Sushi Hayakawa

Akira Hayakawa boasts a more diverse CV than the average sushi chef, including stints at restaurants in Roppongi and Ginza that specialise in other types of Japanese cuisine. Working behind a handsome wooden counter at this unmarked Ebisu restaurant, he employs a range of methods you wouldn’t normally see at a sushi restaurant. Typical dishes include young sea bream sandwiched between sheets of blossom-scented kelp, and channel rockfish skin braised with burning straw and served with kidneys marinated in soy sauce. Then there’s his signature dish, the Hayakawa Special: rich tuna belly served on a charcoal-broiled roll with flakes of truffle. Full courses run from ¥12,000 to ¥18,000, though there’s a cheaper ¥8,000 course available on Sundays, when Hayakawa lets his assistant take charge for the night.