Sushi Tetsu is famed to be one of the best Sushi places in London – and one of the most difficult to get a reservation. They only take reservations by phone, one week in advance. Challenge accepted 🙂
One week before we left to London, on Monday at 11 I started calling…540 (!) calls later, when I had kind of stopped hoping, I got through and a reservation. Well, this has topped my efforts for El Cellar de Can Roca already 🙂 After some emails with very detailed instructions we fixed the reservation.
The restaurant is very small and run by Harumi and Toru Takahashi. We were warmly welcomed and asked to take our aperitive in the small anteroom, since we were a bit early. Then we took a seat at the seven-seat counter and enjoyed the Omakase meal.
The overall fish quality was very good, with an outstanding sea bream and flamed o-toro. I also liked the accurate cut, the good temperature of the fish and the excellent fish-rice ratio. The rice itself was also really outstanding, having a lot of umami flavor yet preserving the grainy structure. I would have preferred a bit more acidity though. I liked the consistency of the nigiri – being neither too soft, nor too firm. Tetsu is a lot about the details – either the different condiments for the sashimi, or the excellent seaweed (the same as Jiro-san uses and which he imports himself in his suitcase regularly, as Toru pointed out proudly). The tamago was very sweet and spongy, more like a cake than an omlet.
Dining at Tetsu was also a very relaxed experience – Harumi is a wonderful host, chatty and helpful (thanks for showing me how to eat edamame properly). And it was very fascinating to see Toru working highly concentrated on his little pieces of art. During the evening he got more chatty and shared some insights on his cooking.
I absolutely loved our dinner at Tetsu – it is one of those restaurants, when going through the door you just know that you’ll come back. Even if it needs 500 calls.
Visit: October 2016
Michelin stars at time of visit: **
Budget: 150€/person (including wine)
Location: 8/10
Service: 7,5/10
Food: 8/10
