To me, Tetsu Sushi in Vancouver can hold its own among the best in the world, and over the Christmas Holidays, I had the pleasure of experiencing their in home service. Here was the menu for the evening (which they dont confirm until a few days before as they won’t know exactly what will be coming in fresh from Japan until then):
What was amazing about this experience was that it was a combination of sushi and tempura. In total, there were three people from the restaurant who attended the event including Satoshi (sushi chef), Aky (tempura chef) and Hijiri (server – in traditional kimono).
They arrived 2 hours before the scheduled dinner time to prep.
Watching them prep and talking about food/ingredients in of itself was a highlight of the night. Now, for the food. Starting off with the monk fish liver on bread and steamed Hokkaido Abalone with liver sauce. Absolutely delightful.
Which was followed by the first piece of nigiri.
The chefs then alternated between tempura and nigiri. Each one served and explained by the wonderful server. Each tempura dish came with a different salt. This mushroom was paired with Yuki Shio from Miyako Island.
Overall, this was an amazing experience I would highly recommend this to anyone. To see this type of meal created in your own home is like having your favorite musician perform privately for you. You will be entertained and well fed. The service was amazing and they brought everything with them (including plates, green tea etc) except alcohol and dessert (which I would say is the only drawback – I wish they brought something for dessert). They also cleaned up spotlessly. Needless to say, I would do it again whether at home or at their restaurant.