Sushi in Nagoya Station area(Nagoya) @ 鮨 魯山 名鉄店 2nd visit

Since I was so blown away by this restaurant last time:

http://tokyofoodjournal.blogspot.jp/2013/02/sushi-in-nagoya-station-areanagoya.html

I decided to go back before leaving Nagoya tomorrow. Unfortunately enough upon walking in, I was told that the counter seats were full. It was dinnertime and a little bit busy. So my only option was a seat at a regular table. The chef with whom I had had a chat last time, came by my table to personally apologize for there not being seats available at the counter! How's that for service to regular visitors! I was also said to hear that today there was no Hamaguri nor Shako, so I decided to just order a 3000Yen set menu.

 

I got the exact same side dishes. A miso soup and very nice egg custard just like last time. After that though the quality dropped a little bit. It's absolutely shocking how big a difference a few minutes make between the sushi being made and it being eaten. I now fully understand why the chef of Sushi Tetsu in London gets jumpy when you take pictures of his Seared O-Toro instead of eating it straight away. While last time I ate the 2nd best meal of my life at this shop, this time I ate very good, but not great sushi. The rice temperature was still okay, but had definitely dropped a little and many of the fish just had slightly less taste to them. And probably the biggest difference is I had to apply the soy sauce myself. Which meant the amount of soy sauce on the sushi was far from perfect. It was still very good, but nowhere near the quality of last time.

  

The dessert this time was better than last time. Last time the dessert was a little bit weak, but this time I liked it very much!

Tomorrow I'm flying to Korea from Kansai Airport in Osaka. Before taking the Shinkansen to Osaka I may decide to head back to this restaurant one last time, because during lunchtime I should be able to get a seat at the counter and again eat some of the best food of my life!

Rating: 4/5

Best Piece: Surprisingly enough... Kani - Crab!!

Worst Piece: Maguro Maki - Tuna Roll

Recommendation: Eat at the counter!!! Probably go there during lunch time or non-busy hours.

http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23006918/

Miso Katsu Donburi in Sakae(Nagoya) @ 矢場とん 三越ラシック店

Yesterday at the Tuna restaurant I ate the best Miso Katsu of my life made of Tuna. Today I also ate some very good Miso Katsu. Not quite as good as yesterday's Tuna version, but nonetheless very good. This was a Donburi Miso Katsu with a couple of sides for 1250Yen. Donburi is basically rice with something(Miso Katsu in this case) on top. The sides were so-so, but most importantly the Miso Katsu delivered.

Rating: 3/5

Recommendation: Sometimes it's hard to judge an entire restaurant without trying multiple things on their menu, however in the case of this restaurant I think it's quite allright, since pretty much the entire menu consists of Miso Katsu dishes. Therefore I can quite confidently say this entire restaurant is a good choice for both lunch and dinner.

http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230103/23000135/

Tuna Miso Katsu in Nagoya Station(Nagoya) @ 鮪小屋本店 サンロード店

A friend took me to this restaurant, simply because I like fish. This restaurant specializes in Tuna. They serve a few non-Tuna Sashimi dishes, but apart from that, everything includes Tuna. We both went for the Nagoya speciality Miso Katsu. This is basically Tonkatsu(fried pork), but with a special Miso sauce. However, since this restaurant specializes in Tuna dishes, they serve their Miso Katsu using Tuna instead of Pork.

The amount of food we got for 850Yen is staggering. For sure the best value meal I've had since coming back to Japan two and a half weeks ago. Furthermore the quality was surprisingly good aswell, considering it's such a cheap little shop hidden away in a corner of Nagoya station's vast underground shopping mall. Maybe it's just because they used Tuna, but regardless this is the best Miso Katsu I've ever had. The other side dishes were solid too. I especially liked the added Tuna Sashimi. It really is shocking how much food we got for 850Yen!

Rating: 3/5

Recommendation: Regardless of whether you want to save money or not, this is a good place to eat in Nagoya station. Go for the Miso Katsu set. Their Tuna variant is excellent and the amount of sides you get for 850Yen is unbelievable!

http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23032329/