Review : Sushi Azabu @ The Table, Isetan Lot 10

Sushi Azabu originated from New York city and was designated a Michelin star. As part of The Table, Isetan Japan Store in Lot 10, Kuala Lumpur which aims to bring authentic Japanese food to the city, Sushi Azabu begin its Malaysia's operations on February 2017 and is entrusted with the duty of showcasing authentic Japanese sushi to the city folks.

My lunch was attended at the counter by Head Chef Toshihide Terado (Or Chef Tera) who has 19 years under his belt in the sushi business. Their price ranges from RM120 for a set of 10 nigiri (with appetizer and miso soup) to RM430 for the Omakase course. For this review I will be looking at their cheapest sushi course meal of 10 nigiri.

Chef Tera was working in the New York restaurant before serving here as head chef.

The atmosphere is relaxed and upon ordering I was immediately served the appetizer, which is a radish mix with some bonito threads to act as a tongue cleanser for the incoming nigiri. The pickled ginger (gari) provided its pretty generic and they do not seem to use authentic wasabi as evidenced by the excessive 'burn' and dough like texture.

Their rice as seen in this grilled salmon holds firmly when served and breaks nicely in the mouth

Flounder (Hirame) serves as the first nigiri for the course and is a typical first fish in the course due to it's weaker flavor. The fish tasted excellent but this also brought up the weakness in the rice, it lacks a little bit of acidity and flavor. The rice also was served at below body temperature and gives a cool sensation when it touches your tongue. While the construction is excellent and you're able to individually feel each grain of rice when you consume your nigiri, the lack of flavor in the rice is a blackspot in this otherwise great nigiri.

There's no doubt that they have access to good quality fishes and this is shown in their nigiri. They even serve smooth marbled salmon which simply gives a different texture and more flavor to the already flavorful salmon.

On close inspection you can see the fine marbling on this orange like salmon.

The slicing on their fish piece looks sloppy at times giving the nigiri a less clean look and rough edges but it's mostly an aesthetic issue which hardly impacts the great flavor of their fish. One area Chef Tera does well is carving the slices onto the fish surface to incorporate more of the soy on the fish surface. This is evidenced when he makes more cuts on the leaner maguro to incorporate more of the soy into the lean fish.

They did the Tuna (Maguro) justice by carving additional deep cuts

In contrast to their fish nigiri, their non-fish meals proves to be a disappointment. Their steamed prawn, scallop (hotate) and grilled eel (unagi) did not live up to the standard set by the previous nigiri. I djd not get the gel like texture from the hotate and the unagi tasted like those you'll find in a mall japanese restaurant.

The prawn was the weakest nigiri offered, Overcooked and lacking flavor.

Their salmon egg (Ikura) gunkan maki was good and the seaweed wrap was crisp. It was when Chef Tera served this dish I noticed that for a female patron sitting nearby, he made two smaller gunkan for her, so she's able to consume the pieces comfortably. It shows the attentiveness of the chef who is able to customize their sushi based on the customers need.

Overall there's little to complain about the overall dining experience. Chef Tera can be seen as too tense and not interested in a conversation but as long you can start a small talk he reveals his more chatty side and more than eager to have a conversation with you.

I added a Kohada nigiri and it was a hit and miss. Good fish but bad pickled seaweed.

Sushi Azabu in New York lost their Michelin star in the 2017 guide and if the Lot 10, Kuala Lumpur branch is a reflection of their main restaurant it's no surprise. Their rice flavor and inconsistency of their seafood flavor is a major weakness they'll have to address if they want to make themselves worthy of the Michelin star. Considering that they barely opened for a month, I believe they have more opportunities for improvement with the skills and experience of Chef Tera.

I will still give this place an recommend mainly for the value it provides. At RM120 for a set of 10 nigiri and the sushi bar experience, patrons will leave without much to complain about. In fact, it'll be ideal to bring first timers to experience bar grade sushi to set the bar lower when visiting other Sushi bars around next time.