As a restaurant reviewer for several years in Jakarta, my taste buds have become more than a little used to Jakarta's culinary mediocrity. While there are some outstanding establishments, the majority are dominated by food that is mediocre at best. You might get inspiration from music or movies in Jakarta, but you rarely get it from food.
Feeling under inspired and skeptical, I fulfilled a lunch invitation to YGrill in Wisma Nusantara, Central Jakarta. It was pretty much a very safe option for me, especially since I know how fussy they are about maintaining the high standards with their meat, food products and service. I just needed something new and inspiring.
Stepping inside, YGrill's stylish and modern lounge with a black accent made me feel a little bit uplifted, as I realized I would be in good hands very soon. To my surprise, instead of going into one of their private rooms, the staff showed me to the sushi bar - an area I have never tried before. Interesting. I am going to have sushi today. Oh well! Nothing new, I suppose . how far can you go with sushi?
I wish my initial thoughts could have been true, but they weren't! I underestimated the sushi here by a long shot. YSushi, like its predecessor YGrill, managed to show me top-notch sushi-making skills, with delicious creativity married to the best food products you can get.
At YSushi they use wild fish that is not farmed, but flown directly from Tsukiji Market in Tokyo, twice a week.
In fact, YSushi has worked with the no. 1 sushi restaurant in Japan, Kyubey Tokyo. This piece of information combined with the spectacular taste of its omakase set instantly rejuvenated my taste buds.
Who hasn't heard of Kyubey sushi restaurant? This is a place you can spot Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz and Hollywood actor Nicholas Cage eating sushi and drinking sake side-by-side.
In Tokyo, there are sushi restaurants and there is Kyubey. This five-story eatery in Tokyo's Ginza district has served fish to Japanese and Western power brokers for more than 72 years. The biggest names get private rooms with a personal sushi chef slicing up 35 kinds of fish brought in daily from Tokyo's sprawling Tsukiji fish market or directly ordered from all over Japan. This is an establishment where the owner himself (Mr. Yosuke Imada) still takes care of the guests directly with his fine-tuned personal touch.
I was very impressed at this fact and to see how serious YSushi is about this collaboration, by not only bringing in quality products and ways of preparing its food, but also its sushi chef. Shunsuke Kikuchi is Japanese, and trained for years to become a masterful sushi chef.
Shunsuke shared with us how he had started out as a dishwasher before he could go on to learn how to wash and cook rice - which he did for five years! We eat sushi in less then five minutes, but it took him more than five years to train in the art of making it!
Like in a traditional omakase set, YSushi presents many varieties of Japanese cooking ranging from simple sushi to somen (cold noodles) and even hansoyaki (grilled wagyu). I was very impressed with chef Shunsuke's artistic approach to his creations and tastes. Not only does he understand how to build up an appetite, but also how to impress us with his presentation of each dish.
Coming to the end of lunch, I had recovered fully and was very inspired indeed. I think what YSushi has achieved in their collaboration with Kyubey Tokyo will inspire even the toughest clients (or critics) in town.
YSushi by Kyubey Tokyo
Wisma Nusantara 3rd Floor
Jl. M.H. Thamrin No. 59
Jakarta 10350
tel (+6221) 3193 6026
www.ygrill.com
