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Sushidokoro Nao, Simple Yet Sophisticated Dishes and Sake Pairing

”Delicious things are always sweet” once the food master 魯山人(Rosanjin) said. Sweet taste is our most primitive taste, as mother milk has rich sweetness. The Itamae from Shizuoka prefecture also said, “Shizuoka cuisines are sweet”. I used to think that taste of Shizuoka is rather bitter. And this time, my fixed idea over-turned in a very positive way.

The Sushidokoro quietly locates at the top floor of Cuppage plaza. When I went through the shop curtain, there was a simple woody interior, timber counter with 11 sheets, and gentle yet sophisticated Itamae stood behind the counter. The Itamae, Mr. Arakawa was once based in Shizuoka. He decided to open his Sushidokoro in Singapore, as he saw a potential growth here.

Their fresh ingredients are from Shimizu harbor in Shizuoka. All the spices are also from Shizuoka too. The Itamae said, he would like customers to taste the profound Shizuoka food culture here.

Many of sake available at the Sushidokoro are from Shizuoka prefecture. The first local Sake I had was “Eikun” Junmai Ginjo. Bland toast like aroma, mixed taste of sweet-sour and umami, then bitter sweet taste follows. It is my favorite kind of sake.

Starters were, baby sardine with ginger, sakura shrimp, and minced tuna fatty meat. Baby sardine has soft texture with gentle taste. Spiciness of ginger and slight bitterness of sardine matches with sake. Sakura shrimp has rich sweetness and umami. Together with sake, there is a dry fruit like bitter sweetness. Minced tuna has saltiness and umami that melt together with sake well.

Following dish was sashimi of tuna, cockle, squid, shrimp, and bonito. Each slice has fresh and elegant taste. Especially, sashimi of Bonito has light taste with soft texture, and it makes sake taste more round.

Second sake was well established one from Shizuoka, “Isojiman” Ginjo. It had bland sweet ginger like aroma, well-aged pear like sweet and bitter taste. A Sake cup to go with Isaijiman had a symbol of Shizuoka, the Mount Fuji.

Sushi served on a thin black stone slate. Sushi rice has sweet taste with unique mixture of tender and crunchy texture. This unique texture is made with soft rice from Niigata prefecture and crunchy rice from Nagano prefecture. Scorched red snapper sushi has delicious umami taste that grows in mouth with sake. Shrimp sushi matches with sake for its own sweetness. Salmon roe has slight bitterness that matches very well with Sake. The one I had strong impression was Japanese omelet sushi. It has simple yet sophisticated sweet and umami taste. With Sake, there was sweetness like Japanese sponge cake, and it gave me a relish.

There are many places introducing taste of local Japan, but I have never had sophisticated taste like this Sushidokoro. I would like you to experience this profoundness too.

Sushi dokoro
5 Koek road #06-03 Cuppage Plaza 228796
91722927 

91722927 

Operating Hours
Mon – Sat
06:00PM – 02:00AM

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