The chef’s omakase focuses on fresh Kyushu seafood, each course prepared with refined technique and style. The seasonal menu offers about twelve to thirteen small appetizers, followed by ten to eleven pieces of nigiri, dried gourd, egg, miso soup and dessert. The sushi rice is firm yet not weighty, leaving a refreshing finish that belies the number of courses.

During the new tea season, the meal begins with a cup of gyokuro, regarded as Japan’s finest, sourced from Hoshinomura in Yame City. Brewed to body temperature, it warms the stomach and sets the tone.

The signature mackerel roll is deliberately understated, served rare for a tender texture, and paired with soft, delicate rice. Each piece arrives directly to the guest at the counter, prepared moments before. “Fukuoka is Japan’s number one city for mackerel consumption,” Shiiya notes. “We serve it at its best, in autumn and winter when the fish is at its fattiest and most flavorful.”

Monkfish liver, a sushi house classic, arrives encased in a light monaka wafer, adorned with seasonal designs such as goldfish and plum that evoke the local culture of Fukuoka. The liver is prepared in the style of a pâté and topped with a piece of pickled watermelon. The assortment of sashimi includes white shrimp cured with kombu, pickled bonito, tilefish similarly marinated and a delicate garnish of salted kombu.

Traditional techniques are treated with respect here, with care taken to preserve older methods rarely seen today. While many restaurants now marinate tuna in slices to shorten time, Shiiya still prepares it in blocks, letting it sit in a seasoned marinade for three to four hours. The tuna is first yushimo-treated—blanched in hot water—giving the surface a subtle change in color. The day’s tuna nigiri comes from a 108-kilogram Yamagata catch, line-caught and marinated slowly in nikiri after blanching.

A vivid piece of sea urchin nigiri follows, using red sea urchin from Fukuoka Prefecture, formed as nigiri rather than gunkan, and topped generously to allow the natural flavor to shine. The day’s dessert continues the theme of fresh tea with gyokuro mochi, made from tea steeped at about 80 degrees and incorporating the delicate leaves themselves.

INGREDIENTS
Each morning, Shiiya visits the local Yanagibashi Rengo Market—known as the kitchen of Hakata and situated just a kilometer from the restaurant. Among the exceptional seafood of Kyushu, the ingredient he speaks of with particular pride is the red sea urchin. “Compared to others, it’s like bitter chocolate—deep and rich,” he says.

Local fish are favored whenever possible, though he does bring in select tuna and shellfish from farther afield. In recent years, he has relied on tuna from Yamayuki, a renowned tuna vendor at the Toyosu Market—a preference for smaller, approximately 100-kilogram fish, caught in fixed nets off Noto, prized for their moist texture.

The rice is a careful blend of two Kyushu varieties, seasoned with a mixture of three vinegars, including red vinegar from Yokoi Brewery. The kelp, or ma-kombu, is sourced from Hokkaido, while the nori seaweed comes from Ariake, reflecting the attention given to even the most subtle components of the sushi.

During the new tea season, he also acquires what he considers Japan’s finest gyokuro, produced in Hoshinomura in Yame City, and pairs it with other top-quality ingredients beyond seafood.