Sushi Sase

This sleek Japanese prides itself on traditional sushi. It was designed for one purpose:to serve the freshest produce with the least amount of fuss.

Text by Jason Spotts, photos by Happy Yuen

Sushi Sase is a restaurant of intrigue. You might easily pass its understated exterior and tiny signage and miss some of the best sashimi around. Everyone, it seems, is curious about Sushi Sase and the allure is only heightened by the praise around town.

The décor is a restaurant-wide extension of the actual sushi bar. The muted wood panelling is testament to the no-nonsense mentality.

Sashimi lovers will appreciate the quality of their daily deliveries, straight from Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji fish market. Knife work and produce quality aside, two other major tests define a sushi bar’s quality: the rice and the tamago, or sweet egg. Sushi Sase scores on both counts.

Chef Satoshi Sase arrived from famed Sapporo restaurant, Sushi-zen, in Hokkaido prefecture. In his 18 years there he became a master in his own right. Most diners will be pleased to let Chef Sase choose a menu for them.

This “omakase” service is available for lunch and dinner. Every dish could change daily, but generally an appetiser is followed by sashimi, then a hot dish that changes by the day (examples include tempura, or teppanyaki abalone or Wagyu beef), then onto a sushi selection and dessert.

Other sets will also change regularly as Sushi Sase is happily dependent on freshness and the grace of the seasons.