How to book Teruzushi

Teruzushi is a family sushi restaurant in Tobata, a ward of Kitakyushu, founded in 1964¹. It is now run by Takayoshi Watanabe, the third generation of the family; TABLEALL notes that his grandparents opened it and that he reached national judo championships before he cooked in a local hotel kitchen^1,4. Under him the restaurant drew guests from across Japan and abroad, and the group has grown to a branch in Riyadh and one in Nishiazabu, Tokyo¹.

The kitchen buys wild fish and shellfish from the three seas around Kitakyushu and from fishermen in Kyushu and San'in^1,3. The restaurant itself highlights sea urchin in the shell from Shimonoseki, large black abalone, tilefish prepared on the fishing boat, longtooth grouper from the Goto Islands, and an eel burger². The rice is seasoned with aged vinegar, which turns it brown⁵.

The main room, on the third floor, opened in October 2023¹. It is a counter of 10 seats with lunch from noon and dinner from 6 pm, and every guest starts the omakase course at the same time, so late arrivals can miss courses and a party more than 15 minutes late loses the booking^2,3. A sake pairing chosen by a certified sake sommelier can be added³. A second counter, TERUZUSHI 2ndedition, opened on the second floor in September 2024 with nine seats and a private room for six¹.

Watanabe describes the serving style as theatrical entertainment². He poses with a long blade, which TABLEALL puts at three feet, and hands each piece to the guest instead of setting it down, holding it out on the tips of his middle two fingers^4,5.