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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Isezushi (伊勢鮨)| Sushi Bar | Otaru

Located near JR Otaru Station, "Isezushi (伊勢鮨)" serves very sophisticated sushi at reasonable prices. Let's enter it!

I always use seats at the bar, enjoying sushi and conversation with the chef.

First, I ordered "Hyakusai (百歳)", a sake brewed by Yoshikubo Brewing Co.(吉久保酒造) in Mito, near Tokyo. They have received a lot of awards at sake competitions.

*"Hyakusai (百歳)"
This famous sake brewery was damaged by March 11th disaster last year, when their sake had already been bottled but without labels. As it takes a lot of time to check which sake is in which category or brand, they decided to put all sake into one tank and re-bottle it. This is "Hyakusai (百歳)".

■Appetizer
Jellyfish with seasoned laver seaweed (left) and salted squid with its guts (right) really suit with sake! Yummy x 2!

Vinegared yam (up) and newly-harvested ginger (down) are perfect side dishes served between sushi!

I always order chef's choice or today's recommendation at this sushi bar. Are you worried about the price? Don't worry about it It's a little bit less than 6,000 yen! Wonderful, isn't it????

Well, well, well...............the sushi show will start very soon!" Hahaha!

■Matsukawa flounder (marinated with kelp seaweed)
Matsukawa flounder is a brand flounder. This sushi bar doesn't serve sashimi part as it is. They make some efforts before serving it. We can eat it without adding any seasoning! Wow! Wow! Wow!

Soi or fox Jacopever (marinated with kelp seaweed)
 The chef added yuzu citrus juice and salt before serving it! Wonderful!

■Seasoned tuna
This tuna is slightly boiled and seasoned in a soy-sauce-based sauce. Tastes very professional!

■Chutoro
I love this midium fatty tuna, which made me very happy!

■Seasoned mackerel
Again, this mackerel is marinated in a soy-sauce based sauce. The fish is usually vinegered and served, but they don't use vinegar so that we can enjoy the fish taste itself!

■Botan ebi prawn
You don't have to remove the shell. What you have to do is just to eat it! Hahaha! I love this natural sweetness!

■Spear squid
We ate it with salt, which enhances the squid flavor!!!

■Mizogai shellfish
This is a very rare shellfish, which is very soft, and we don't need teeth!!!

■Surf clam
Hokkaido reminds a lot of people of this clam! We enjoyed the texture difference between Mizogai shellfish and this surf clam! Perfect!

■Mantis prawn
Otaru reminds us of this prawn. The city holds Mantis Prawn Festival every year. If you are interested in this festival, please refer to my another post→click here!

■Queen crab
We should eat the seasonable crab!! It's very tasty!

■Cooked oyster
This oyster produced in Akkeshi is like an art work! Very delicious!

We ordered "Dewazakura (出羽桜)", a dry sake. I think dry sake goes well with sushi!

■Icefish
As I ordered a dry sake, the chef made this sushi, which nicely fits with my sake.

■Salmon roe
I don't have to explain about it! It's very recommendable!

■Sea urchin
It's very fresh and we can distinguish each roe!!! Should I have another helping???

■Kelp seaweed
When we have this sushi, this is the sign that the chef's choice is about to finish!

■Egg
This is a small present from the chef!
Thank you!

■Prawn soup
The botanebi prawn has a lot of roe and we really enjoyed it!

As we wanted to eat more, we ordered a few extra sushi. Hahaha!

■Cod white roe
This is very seasonable, available only during the winter time! This very creamy roe is my favorite!

■Herring
Otaru reminds me of this fish. I love this delicious fish fat! We cannot leave this city without eating it!

We really enjoyed sushi at this comfortable sushi bar!

■Where is "Isezushi (伊勢鮨)"?

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■Tour guide information■
Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?
I'll guide you! Plz click here!