HOTEL chambre ASAMI

Locally raised chickens from Kagoshima are shipped directly to the restaurant and grilled over Bincho charcoal. The appetiser for the prix fixe menu is lightly seared chicken thigh. Yakitori is almost always salted, so as to bring the high quality of the meat to the fore. Yuba tofu, soy milk thickened with starch, is the house’s renowned palate cleanser. The flavour of the chicken melts into the soup of the soy-sauce ramen that brings the meal to a close. Adding oyakodon is warmly recommended. As befits the restaurant’s name, which starts with ‘sumibi’, ‘charcoal flame’, the interior is ash-gr

Until the previous generation, the shop had focused on sushi deliveries, but the current owner transformed it into a sushi restaurant. He changed the sushi, too, reflecting his training in the Edomae style. Sushi is served omakase style, but the chef also picks up on guests’ preferences and chooses pieces accordingly; if the guest likes to drink, he increases the number of small dishes that go well with sake. Seafood items from Osaka Bay, such as sea bream, sand shrimp, and egg cockle, are woven into the mix. Sushi is formed using red-vinegar rice.

Tomonori Matsumura built the foundations of his career at a ryotei before travelling to France to add Western techniques to his toolkit. His creed is ‘Make ingredients taste even more like themselves’. For example, shrimp dishes use reduced shrimp stock to enhance the star ingredient. Butter, garlic and fresh cream are sometimes used to lend subtle notes to his seasonings. Matsumura’s aim is to create recipes that will resonate a century from now; Japanese cuisine that will be talked about for generations.

When you order sake, the chef presents a box of paulownia wood containing Satsuma and Tenma kiriko cut-glass drinking cups. These craft traditions of Kagoshima and Osaka tell of where the chef was born, and where he apprenticed. Fish is selected at Tsuruhashi Market. The meal starts with snacks before proceeding to more creative preparations, attesting to his experience. Nigiri are formed small, in the hope you will sample as many different items as possible. The chef’s ready smile is another factor that keeps diners coming back.

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