How to book Sushi Masuda

Sushi Masuda is an Edomae sushi counter in Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo, run by chef Rei Masuda. Born in Kokura, Fukuoka, in 1980, he started at 17 as a part-timer at Tenzushi in Kokura and then spent nine years at Sukiyabashi Jiro^3,4. He opened his own restaurant in Aoyama in January 2014; it gained a first Michelin star in the 2015 guide and a second in the 2017 guide^3,4,5.

The original restaurant closed in September 2019, and Masuda then worked on opening new restaurants in Taiwan³. Sushi Masuda reopened on 29 January 2022 on the ground floor of IJK Minamiaoyama Rei at 3-14-27 Minamiaoyama, a few minutes' walk from Omotesando Station, with a kitchen three times the size of the old one^1,3. Besides Tokyo, a 2022 review notes that Masuda runs starred restaurants in Taipei and at the Four Seasons in Kyoto⁴.

The meal is an omakase of six or seven small dishes followed by 10 to 11 pieces of nigiri, then maki and egg custard³. Dinner runs in two seatings, from 5 pm and 8 pm, and the restaurant closes on Sundays and public holidays^1,2. The booking page lists the Chef's Tasting Course from JPY 54,450 per guest, tax and service included². There is an eight-seat counter, and a private room seats six at its own L-shaped counter^2,3. Guests are asked not to wear strong perfume, and those with wide seafood allergies or who eat gluten-free are asked not to book².

The rice is seasoned with three kinds of vinegar rather than one³. Opinions on the reopened restaurant vary: a 2022 blog review rated the rice among the best its author had eaten but found the meal disappointing overall, pointing to ordinary small dishes and the tuna⁴.