Omakase at Sushi Sen, Toritsudaigaku

Salut! It's Yoko, your food blogger.

I went to Sushi Sen, a sushi restaurant about an 8-minute walk from Toritsudaigaku Station.

Sushi Sen, a hideaway sushi restaurant

This is the flyer that introduced me to Sushi Sen.

The delivery flyer, with "Sen" written in bold brush calligraphy, left a strong impression, and I'd been curious about the place for a long time.

There's hardly any information about it online either, so it felt quite mysterious.

I never had the chance to go, but I finally made it!

It's about an 8-minute walk from Toritsudaigaku Station, in a completely residential area.

It was already pitch dark when I found Sushi Sen!

When you open the door, a hallway leads down to the basement. The floor has a glossy black shine and feels very upscale.

Go down the stairs and through the door, and on the left there's a folding-screen style piece of art. Beautiful!

Then I turned right and the restaurant came into view.
The chef popped his head out from behind the counter and gave us a lively "Irasshai!" (welcome).

You take off your shoes and step up to a sunken-kotatsu-style counter, with seats for about 10 people around the kitchen.

The previous customers had just left, so we had the whole place to ourselves.

A chef who loves to talk

With no other customers, I talked and talked with the chef.
It may have been the most I've ever talked at a sushi restaurant, lol

The chef told us that Sushi Sen used to have locations in Roppongi and Azabu too, but sadly they closed because of COVID...

This Taira-machi branch is in the basement of the owner's house, so there's no rent.
They figured they could keep going here, so they moved from the Roppongi shop.

The reason there was no information online is that until recently it had been members-only for years, and they only handed out a small number of flyers.

I see... With all the mysteries solved, the food began!

I couldn't decide between a nigiri-only course and the chef's omakase course with small dishes too, and went with the ¥8,000 omakase course.

Mizudako (water octopus). Dressed with sesame oil, scallion, sesame, and salt, like a Korean namul. The salt was fairly direct.
I think I prefer something with more dashi flavor.

Flounder, and seared bonito with garlic.
The flounder was delicious. Bonito is in season right now.

The pickled ginger (gari) was unusual: a mix of shiso, myoga ginger, and sesame! I've rarely come across gari with this much thought put into it, so it stood out and tasted great.
I forgot to take a photo, but around this point freshly boiled edamame came out, which made me happy. I felt like I could eat it forever, lol

Scallop. Sweet.

Hamo (pike conger). Topped with an umeboshi (pickled plum) sauce, on sliced onion with something like ponzu underneath. With a bit less sauce, I could have tasted the hamo more.

Chawanmushi (savory egg custard) topped with salmon roe, conger eel, grilled octopus suckers, and sweet-simmered octopus. The chawanmushi had no fillings. I think it would look prettier if the little bubbles were skimmed off. The sweet-simmered octopus was nicely flavored through the meat itself, but it was topped with a sweet-salty sauce as well, which made it a bit strong. I think it would be fine without the sauce.

Narazuke (sake-lees pickles) with cheese. Simply delicious! I like iburigakko (smoked pickled daikon) with cheese too.

Sumi-ika (cuttlefish). Soft and sweet. It had sauce on it, but milder than in the earlier dishes.
Or maybe it just tasted mild because I'd had stronger flavors first?

Kohada (gizzard shad). Cured just right.

Lean tuna (akami).

Medium fatty tuna (chutoro). A nice, moderate amount of fat.

Amaebi (sweet shrimp).

A roll of crab meat, sea urchin, and rice mixed together. The soy sauce flavor was on the strong side.

Tamago (sweet egg). Sweet and juicy, and so good!

Soup. The only ingredient was scallion, but the seafood broth came through clearly.

By this point I was full and went to the restroom...
The bidet toilet seat didn't work, but the hand towels were real cloth towels, which felt luxurious.

Back at my seat, I finished with grape sorbet for dessert. (I forgot to take a photo.)

The bill for two, with two or three alcoholic drinks each, was about ¥20,000.

I tend to prefer dishes that are a bit more elaborate, so next time I'd like to go for a course that's all sushi!

Sushi Sen is a hideaway, so I think it's well suited to renting out for a group of friends or having an important conversation.

If you live nearby, do check it out!

Sushi Sen

Sushi Sen (official website)
2-20-14 Taira-machi, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
03-6421-3364
Delivery: 12:00-14:00, 17:00-22:00
Dinner: 17:00-23:00 (last order 22:00)
Closed Mondays (the following Tuesday if Monday is a holiday)