Sushi Mizutani in Ginza, Tokyo

It was only after I looked it up just now did I realize that this was that shop that Andrew Zimmern went to in one of his episodes. Anyway, I was given a reservation here tonight as a gift, so I'd been looking forward to coming here for a few weeks now, especially since this was a three Michelin-starred sushi place in Tokyo run by a non-English-speaking Jiro alum that only sat ten people...and took cash only! (JUNO Building 9F 8-7-7 Ginza, 3573-5258)

Of course, with those kind of credentials, the key was in the quality of the ingredients, which shone through in not only the ootoro above, but with the scallops, uni, and a number of other varieties of shellfish and fatty fish that he brought out tonight, all sitting on top of fluffy tasty rice. It was almost like a performance in that he delivered in three progressive stages (sashimi first, followed by various grades of tuna, and then onto other things) with intermissions between, ultimately closing with a surprisingly creamy tamago in the end. OK, I can see why this place is so acclaimed.

Still, I was surprised that he didn't bring out anything too adventurous, be it cod sperm or anything else. They didn't want me to take any pictures either, presumably because they wanted guests to focus on enjoying the food rather than impolitely mucking around with photos? (I snagged that one above way before they told me not to.) Well, at 33,000 Yen (US$320) inclusive of three beers, that was pricey enough that it was probably going to be my only visit there. At least I've tried a three Michelin-starred sushi place now.