Category: tokyo

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新橋 清水 Shinbashi Shimizu

Add: 2-15-10 Shinbashi, Minato Ku / 港区新橋 2-15-10
Tel: +81-3-3591-5763
Hours: 12pm~, 5:30~9:30 (L.O.)
Price: [lunch] 8,800+ yen [dinner] 15,000+ yen
Visited: Oct 2016

Among the myriad of high-end sushi restaurants in Tokyo, what foreigners are most familiar with are probably Sushi Jiro and Sushi Saito. Sushi Shimizu, on the other hand, is also highly ranked by the local Japanese (#34 on Tabelog’s top 50 sushi restaurants in Tokyo, just 6 spots after Sushi Jiro), but one can hardly find any non-Japanese information or reviews online. Why?

在東京衆多高級壽司店裡，一般外國人比較熟悉的不外乎是壽司之神すきやばし次郎（Sukiyabashi Jiro）和鮨さいとう（Sushi Saito）。而我這次去的新橋清水，雖然在當地人的圈子內是一座難求的名店，不過在網上卻很難找到非日語的信息和評論。爲什麽？

Let’s take a look first. The tiny sushi bar is located in a small alley not far from Ginza. It’s a space that fits only 8 customers, and inside the sushi bar is chef owner Kunihiro Shimizu. There are no fancy decors, just a simple bar, and behind it hung wooden boards listing today’s freshest ingredients.

先進來瞧瞧。小店藏身在離銀座不遠的狹小巷子裡，招牌也（不令人意外的）毫不顯眼。入門後是個能容納八個人的壽司吧台，站在裡面的就是主廚清水邦浩先生。沒有華麗的設計，只有簡潔的吧台，以及後方用來示意當日新鮮食材的板子。

Shimizu-san entered the trade when he was 18, and after 11 years of working at Shimbashi Tsuruhachi, he started out on his own in 1999. In fact, he was awarded one Michelin star in 2012, but as someone who doesn’t want his restaurant to be on any food guides, he complained to Michelin and had his star taken away the next year. Instead of running a sushi bar that’s world-famous and becomes impossible to book, he’d rather have it stay as a casual place where his regulars can come as they wish.

清水先生十八歲入行，于名店 “新橋鶴八” 工作11年後，1999年自立門戶。清水其實曾經在2012年被米其林評爲一星餐廳，不過他並不希望出現于任何餐廳指南上，所以氣憤的向米其林投訴，隔年隨即被撤銷了星星。長年來低調經營的清水先生，希望自己的餐廳不要成爲高高在上，需要好幾個月前就要訂位的拘謹名店，而是他的熟客可以隨意進來享用美味壽司的輕松地方。