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Ginza Fukusuke: Ikebukuro 銀座 福助 Sushi / Ikebukuro

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  • Ginza Fukusuke: Ikebukuro
  • (2007-10-02)
  • An old adagio of French cooking is that you can tell a chef's worth by his or her sauces. In Japan, the sauces are not the true measure but the soup. If I had to go by the soup alone, Fukusuke sushi would rank very high in my list of culinary experiences in Japan. But, it wasn't all soup, and the rest of the meal unfortunately didn't measure up to the superb quality of the crab miso broth I was served.

    Though it is always tempting to take advantage of the view at a restaurant located on the top floors of a building, half the fun at a sushi restaurant is to sit at the counter and watch the chefs in action. As long as you're not coming with a huge group, I'd sit at the counter and watch the chefs slice away the day's offerings and place them before you.

    Fukusuke allows customers to order a la carte or to ask for an omakase course. Omakase consists of the chef's choice of sushi that day, and you don't get a say in what you will receive. Unless you're specific about the sushi you like, I'd recommend leaving the choice to the chef at a place like this. You can always be picky about what you get at a kaiten-sushi place (conveyor-belt sushi restaurants), but Fukusuke stocks seasonal fish at its best, and through the omakase course you can try new items you might haven't even heard of!

    My set of nigiris included some classics like 2 grades of toro (fatty tuna), hottate (scallops) and ikura (salmon roe), while also featuring some of the most tender akagai (red clam) I've ever eaten. Other items included taco (octopus), crab legs (kani), awabi and a couple more whose names I couldn't pick up. Finally, as a present from the chef I received a buttery piece of anago that literally melted in my mouth. While the fish was top-quality, unfortunately the rice underneath was too dry for my taste. I found myself reaching for my drink after every piece to rehydrate my mouth before digging in for the next morsel.

    The soup however was a complete different story. Halfway into my meal the waiter brought a crab-miso soup with a few legs still swimming in there. I believe that the base broth was made with crab shells, and then sweetened with white miso. One of the dangers in boiling crabs is that they sometimes release a bitter juice and ruin the broth-this was certainly not the case at fukusuke! The soup tasted slightly sweet and had all the essence of the ocean packed in every slurp. A couple hours after my meal I could still taste the broth in my mouth. I would recommend a visit to fukusuke just to try this soup which I am sure you will not forget!

    The store is located on the 12th floor of the Tobu Tojo department store in Ikebukuro. Beware that not all elevators connect to the top floors, so if you find that your elevator only goes up to the 8th floor, change elevators on the third and head to the ones by the women's lingerie section which connect to fukusuke.
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