When tourists look for information on sushi ya, their most popular question is how they could book the number-one sushi restaurant on Tabelog or the Tabelog gold sushi restaurant. I’m surprised at how determined many international young foodies are. They don’t seem to mind how expensive or how difficult it could be. It seems that restaurants that are impossible to book are more appealing.

Most fancy sushi ya are priced around 30,000–40,000 yen these days, although some are run by young apprentices trying to cut their teeth in the sushi dining scene before they are truly ready. While some talents justify their price tags, some are merely disappointments. One could even find examples of hot sushi ya with discriminatory pricing practices against foreigners to rip off uninformed tourists.

In many stock markets, there’s a group of investors who practice value investing. These people are determined to find undervalued stocks for great returns. As for shopping, there is a lot of information on smart shopping to find the best deal or stuff that have the best value. However, it seems that most food bloggers aren’t covering this genre of high-value dinners.

For me, a part of my culinary journey is to find hidden gems. I would go after diamonds in the rough or find restaurants that fit my liking, rather than fight to get a seat at Tabelog gold or some exclusive ichigen san owotowari. With further ado, I’d like to present my personal dinner recommendations for diners who seek excellent value and the best bang for the buck:

For less than 6,000 yen, you can get to enjoy nice nigiri prepared by a 76-year-old master and his son. For entry-level sushi at as low as 2,200 yen and at a price point below 6,000 yen, Bentenyama Miyako is among the best. Nobody can beat its prices and value, except for the lunch set at Daisan Harumi, which features wild shrimp.
You can just call to book it directly. The staff speaks English and welcomes direct inquiries. This is a very foreigner-friendly attitude.
http://www.bentenyama-miyakosushi.com/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd3m5gWnqAH/?igshid=9kfcuwv3775k

Sushi Nishichi used to serve great-value lunch meals, but it has stopped its lunch service to focus on dinner. Its dinner meal is about 13,000 yen for 27 pieces. This would be one of the best sushi you can get within this budget.
Nakagaki-San visits Toyosu each morning to find the best fish for his clients. Their rice is nicely seasoned with the right sourness.
Dining at Sushi Nishichi is cozy, and I was lucky to be attended by a lovely young lady, Adriana, who speaks fluent Japanese. She can help explain everything in perfect English. I have met many photographers in my life, but her photos showing the beauty of Japan are ones of a kind. Booking via your hotel should be easy.
http://www.sushi27.tokyo/menu.html#food-menu
https://instagram.com/japan.spot?igshid=1tct1e67wvykk

Dining at Uwotoku is like stepping back in time. At Uwotoku’s counter, time stands still. The ambiance even before stepping in is very nostalgic. Taisho is kind. Although he might not speak English much, he treats his foreign clients just like his Japanese clients. As it’s a little far off the beaten track, you might not have the company of fellow overseas diners.
At this small house restaurant, you can enjoy close action. My meal started with a series of different otsumami at the six-seat counter before the nigiri was served. The entry-level course starts at 12,000 yen, and you will enjoy the feast. I could see steam coming out of the boiled abalone and seafood before the chef started slicing the abalone.
Please allocate at least three hours and don’t plan anything afterward. There is no rush here; this is quite a feast and you should savor the whole experience.
You can ask your hotel to help you book. The contact info is on this site:
https://uwotoku.sakura.ne.jp/menu.html

Yoshiki-san isn’t shy about using modern cooking techniques and unconventional ingredients. It’s a fun dinner and Yoshiki-san is great company. I would recommend Sushi Ya to anyone with an open mind. Their quality dinner of nigiri and otsumami of 20-25 pieces is offered at the modest price of 15,000 yen.
Booking might be possible via tablecheck. My good friend from Singapore not only shared this booking tip, but also claims that dinner at Hatano Yoshiki is one of the best. Many of the restaurants in Japan got secret booking links via the Japanese version of the booking sites:
https://www.tablecheck.com/en/sushi-syoku-hatano-yoshiki

I regard Sushitake as no. 1 on my list in terms of hospitality. She’s not only a female chef, but also one of the promising chefs of her generation. Her nigiri shows a glimpse of Master Shimizu’s sushi. Her shellfish are also respectable. The skill of Master Shimizu is unmatched by any of her disciples, and she has warm hospitality. Her nigiri omakase dinner is about 15,000 yen. I don’t think, at this quality, you could find this price range in Ginza.

After I read Shoot Saito’s first article on TTT, I was perplexed by his journey to search for the best sushi, savoring sushi ya one by one. Rather than wait for another article, I went straight to his blog in Japanese and tried to decipher his list of 20 best sushi ya in Japanese. One name that caught my attention was Fukumoto, which, since then, has been on my bucket list.
Finding Fukumoto is a mini challenge. It’s not easy to find the tiny sign, written only in Japanese. It’s located one floor below a flight of stairs, another challenge for not so young diners. The ambiance is quite refined. On this particular list, I think Fukumoto has the best shari. His shari is his calling card. It’s wonderfully seasoned and perfectly balanced with his neta. This is a very satisfying meal. His nigiri course is only 11,000 yen for 13 pieces. His nigiri will put many sushi ya who have priced their dinner above 30,000 yen to shame. ChutoroZuke has also written an excellent review so I would recommend any interested diner to check his full review on this website.
The only reservation is that this is going to be a fast dinner, ideally for people who have little time. My dinner took much less than 60 minutes. Fukumoto is in a very local neighborhood with lots of local shops. It would be a fun neighborhood to walk around.
In conclusion, Fukumoto is, hands down, the winner in terms of price, performance, and taste. I would recommend to anyone to try Fukumoto at least once. Booking Fukumoto is super easy, via the OpenTable mobile app. I’m surprised that a credit card wasn’t even required. I hope this will stay unchanged. Many no-shows among foreign diners could lead to the end of easy booking via OpenTable. However, I believe in TTT fans, and I hope all the new TTT readers will adhere to the TTT promise to be a good guest.

Local taste had taken a long journey searching for delicious meals long before the dawn of social media, roaming from one city to another from the Far East to the west, over 160 cities in four continents and more than 400,000 miles during the last 37 years.
His dining spots over thousands of restaurants range from eating in a hole in the wall in Asia to all ten Michelin 3-star restaurants in Paris. More than decades was spent on chasing for perfect xiao long bao.
Because he is not in food business nor food writer, his article won’t be found elsewhere but exclusively on tokyotabletrip.com as a tribute to Leo Saito’s altruistic deed to help international visitors discover the beauty of Japanese cuisine.