Last visit Dec 2024 · 6 visits

Sushidokoro Yamato: Sugita lineage at Tsukiji

Sushi · ¥¥¥¥ · Tsukiji, Tokyo · 4 min read

Sushidokoro Yamato (鮨処やまと) opened in 2021 on a quiet Tsukiji block, a few minutes from the station and the ground where the old fish market once stood. The room is spare and tea-hut plain — an L-shaped cypress counter, eight or nine seats, the chef close enough to watch every movement. It’s a young shop, but it arrived with serious pedigree, and a Michelin listing and a Tabelog rating north of 4.3 caught up quickly.

The chef

Yamato Yasui took a less common road to the sushi counter. He started in kaiseki, at Toru Okuda’s two-star Ginza Kojyu, before training under Takaaki Sugita (owner of Nihonbashi Kakigaracho Sugita) — one of the most revered and hardest-to-book sushi chefs in Japan. The lineage shows: this is exacting, rice-first Edomae in the Sugita mold, with a washoku sensibility running underneath.

The sushi

The omakase is nigiri-forward and classical — no novelty, just well-sourced fish and carefully judged shari. The piece everyone talks about is the kohada: thick, meaty, and cured so the vinegar bites cleanly against the fish’s umami — the kind of gizzard shad that tells you a chef can do the quiet things well. (For why that piece is the benchmark, see hikarimono.) Around it run the Edomae staples — squid, akami and toro, warm anago, and tamago to close.

A kohada nigiri with scored silver skin on a black slate plate — *Kohada* — the calling card: thick, meaty gizzard shad, cured so the vinegar bites clean against the fish. One of the *hikarimono*.

A few pieces from the counter

A ceramic cup of warm clear broth to open the meal — A warm cup to open — a clear, savoury clam broth before the sushi begins.

An opening assortment on slate — thin-sliced white fish, a shellfish, and a marinated bite — An opening assortment of sashimi — thin-sliced Tai, Aoyagi, Torigai.

Three small tsumami dishes at the counter, including firefly squid — Small tsumami to start — firefly squid (*hotaru-ika*), monk fish liver, marinated whitebait among a trio of dressed and simmered bites.

A white-fish nigiri with its red skin lightly seared — A white-fish nigiri, its red skin lightly seared for aroma.

An akami nigiri, lean red tuna on slate — *Akami* — the lean cut of tuna, deep red and clean.

A chutoro nigiri, medium-fatty tuna with light marbling — *Chūtoro Jabara* — medium-fatty tuna.

A nori-wrapped nigiri topped with pieces of simmered shellfish — A nori-wrapped bite of *Kobashira* - adductor muscles of the Japanese surf clam.

A delicate white fish sliced thin and layered over the rice — A nigiri of *Akagai* - Blood Clam.

A uni gunkan, sea urchin wrapped in nori — *Uni* — sea urchin, wrapped in nori.

Worth the trip

Dinner is an omakase of about ¥33,000; lunch, a shorter course, runs ¥19,800 — a relatively gentle way into a counter of this quality. What you’re paying for is Sugita-school precision at a fraction of Sugita’s near-impossible access: eight seats, one chef, and sushi confident enough to be plain. I have been to both Sugita and Yamato, and I think Yamato serves at least 80% of the quality of Sugita, while being much cheaper and accessible.

Tips before visiting

Book through Omakase.in. The lunch course is the easier and cheaper reservation if dinner is full. The shop is about three minutes from Tsukiji station (Tokyo Metro Hibiya line), with Tsukijishijō (Toei Ōedo line) close by. If you visit at the second round which starts at 19:30, you probably need to wait outside until the customers of the first rounds finish their meal. The chef, Mr. Yasui is not a very talkative chef, it is a perfect place if you just want to quietly enjoy the cuisine without being distracted.

Location

Daigo Ginza West Tsukiji Bldg 1F, 3-7-2 Tsukiji, Chūō-ku, Tokyo

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