This is definitely the biggest sushi I have ever eaten in my life. It may be the biggest sushi in Japan not from a novelty shop…

Just look!!

The marbling of the tuna was marvelous.

Most sushi restaurants would first slice this piece of tuna into thirds before putting it over rice. There’s no point in pontificating about the perfect ratio of rice to fish. There’s so much fish here that it’s more sashimi than sushi, and it is here to to make you full. So let’s get full!

Wish for luck or expect a long wait…

We called to reserve our seats in advance, but they only accept reservations for groups of more than four. We could only count on our luck and walk in that day.

Around 14:00 (2:00 p.m.), we arrived and were able to get inside quickly. But the place was packed, and the sushi master said we need to wait even though we had seats already. As we were waiting, we watched our neighbors gobble up the jumbo sushi. As the scent of fresh fish hit us, it became even harder to wait. We ended up nibbling through a lot of gari (pickled ginger) in the meanwhile.

Come HUNGRY

At last it was our turn! The sushi came all at once. And all of it was huge! For a moment, all we could do was stare in awe at the mass of seafood before us.

Most restaurants would only serve a quarter of this much salmon roe for the same strip of seaweed paper. If you love the salty pop of ikura, this is heaven for you.

Typically, a piece of sushi is eaten in one bite. At Matsuno, this is simply impossible. I had to eat the tuna in three separate bites!

We had ordered the Tokujo Sushi Omakase  for 4,500 yen plus tax. For the sheer amount of food, it was an unbelievable price. I must recommend skipping a meal before coming. This is a lot of sushi, but very easy to enjoy!

Sushi Matsuno is located in the city of Kahoku, just northeast of Uchinada, about half an hour by car or train to Unoke Station and just a minute’s more walk from there. It’s only 5 minutes by car and 17 minutes on foot from the Kitaro Nishida Museum of Philosophy.

Sushi Matsuno

website
Chi-90 Unoke, Kahoku, Ishikawa Prefecture
30 minutes from Kaname Inn Tatemachi

photos by Nik van der Giesen

Nao

Nao can tell you anything you need to know about crafts, music and sake and was herself a singer in Tokyo for nine years. She is now living in a machiya, a kind of old Japanese townhouse, for her project, hitonoto. insta@yasutanao