I Tried the WORLD'S #1 Sushi Restaurant in JAPAN (Impossible to Book)

Join me in Japan, Tokyo at the best sushi restaurant, Nihonbashi Kakigara-cho Sugita. Led by master chef Takaaki Sugita, this episode explores the art of Edomai sushi and the chef's journey from apprentice to sushi virtuoso. A unique journey into the heart of Japan's best sushi destination.

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My name is Alexander. I’m the co-owner of a ONE Michelin star restaurant, and I’m on a mission - to find inspiration in gastronomy. I love fine dining, good wine and sharing what I know with other people.

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#Sugita #TokyoSushi #michelinstar #BestSushiJapan #EdomaiSushi #JapaneseCuisine #SushiArt #TokyoDining #GourmetJapan #TakaakiSugita #MichelinStarSushi #SushiExperience #TokyoFood #CulinaryExcellence #JapaneseTradition #FineDiningJapan

[hai]

There's something very admirable that the majority of the reservations to this restaurants are booked by locals, and not by the ultra-rich.

[JD-lxzq]

Thanks to the chef for letting you film

[mohnjayer]

Love you using a local guide instead of Michelin to choose this restaurant. I find that Michelin inspectors use certain criteria in their decision-making that I don't always love. Getting ratings from locals is often an amazing way to find incredible places to eat!

[donladmulligan]

Dude, you’re one of the best travelers of world restaurants I have witnessed. Your compliments are the best. You are decent because you admit when you don’t understand the flavors, I respect that deeply.
Most importantly, thank you for letting me see what I would not be able to without you.

[Renvyr]

People who never tried high quality food can't comprehend the immense respect you have instantly for the cook... The food, the traditions, the producers...
You had a scale of food taste your whole life & it shattered instantly & you now have a new scale... Doesn't mean food we eat aint' good... But this is godly.

If you have the occasion, get yourself a mind blowing food experience.

[ddavidjp]

i live in japan and i love the philosophy of kintsugi - finding beauty in imperfection, highlighting, not hiding the brokenness, and being made whole again with something precious.

[spideraxe]

Some highly underrated thing that I love about your vids is that you credit all the B roll footage you get, its very easy to just take some else's footage, but its awesome you do that. I also love that you have subtitles, thats just going the extra mile.

[swamhtet]

Henry tearing up and experiencing food at 10:09 is really amazing… you can see how much this sushi meant for him

[IMWoke-bhdm]

This is not just a food & travel channel ....This is a cultural documentary that makes me appreciate our planet and I will support this channel till I'm an old woman. 🥰👍🥰👍

[CrimFerret]

While it may not have been apparent, the order the fish is served in and the temperature of the rice and fish are all meticulously planned. You may not have noticed, but chef Sugita was likely varying the time he'd work shaping each piece so it would be served at the proper temperature to get the best flavor. The only downside to eating sushi at a place this good is it makes typical sushi seem like junk food versions of the real thing forever after.

[TanukiSC]

My favorite video you’ve done to date. Your respect for the Japanese culture and way of doing things is beautiful. So happy for you that you’ve had this experience! And major kudos for your pronunciations - very good job! This continues to be the best food and restaurant content to be found! ❤❤❤

[ThaGamingLlama]

wake up babe, Alexander The Guest posted

[jefferyscholl]

This might be my favourite one yet, the pure joy on both your faces, trying something you are not well versed in, how high end but personal the whole episode was, this one was pure class.

[thesmilingtitan]

I really love how you scale your expectations regarding atmosphere and decor with the place, culture, intent and are always ready to accommodate.

[KontarAlt]

Whoever is the editor and animator, PLEASE give him a raise. Zseniális mint mindig.

[realize-xv]

I can't believe you actually went to Sugita!!! I've been disappointed that hardly any westerners post videos about Sugita, especially since it is praised so highly here in East Asia.(many consider him as 'The God of Sushi') Whenever I saw a western review video about a sushi place in Japan, swooning extravagantly over some kind of 'respect' and 'artistic culture', I thought "These guys know nothing about real sushi..." But your choice of restaurants is fine as always. You, sir, have gained another layer of my respect. The quality of your videos are unrivalled. Proud to be subscribed ever since your first video and will stay tuned for more excellent gourmet content!

[ninjin-ninja]

Being a foodie here in Japan and having been to dozens of the greatest sushi restaurants (including Sugita and Saito mentioned), I was very positively surprised to see that you did top notch research.

Normally you would expect reviewers coming to Japan just to go to the famous places (which generally cater to foreigners and fall far from the greatest restaurants) or follow the international guides (The World's 50 Best Restaurants has listed "Den" as the top restaurant in Japan for many years, which is a total joke according to the foodie community here), so when you mentioned that you had been to Tokyo in a recent video I feared that you had ended up at one of these places.

So when you mentioned Sugita, and also its top spot on Tabelog, I knew that you had been in safe hands. Although that being said, Tabelog is unfortunately also not very accurate because the scores are weighted to certain approved reviewers, so unless your restaurant is often frequented by them you cannot increase your score over a certain number, thus heavily favoring the approved reviewers top spots. Because of this Tabelog is also generally useless outside main cities, and even the Tokyo suburbs, since the approved reviewers do not go there and restaurants are stuck at a permanent maximum low score. In the end, word by mouth through other foodies is the best way to find the truly greatest spots.

Also, while you can get some decent hints, Guide Michelin is also not a great one to follow since many top restaurants even refuse to be a part of it, plus it does not have the same prestige as overseas so most chefs do not care about catering to the Michelin standards (and also do not care about their stars at all).

Hope you will continue your research and come back for some other of the top spots, and of course explore outside of Tokyo as well!

[mriidulbhatia]

i truly believe the best restaurants in the world are those that no one knows about. the kind of place that a chef runs out of a passion so pure that only a select few ever get to experience and be a part of. as much as a restaurant stays with you, the experience of cooking the perfect dish and serving it to another stays with the chef, that kind of experience cannot be commercialized. it was very interesting watching you go to a place that is not on the Michelin guide, and i truly hope to visit such a place one day. thank you to Alexander and Sugita-san for putting this on the internet, much love from Switzerland.

[jtrieu]

Sugita-San and his staff are amazing. Even though he doesn’t speak English, he is very welcoming and warm. Iba-san, his head sou chef is fluent in English will help translate and explain things to you. It’s definitely an incredible experience.

Top restaurants in Japan are so incredibly hard to get into now. Sushi Amamoto (#3 ranked sushi in tabelog and had 2 stars) also was removed from the guide this year.

If you’re traveling to Japan, use Tabelog as a guide. Any fine dining over 4 is quite good. Anything above 4.5 is top of the top.

[sgtjay]

I really love the story you shared about the broken dinnerware, how they fix it and the reasons why, that is so beautiful