Intruducing Sushidokoro Kurosugi in Osaka.
https://myconciergejapan.com/restaurants/sushi-kurosugi/
Sushidokoro Kurosugi is located in Kitashinchi, Osaka. Head Chef Akihiro Kurosugi established his own business at the early age of 30 years old in 2003 and is a sushi chef with amazing abilities, also having been awarded a Michelin star. 大阪・北新地にある「寿し処 黒杉」。大将の黒杉章宏氏は、2003年に若干30歳で独立し、ミシュラン一つ星を獲得した実力の持ち主です。
He opened his second branch Shinkan in 2022 and is planning to open his 3rd location in Jeju Island, South Korea in the near future.
Recommended by a Top Chef：Sushi Harasho / Chef Ishikawa
Chef Ishikawa, the owner of Sushi Harasho, the only sushi establishment in Osaka's sushi scene to consistently earn two Michelin stars over the years, attended the grand opening event when Sushidokoro Kurosugi relocated to its current building and could be seen making sushi alongside Chef Kurosugi.
Brought together by Chef Ishikawa who cares greatly about the growth of his colleagues, My Concierge has exclusively handled international reservations for Sushidokoro Kurosugi over the years.
Sushidokoro Kurosugi is located in a big office building with many entrances so let me first show you the best way to get there.
It is on the 2nd floor of Shin-Daibiru Bldg which can be accessed by an outside entrance which says “Restaurant＆Shops” above.
There you will find an escalator to the 2nd floor.
Take the hallway to the left once on the 2nd floor and you will find the restaurant.
The main hinoki-wood counter is L-shaped and seats up to 10 guests. There is also a private room counter which can accommodate 9 seats.
We took our seats to begin our lunch course.
Today we had reserved the 5,500 JPY lunch course (which is 3,960 JPY for female guests). As you probably just noticed, this lunch course is a complete bargain for a sushi establishment of such a high caliber and is one of their most highly requested courses.
The menu for this day was comprised of an appetizer, soup, Makizushi (rolled sushi), Tamagoyaki (egg omelet) and 9 pieces of nigiri sushi.
Let me introduce a few from those which impressed me the most.
Our food was prepared by an apprentice of Chef Kurosugi and it is customary for the younger chefs to handle the lunch services.
The smooth, precise and meaningful movements of his hands as he served our courses were so pleasant to watch.
Guests from overseas will be happy to hear that few members of the staff here are currently studying simple English and/or Chinese in order to better communicate with those who are visiting from across the globe.
The 1st dish: Simmered Octopus
Chewy yet extremely tender octopus full of flavor. Accompanied by a hot cup of tea which was perfect to warm the stomach.
The 4th dish: Nigiri of Seared Spicy Pollack roe (on the right)
The searing brought out an exquisite aroma while still leaving the pleasant bubble-popping sensation intact.
The 8th Dish: Nigiri of Shrimp covered by Oboro Flakes
“Oboro” are flakes made from crushed fish or seafood which is then cooked with low heat and seasoned with salt, sugar and cooking sake.
Not only was it very visually attractive but the oboro added another level of sweetness to accompany the natural sweetness of the shrimp.
The 11th dish: Unagi Nigiri
While the appearance was generic, the soft fluffy texture of the eel was simply amazing.
Those who are not accustomed to eating eel or unagi may shy away from trying it, however we strongly recommend eating it once as your mind just might be changed.
The last dish: Tamagoyaki
It was nothing like the egg omelets I had seen or eaten until then.
Some might say it is almost like a dessert of some kind and was extremely delicious and satisfying.
Here let me tell you about the Shari (rice) used at Sushidokoro Kurosugi.
Sushi is generally made using ordinary “white” rice vinegar, but Sushidokoro Kurosugi instead uses Akazu to season its sushi.
Akazu is a mild red-colored vinegar which is made from sake lees, and is typically aged for 3-4 years. It has a reddish color from which it derives its name, “aka ” meaning red and “ zu ” meaning vinegar, and is the older traditional way of making Edomae sushi before the use of white vinegar became popular.
Akazu is not as sharp and sour compared to ordinary rice vinegar and is characterized by its low acidity, slightly sweet flavor, and reddish color. It brings a deep, flavorful, refreshing taste full of umami to the sushi.
We recommend trying sushi made from Akazu even if you have tried non-Akazu sushi until now.
Sushidokoro Kurosugi offers an unique sushi lunch experience, priced at less than half of the dinner prices.
This is a result of the dedication of Chef Akihiro Kurosugi who focuses on nurturing the growth of young talented chefs in the sushi industry.
We highly recommend visiting Sushidokoro Kurosugi if you have the opportunity of visiting Osaka and want to eat sushi.
We at My Concierge Japan do not exclusively represent only Michelin-starred restaurants but we also carefully curate and select outstanding restaurants which are recommended to us by top chefs in the industry, as well as foodies from across the country.
We aim to provide a concierge service so that food-loving guests from all across the world can enjoy restaurants in Japan smoothly, safely and worry-free.
Visit our website for more information: https://myconciergejapan.com/
We would also like to recommend Shinkan, the second branch of Sushidokoro Kurosugi, which opened in August 2022.
It is a brand new establishment created by Chef Kurosugi and his top apprentice chef, offering the same delightful flavors which can be found at the original Kurosugi counters.
【Shinkan】 https://myconciergejapan.com/restaurants/shinkan/
Looking ahead, there are also plans to open a 3rd branch in Jeju Island, South Korea. Chef Kurosugi looks forward to serving his sushi beyond the borders of Japan to the world.
Korea
Chef Kurosugi’s former apprentices have also opened their own establishments in Jeju Island and Busan.
We are sorry but reservations at the Korea branch cannot be made via My Concierge Japan.
Busan, Korea【Himatsubushi Shunsai Kubo】
Awarded in the 2024 Busan edition Bib Gourmand.
https://m.place.naver.com/restaurant/1305694779/home?entry=plt
Move to an external website.
Jeju Island, Korea【Kurosugi Kohaku】
https://m.place.naver.com/restaurant/1621406599/home?entry=pll
Move to an external website.
We at My Concierge Japan do not exclusively represent only Michelin-starred restaurants but we also carefully curate and select outstanding restaurants which are recommended to us by top chefs in the industry, as well as foodies from across the country.
We aim to provide a concierge service so that food-loving guests from all across the world can enjoy restaurants in Japan smoothly, safely and worry-free.
