I think that the appreciation of Japanese kaiseki art grows with experience. First time I had a kaiseki meal in Kyoto, I found it too unusual to enjoy. The flavours of most of the dishes were very mild, kind of “muted” and some of the ingredients were quite bizarre. Then…

If you pass by this tiny Japanese restaurant in the 16th, you might not even notice it. The exterior and interior of Juan ( 144 rue de la Pompe, 75116 Paris, tel. 0147274351 ) are typically Japanese, very discrete and minimalist. When I sat down at one of the four tables…

Japanese tapas and sushi restaurant Dinings is a perfect example of when a student surpasses his master. Dining’s chef used to work at Nobu, so you will find many Nobu inspired dishes, but there are plenty of new creations such as various tapas or contemporary sushi. Seared Wagyu beef sushi topped with…

Ushiwakamaru (136 West Houston Street,10012, tel. 212-228-4181, New York) sushi bar on West Houston is one of my best discoveries in NY this year. If you are a sushi purist like me, you will love this simple place run by Japanese chef Hideo Kuribara where the product is the king.…

Oyster sashimi with soy sauce and chives at Sushi Imamura, Hong Kong. Astonishing simplicity. Imamura san has been living in HK since twenty years. He is originally from Kyoto.

For years I considered Sushi Yasuda in New York as the benchmark for perfect sushi outside Japan, this time it was just a shadow of its former self. Everything seemed to be like always, yet the key element, the fish was much worse than previous times. The fish was dry…

After eating in all these “alpha” sushi places in Tokyo the standards for fish and rice get pretty high. I don’t want to sound snobbish – the first time I went to Japan I was so ignorant, I thought that sushis are the most basic meal to prepare, something everyone…

Sushis in a random sushiya somewhere in Japan.. Nothing in common with this or this. Looking from a European point of view, the fish in “a random sushiya somewhere in Japan” was still better than anywhere in Europe. The rice was a disaster though. You get what you pay for…

I am jealous of all the great sushi restaurants you can find in Manhattan. In that sense, Europe is sad (I know, I am repeating myself ;)) – the fish quality is bad most of the times, the sushi masters (or those pretending to be sushi masters) don’t slice fish…

Harutaka (1*, Kawabata Building 3F, 8-5-8 Ginza, tel. 03 3573 1144 ) – the last sushiya from the sushi from Tokyo series this year. And my favourite so far. Harutaka Takahashi ( left) comes from Sukiyabashi Jiro “school”, so you can see many similarities with Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi (and, I…