A few months before this trip, I called Toricho Jinroku trying to secure a table. To my pleasant surprise, whoever picked up the phone speaks very good English (a little unexpected for any restaurant in Kurume) so I was able to complete my reservation in a rather timely fashion.
Young chef-owner Toshiharu Nakajima (中島壽治) already has 19 years of experience working behind the sushi counter. He must have started really early (as a kid!?).
One of the smartest thing they did was to put us in a private room coz this guy was on hand.
Someone was having his first-ever omakase experience this afternoon.
He was obviously very excited.
These were of course handpicked by his old man so technically, not an omakase.
While little one started having his ebi sushi, I was ready for my omakase lunch (real one). First up was a small appetizer platter consisting of some roasted chestnut with strong smoky flavor, grilled ginkgo and root vegetables.
[As there was no translation given on any of the ingredients from these dishes, we will just rely on our own palate]. Some sort of gourd served in a homemade dashi.
The second dish was sea bream sashimi topped with a pile of sea urchin tongues from Amakusa (天草).
A premium chawanmushi, or Japanese steamed egg custard which has been infused with crab roes.
There were loads of fresh crab meat in there. Very sweet and very delicate.
Deep-fried Japanese snapper was served in a clear broth with a strong kick of ginger. Pretty decent.
Next up we had marinated salmon roes served top of steamed rice in a cute little bowl.
The salmon roes had a very sweet touch to it and they were complemented brilliantly with sea urchin and quail egg yolk. This was by far the best dish of the afternoon along with the chawanmushi.
Finally, some nigiri sushi. Not bad.
The chef's Egg (玉子) accompanied by a bean curd rice roll.
They were served together with red miso soup and shimeji mushrooms.
While mom didn't have the omakase menu, she had some of most luxurious items from the a la carte menu. I didn't get to try any of these but they all looked promising. Her favorite was this crab dish with lots of crab roes on top.
Mom's a big-time prawn lover so her eyes lit up immediately when she saw these placed right in front of her.
As a final dish, we all got to enjoy a nice green tea ice-cream sandwich. This came with some roasted walnuts in the middle. A sweet end to a long and eventful meal.
My apologies for not being very premise with my description on some of these ingredients but as a beginner in Japanese cuisine, it will likely take me another decade or two to train up my palate.
Food Rating: 6/10
Price: ￥￥￥￥
Address: 7-3 Torimachi, Kurume 830-0018 Japan
Tel: +81 (0)50 5597-5678
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:00pm (Mon - Sat)
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