Best Premium Sashimi At A Gorgeous Fine Dining Restaurant

Murakami Suigun Honten

We booked an authentic Japanese private room at second floor for our dinner. The traditional room was equipped with a low, wooden table and tatami seats. There were no chairs. We sat on comfortable cushions. The elegant ambience is excellent choice for good conversations. This private room creates a bit of privacy and it is baby-friendly. Toddlers do cry a lot and move around especially these behaviours are their inborn. If you have baby strollers, you will be slightly inconvenient, thus, make a reservation for a private room and come during off-peak hours to avoid the crowd. Instead of tatami seats, they have classic dining table and chairs. 

When I entered the restaurant, I felt as if I was in a fish shop. I enjoyed eating variety of fresh fish caught that morning. An abundance of fresh fish displayed at Murakamisuigun. They served a wide range of food menu such as sashimi, simmered fish, pan-fried fish, raw fish salad, tendon and many more. We can enjoy freshly caught fish owing to fish tanks kept in the restaurant. 

Potato Salad Croquette

One small bowl of salad was so pretty and irresistible, coming in all sorts of colors, shapes, and sizes. Cherry tomato slices had bright red colour and a very appealing shape. Cucumber, purple cabbage and daikon radish were cut into fine strips, which had crunchy texture. Two pieces of potato croquettes were placed at the centre of the salad in bite-sized snacks or appetisers.

Sashimi Salad

My first dish was a bowl of sashimi salad. This beautiful salad was bright looking and colourful. Sliced sashimi over a bed of lettuce with fresh cucumbers, lemon, parsley, micro greens and topped with soy sauce. This was one of the most delightful salads I have ever had in my life. Sashimi salad was so fresh and delicious! In addition, it was made with fresh ingredients and healthy protein and fats. 

Japanese Potato Salad (Yoshoku)

My favourite mashed potatoes are soft, silky potato puree with butter and covered with KFC signature gravy. Unlike the buttery mashed potatoes commonly served in the West, mashed potatoes in Japan have rice vinegar and Japanese mayonnaise to replace butter and cream. It was smooth and tangy. Toppings included Japanese mayonnaise, Katsuobushi/ bonito flakes, a lot of spring onions, Nori (crispy processed seaweed), which made it healthier than Western whipped potatoes. It was also visually eye-catching. 

Miso Soup

 

Miso is made with a higher proportion of soybeans and salt for an intense experience.Red or dark miso ranges in color from light brown to almost black and is fermented for longer for a stronger, funkier, and saltier flavor. I had a bowl of dark miso soup, which was richer, deeper flavour and more salty. The soup added savoury flavour to my salad.  

Japanese Tea

When Japanese tea is mentioned, the most typical image that comes to mind is undoubtedly, green tea. However, it is certainly not the only tea consumed in Japan. Japanese enjoy a large varieties of tea, both hot and chilled. I drank Houjicha, roasted green tea to complement with sashimi. It has toasty taste, low-caffeine content, and reddish-brown color to the roasting process that the green tea leaves undergo. Rather than simply being being steamed like standard green teas, the tea leaves used in hojicha are roasted over charcoal, giving the tea a distinct flavor that is bold, but mellow.

Tuna From Left; Akami, Otoro, Chutoro And Akami

Tuna is one of the most popular types of fish used for sashimi and sushi. Thus, we ordered a plate of sashimi of different parts of tuna (maguro). The fattiest part is Otoro, which is found in the belly. They are characterised by being more marbled, smooth and pinkish. Akami is cheaper than Otoro because most body parts of tuna is made of Akami. It is red, low in fat and cheaper. It also has more fishy taste. However, Akami that I tried from Murukamisuigun restaurant, was not fishy and very fresh. Otoro (extra fatty tuna) was soft pink with vibrant white coloured part. Otoro was oily and much more delicious than Akami and Chutoro, which typically gave distinctive and magnificent taste. It melt in my mouth. Chutoro (fatty tuna) was more oily than Akami. Chutoro was delish too as I enjoyed eating both meaty and fatty texture in one bite.

Pan-fried Blowfish

Blowfish, also known as fugu, is an expensive dish delicacy that requires a special license to prepare because, if handled incorrectly with smallest mistake in its preparation could be fatal. The liver, ovaries and skin contain tetrodotoxin. Paralysis follows, and then a painful death by asphyxiation from 20 minutes to 24 hours. There is no known antidote. Nevertheless, we would like to try and order pan-fried blowfish. It looked like a small drumstick and even had a meaty texture like chicken. Although it was not battered and fried, it was quite crispy and fragrant. Taste was good when served hot with a slice of fresh lemon.

Premium Sashimi On Ice

Sashimi is a traditional Japanese raw fish dish. Sliced raw red sea bream, a box of sea urchin and fish organs in a small black plate were freshly served on ice in a big bowl. They also provided colourful condiments placed on ice such as grated red ginger, chopped spring onions, finely sliced hijiki (one type of wild seaweed). Sufficient pieces of seaweeds were used to wrap the raw seafood and add condiments as your wish. Their Uni had a strong ocean smell, and was thick, creamy, rich, and buttery in texture. It was very fresh and absent of briny taste. You may love it or you could totally hate it. Meanwhile, I tried the sashimi sea bream. It was so fresh that it had no fishy taste and no odor at all. Texture was tender and smooth. Sliced sea bream fillet was cut into very thin skinless slices. It was served fresh with wasabi paste, soya sauce, ginger, spring onions and hijiki before wrapped with a layer of seaweed.

Fried Oysters

Deep fried oysters or Kaki Furai are one of the popular dishes served in Japan during fall. Five pieces of fried oysters were served on a beautiful plate and garnished with a slice of lemon, , green chillies and sliced shiitake mushrooms. The crispy outside and juicy inside made kaki fry so delish! The handmade breadcrumbs, spiky, crunchy and tasty batter contrasted nicely with the tender, briny, oysters.

Vegetable Tempura

Tempura is one of the most common Japanese dishes served outside of Japan. Along with sushi, it's synonymous with 'Japanese food' in the minds of many. Tempura is common and available islandwide in my country. Nevertheless, I would like to try vegetable tempura in the country of origin because tempura is my favourite Japanese food. Vegetable used for this tempura included sweet potato, long bean, shiitake mushroom and enoki. The batter was a little crispy, but I still enjoyed it and the food itself retained much of its nutrients since it was only lightly fried. 

Salmon And Rice Soup

Salmon and rice soup is a simple dish in a bowl. It was made of short-grain rice, one big piece of pan-fried salmon fillet and flavourful hot soup. Japanese rice was starchier and dissolved into the soup more readily. Soup was garnished with some seaweed strips. There was a pinch of wasabi placed on the bowl cover. It looked quite creative. Salmon and rice soup was a quick meal and served at the end of the meal to fill up. Taste was light seasoned but savoury. Pan-fried salmon was fresh, meaty and a bit crispy. Rice and soup made me feel warm inside after eating. 

Location

11-26 Kanayamacho Naka-ku Hiroshima

Tel: 082 249 1191

Website: http://www.murakami-suigun.com/