を放っているのが素晴らしい。

2021年3月

Hato | Kagurazaka, Tokyo
神楽坂「波濤」

#uni #seaurchin #handroll #ウニ #ウニ手巻き #hato #sushi #波濤 #鮨 #tokyoeats #東京グルメ
#michelin #tabelog #ミシュラン #食べログ #worlds50best #asias50best #アジアのベストレストラン50 #世界のベストレストラン50 #opinionatedaboutdining
#美味しいもの好きな人と繋がりたい #旅好きな人と繋がりたい #食べるの好きな人と繋がりたい #レストラン好きな人と繋がりたい #外食好きな人と繋がりたい #鮨好きな人と繋がりたい Less

神楽坂「石かわ」仕込みの料理と東麻布「天本」で修業した握り、というだけで人気になる要素を兼ね備えているが、その高い期待値を上回ってくれる新進気鋭の一軒。

料理全般にも言えることかもしれないが、握りに関しては特に、「美しいものは美味しい」という言葉が当てはまる。写真が全てを物語ってくれる。

2020年12月

Hato (Kagurazaka, Tokyo)
神楽坂「波濤」

#hato #tokyoeats #sushi #波濤 #東京グルメ #石かわグループ #石かわ #天本 #鮨
#michelin #tabelog #ミシュラン #食べログ #worlds50best #asias50best #アジアのベストレストラン50 #世界のベストレストラン50 #opinionatedaboutdining
#美味しいもの好きな人と繋がりたい #旅好きな人と繋がりたい #食べるの好きな人と繋がりたい Less

Second visit at Hatou. The Young chef and his even younger team convince. The otsumami are excellent, the chef changed some of the dishes to give us something different from the last visit.
The nigiris are well formed and the shari good seasoned. Outstanding pieces were the aji, the tori-gai and the ebi.
It is a joy to watch them work, they have fun as a team while being super professional. No details gets overlooked and the need of the guest is Alok ist anticipated.
I had to rebook it. It is getting harder, so get in line.
Less