Otaru Masazushi Ginza
The Excellent Hokkaido Sushi in Tokyo
Otaru Masazushi Ginza is a sushi restaurant located at the 10th floor of the Pola Building in Tokyo’s Ginza district. All dishes prepared at the restaurant are made from ingredients sourced in Hokkaido. To achieve this, fresh fish is delivered every day from Japan’s northern island to the capital’s luxury neighborhood.
Sushi 🍣 restaurant Masazushi was founded in 1935 in Otaru, a small fishing port near Sapporo on Hokkaido Island, with its main shop is located on the popular Otaru Sushi Street. In 1990, its good reputation helped the establishment to open 2 venues in Tokyo, in Shinjuku and Ginza areas.
It is therefore possible to stay in the Japanese capital and enjoy Otaru’s delicious cuisine, and particularly Otaru’s sushi, a local specialty renowned throughout the country. Chefs at Tokyo’s Masazushi restaurants exclusively cook ingredients sourced in Hokkaido and delivered daily by plane ✈️. The freshness and the high quality of the ingredients are consequently guaranteed.
The menu follows the seasons and the catch of the day. There is a large variety of fish and shellfish, such as:
- Kani king crab in winter;
- Botan ebi shrimp in spring;
- Uni urchin in summer; or,
- Ikura salmon eggs in autumn.
The typical sushi served in Tokyo’s restaurants is the edomae-zushi that appareared during the Edo period. Otaru sushi however provide another regional style sushi to raw fish amateurs, with a profusion of fat flesh fish caught in the cold waters of the Northern Pacific Ocean, and without the need to go to Hokkaido.
Omakase chef course
Otaru Masazushi Ginza is located at the 10F of the building operated by Pola, a Japanese cosmetic brand. The place is very convenient and central, both for tourists and businessmen: a stone’s throw away from Ginza 1-chome metro station and a 10-minutes walk to the south of Tokyo station on Yaesu’s side.
Various spaces are arranged inside the restaurant to enjoy sushi:
- The counter, with about 13 seating facing the sushi chefs (the best seating that we highly recommend to request when making the reservation);
- The restaurant room, that can accommodate up to 14 guests, not far from the counter; or,
- One of the small private rooms, available for 2 to 6 guests (see pictures below).
Take off your coat or vest in the entranceway and let the staff guide you to your seat. The subdued and rather vintage decoration underlines the classical tones of the restaurant. The quiet atmosphere is suitable for adult customers looking for a traditional gastronomic experience in a slightly upscale setting.
For pleasant culinary discoveries, we recommend to choose the omakase menu, whose title can be translated as "leave it up to the chef". The sushi master then creates their own selection, in accordance with the guest’s preferences (or allergies), with ingredients of the season and for a budget amounting to ¥17,000 (~US$108.43, VAT not included) per person. Note that a more luxurious omakase menu, the Premium, is also available.
During a little bit more than one hour of a relatively good pace service, one can enjoy a succession of about ten small varied dishes, cold or hot, made from fish, seashell, algae, and also Hokkaido’s wagyu beef. A light sweet desert is also served at the end of the meal. Tea is naturally served with sushi and sashimi but other drinks are available (alcoholic or not) upon the waiter’s recommendation.
The excellent cuisine of Otaru is the main reason for raw food amateurs to enter in Ginza or Shinjuku’s Masazushi restaurants. Reservation in advance is required and can be made in Japanese or in English, as the restaurant also has its menu translated for English-speaking customers.