Komada’s sushi is a clear expression of his earnest attitude and the utmost care he gives to each ingredient. The chef’s omakase course is the only menu and includes four to five appetizers and twelve nigiri pieces. While the focus is on fresh seafood from around Japan via Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market, Komada skillfully weaves local specialties such as Ise-ebi spiny lobster and kuroawabi black abalone into his course. The presentation including salt, wasabi and sake, speaks of this place, giving the full experience of what can be enjoyed only here, pleasing local customers and determined visitors alike.

Simple in appearance but full of flavour owing to many steps of careful preparation, appetisers include seasonal dishes of white-fleshed fish sashimi, steamed abalone, vinegared sardines, Bering Sea cockles, and water shield plant. Nigiri seafood is typically served fresh, which is the chef’s preference over ageing. Local Mie Prefecture rice is seasoned only with red vinegar and salt and served above body temperature — a faithful re-creation of his former master’s style. Just like the chef, nigiri pieces are beautifully precise, providing the perfect melt-in-your-mouth morsels. Maguro from Oma Port, Aomori is presented as both five-day-aged akami and deliciously fatty otoro. This may be followed by salted kasugo young sea bream from Kagoshima, local Ise kuruma ebi prawns, and superbly luscious sea urchin from Karatsu, Saga Prefecture. Carrying on Edomae traditions, winter features nigiri of delicious steamed fleshy hamaguri clams, replaced by their equally tasty but smaller counterpart called asari in other seasons. The asari clams from Hamanako Lake in Shizuoka Prefecture are simmered for just two minutes and topped with the chef’s signature reduction sauce. Shime-saba vinegar-pressed mackerel is perfectly prepared in the traditional Edomae way, and the soft, almost fluffy texture of the anago conger eel is sublime.

INGREDIENTS
Ingredients at Komada are primarily sourced from Tsukiji, based on relationships forged since the chef’s days as an apprentice, and include renowned tuna broker Ishiji. And to the delight of customers who travel here from afar, Komada makes a point of including local Mie delicacies such as Ise-ebi spiny lobster from Ise City, wild black abalone from Toba, and sawara Japanese Spanish mackerel and kuruma ebi prawns, and torigai Japanese egg cockles all from Ise Bay. Komada sticks to a product when he knows he’s found a winner. Having fallen in love with luscious sea urchin from Karatsu, Saga, he is not willing to compromise on flavor and maintains dealings with the market in Fukuoka solely for that product. That extended effort is the sign of a top craftsman.

A blend of old Mie Prefecture Koshihikari rice is used for the shari rice oval bases. For the touch of green that adds a kick to each morsel, Komada uses fresh wasabi grown in the crystal-clear waters of Miyagawa, Mie, lovingly tended at the hands of Mr. Nishi, a solo 70-year-old farmer. The restaurant maintains a good balance of around eight famous sake brands from around Japan, accented by local favorites such as Zaku and Sakaya Hachibei, and even wine.