Takumi Shingo 匠 進吾 @ Aoyama Itchome, Tokyo

"If I had to choose my last dinner in Tokyo, it would be at Takumi Shingo"

Initially known as Sho Shingo, the restaurant owner and head chef, Shingo-san, recently changed its name to Takumi Shingo instead. Just like his master Sushi Sho, Takumi Shingo also specializes in serving aged sushi and having different types of rice to enhance the overall flavour of the sushi depending on the type of fish used.

Other than serving aged sushi, Takumi Shingo also serves a variety of Tsumami dishes (small dishes) to accompany his sushi. Some of these dishes range from your usual sashimi (at high quality) to grilled and sauteed dishes which are usually found in Kaiseki courses. In fact, Takumi Shingo to me is kind of like a Sushi Kaiseki course, which is becoming very common nowadays especially during dinner time. Anyway, enough talk, let's have a look at some pictures:

Aoyagi, Madai sashimi, Aji bousushi, Sumi Ika, Kodai oboro zuke, Tako

Katsuo zuke, Hata, Ebi, Seaweed with ponzu, Hokki gai, Shirako

Kinmedai konbu jime, Kohada, Tachiuo, Botan Ebi, Saba, (I forgot the last one)

Katsuo, Chu Toro, Uni, Aburi Kinmedai, Ankimo, Anago, Kaki, Aji shio jime

Sawara, Ohagi, Jukusei Otoro, Tamago, Apple and Strawberry Sorbet

So for about 27000Yen  or so, I got to eat about 32 items altogether. Good deal? DAMN GOOD DEAL! Every piece was truly amazing. This was my first time eating at a restaurant that specialized in aged sushi, so the experience definitely blew me away. However, I wouldn't compare restaurants like Takumi Shingo to Sukiyabashi Jiro for a simple reason. The type of sushi you are served is very different from one another. You are eating specialized aged sushi and tsumami from the former but ordinary sushi at very high quality at the latter. Both are really fantastic in their own way.

Treatment of Foreigners vs Japanese.
One thing you have to be weary about is how Shingo-san treats foreigners and Japanese. For the Japanese locals, because they already know the kind of fish they like to eat or at least the names of it, he would allow them to pick their desired pieces. For foreigners, he assumes you don't know your sushi names, so he would serve you about 25 items and then ask you how many more sushi pieces you want to eat, and he will choose the sushi for you. My biggest mistake was not letting him know that I could speak some Japanese and that I knew my sushi names and what I wanted. By the time my dinner got to the 25th item, I only then started talking to him about sushi fish and that's when he realized that I wasn't an ordinary foreign customer, I actually knew my stuff; he gladly let me pick my last 5 sushi pieces

Furthermore, I noticed that the items on Tsumami dishes were larger when served to the Japanese locals as compared to foreigners like myself. Initially, I sighed and accepted the fact that the Japanese will always treat their locals better than foreigners. But I realized this is actually a good thing.I strongly believe in locals treating other locals better than foreigners; it's like a patriotic gesture and I admire the Japanese for always supporting and serving their own kind the best things. So don't be offended if you notice the same thing eating here.

Anyway, to close off, if you think you know your sushi well (in terms of names and marinade) and you know exactly what you want to eat, please make it clear that you can speak Japanese and ask him what he can recommend to you. Don't make the same mistake as me which was to keep quiet all the way till the end before I had the confidence and courage to start speaking. In any case, I love this restaurant. Shingo-san is friendly, the food is great, the atmosphere is very relaxed.If I had to choose my last dinner in Tokyo, it would be at Takumi Shingo.

Tabelog website: https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1306/A130603/13155925/
Address:東京都 港区 南青山 2-2-15 ウィン青山 1F
Budget (dinner): 23,000 Yen - 30,000 Yen
My rating: 5/5