Sushi Tetsu | Clerkenwell’s Seven-Seater Omakase Restaurant
A brief moment of silence in anticipation of the excitement that awaits you.
Okay, that’ll do.
Onto Sushi Tetsu, which is essentially a seven person Japanese dinner party hosted by husband and wife duo Toru (aka ‘Tetsu’) and Harumi Takahashi at their nondescript Clerkenwell restaurant… which kind of seems more like a home.
Here’s how it works:
You make a booking. To do so, you’ll need to follow Sushi Tetsu’s slightly-more-complicated-than-necessary reservation process involving delegated call times and a very flexible diary. At which point, you’ll decide whether to 1) Dine from the a la carte menu of white fish, tuna fish, blue fish and shell fish sushi, sashimi and rolls; or 2) Go “omakase“, entrusting the chef to pick the best of the day’s ingredients and plate you up a unique tasting menu of what is very possibly the freshest sushi in London.
You arrive at Sushi Tetsu. It’s around now that you’ll notice the restaurant – nestled in an inconspicuous alcove down one of London’s lost alleys – is tiny. In fact it only seats seven, all of whom are perched along a blonde wooden bar, behind which Toru alone diligently and meticulously engineers dishes like sea bream, cuttlefish and marinated eel and squid, occasionally singed with a blow torch and accompanied by ginger, pillows of rice and ground wasabi before being placed on your very own glossed bamboo leaf.
You take a mouthful, and then enjoy a brief moment of silence.
It’s rude to talk with your mouth full.
NOTE: Reservations at Sushi Tetsu are taken over the phone only (020 3217 0090) on the first and third Monday of each month from 11am – 4pm for the following month’s reservations.
Sushi Tetsu | 12 Jerusalem Passage, Finsbury, EC1V 4JP
Liked this? Then our guide to London’s top sushi restaurants might come in handy…