Sushi Azabu

Sushi Azabu is located in the basement of Greenwich Grill and boasts a modest eight seat counter sushi bar with a few banquettes lining the opposite wall. You enter through the Greenwich Grill’s main entrance and when you inform the hostess you’re there for the sushi bar she radios down to find out if they’re ready for you. You’re led down the stairs to the basement and through a series of curtains to arrive at Sushi Azabu and you’re welcomed with the typical sushi bar greeting from the itamaes behind the bar. The small space is modestly decorated and there are three itamaes behind the counter.

The gimmick worked on me and I was immediately in love. I honestly don’t know if it’s feeling like I know something that others don’t or basement hideouts that appeal to me more. We ordered the omakase that they’re willing to alter the content and price of according to your needs. We decided to go with the recommended $100 price point and a side of Sapporo. I personally far prefer beer over sake with sushi, but if you’re into sake they have quite a list.

Our first bite was octopus and daikon radish in a miso and soy glaze. I loved the daikon in this and parts of the octopus were delightful while others were a tad too chewy. This bite was followed by the largest oysters I have ever seen in my entire life. A series of 3 giant Japanese oysters were arranged on this mammoth oyster shell with a minced, slightly hot pepper and Japanese sauce atop it. The oysters were a delight and unexpectedly were oddly creamier then their smaller, US brethren.

At the start, the food was arriving at a much faster pace then I prefer. It’s a very delicate science as to the right speed for food to arrive. I don’t like when you start looking around wondering why you haven’t gotten anything, but I despise when one plate is removed and another immediately placed in front of you. I’m not a competitive eater and I like to slowly enjoy my food otherwise I don’t have room for my dessert! I really wish they had been a bit slower with the food.

Next up was the sashimi plate, which had two or three pieces of four different types of fish. My favorite was this white fish that was buttery heaven. My next favorite was the fatty tuna. I didn’t love either the clam or the mackerel, the latter of which tasted a tad bit fishy to me and had the skin still on.

The theme throughout the night was without a doubt Fatty Tuna. We had many different preparations of it and most had different levels of fattiness. I loved each piece of fatty tuna we tried, but I would’ve liked a bit more variety in the fish because it seemed like they had a good selection on the regular menu. I couldn’t help but wonder whether they were putting forth their best fish or trying to get rid of something they had in large supply.

After our sashimi, a piping hot ramekin of egg custard was placed in front of us. It was so steaming that we had to wait a good 5 minutes before it was cool enough to try. This was an interesting little dish with mushrooms and egg. It was tasty, but nothing special.

The next dish was a cold crab and cucumber salad in vinaigrette. This was very good fresh crab in a really nice rice wine vinaigrette with crisp cucumber. But again, it was nothing that blew me out of the water. The following dish was fatty tuna marinated in sweet miso sauce. To me there is absolutely nothing as delightful as fish in miso. It’s just a match made in flavor heaven. So it was no surprise that I loved this, but I will say I prefer black cod miso.

Then the main event and my absolute favorite part began. The itamae made us single sushi pieces and placed them ceremoniously on the board in front of each of us. I loved watching him mold the rice for each piece and delicately place the fish atop it. Each piece contained the proper balance of flavor on the rice (we were not given soy sauce to dip the pieces in but rather the chef included the proper flavorings on each individual piece whether that be soy and wasabi or something else). We began with a fatty tuna piece that was fabulous. Our next sushi was scallop. I’ve never had scallop sushi, and I’m sad I haven’t because this was really delightful. The thinly sliced scallop was layered over the rice, and the bite just melted in your mouth. The next was salmon roe roll, which was okay but a bit too much roe flavor that to me should have been offset by something else being in the roll. Then there was a piece of mackerel that was far better than the sashimi mackerel. And then our itamae pulled out a blow torch and seared a piece of fatty tuna that had been brushed with a soy-miso glaze atop rice. Holy cow…it was awesome. Next was my favorite, the horse mackerel (Aji) that was just buttery goodness. Then, he passed us a cone of fatty tuna that was excellent. Our final role was a miso black cod roll that was fish candy heaven on rice. After we had digested for a few minutes, he came over and said I am going to make you each one more of whatever was your favorite roll. I picked the Aji and Susan opted for the miso black cod. This entire portion of the night sold me on this place.

After our sushi board was cleared, our waitress brought us shrimp head miso. This was far too strong of a shrimp taste for either of us and we were forced to feign complete and utter fullness to avoid any awkward we don’t like this at all conversations.

All in all, a wonderful experience at the sushi bar. I would have definitely enjoyed seeing a greater variety of fish, but adored the majority of what they served us. It hasn’t stolen my heart as my favorite sushi bar in the city, but it is a cool place that serves excellent quality sushi.