Sunday, July 18, 2010

Honmono Sushi

I think we found the Utopia of sushi & sashimi. We have been eating sushi & sashimi in Bangkok for years and thought we had good stuff. Boy were we fooling ourselves. We are hitting ourselves for not finding this Utopia sooner. We recently learned about Honmono Sushi from a foodie friend of ours. We decided we needed to experience Honmono Sushi right away. .


We heard that Honmono Sushi is so popular; that it is mandatory to make reservations. We called and all they had left was counter seating; which we did not mind at all. It was fantastic to watch the sushi chefs in action and to see the freshest fish sitting in front of us.


What is so amazing about Honmono Sushi was the clientelle. It is mostly hi-so people who eat at Honmono Sushi. One of the reasons is that some of the fish at Honmono can be very very expensive. For example; one Uni sushi cost 800 baht for two pieces (oh my!). A Sweet Shrimp costs 450 baht a piece (ouch!). But people kept ordering and ordering. I guess price was no issue for these people when the seafood was that good.


The amuse bouche was mixture of deep fried shrimp, Japanese pea pods (I actually do not know what the name is for these things) and crispy fish.


This is the first time we were served a side dish with 3 types of seaweed, preserved ginger and grated radish. The combination on the dish had different textures, colours & tastes. They were all very nice. But the most amazing thing on the dish was the fresh wasabi. It is not the powder wasabi that we are used to being served in Japanese restaurants. The the taste & texture of the fresh wasabi was out of this world. When we placed some of it in the soy sauce; it dissolved so smoothly that it seemed to evaporate into the soy sauce.


The first dish was Ume Sashimi (with 5 types of fish). The freshest fish you can imagine was placed before us. Each fish had its own character but they all had one thing in common...they all tasted wonderful. They had the right texture; brilliant & bright colour and the most intense flavour. Nothing beats this.


The next dish was Unagi Ura Maki (eel, tuna & avocado roll). The roll was a beauty and it tasted as good as it looked; sophisticated & complex. The textures, colours & flavours were so prominent in this dish. It was so so good.


The next dish was Tekka Maki (tuna roll). Every Japanese restaurant we go to we order tekka maki. It is a good way to bench mark with such a simple roll. This tekka maki has got to be the best ever. The tuna truly melted in the mouth, I am not joking. It just melted in the mouth. Stunning!


The next dish was Ebi Tempura Roll. The ebi was deep fried perfectly; it was crunchy on the outside & very tender on the inside. The roll itself was absolutely delicious.


The next dish was Hokki-gai & Hon Maguro Akami (surf clam & blue fin tuna). The surf clam was firm, chewy and delicious. The blue fin tuna melted in the mouth. Both of them were just to die for.


The next dish was octopus suction cups. Normally; we eat the tentacles but not just the suction cups. They were salty, crunchy and tasty. Just lovely.


The restaurant's decor is nothing special. But no one really pays attention simply because the fresh fish is what everyone comes to Honmono for. The service is very attentive and friendly. Our sushi chef was just perfect; he was very friendly, explained & helped us with the menu, and offered so many things for us to try.

Overall; the sushi/ sashimi is simply the best in town so far. Honmono has a huge following; you can go any night and the place is packed. If you stay away from the very expensive fishes; your bill will not be so bad. But believe me that this is a good place.

19 soi Thonglor 23
Bangkok 10110
Tel: 02-185-1447

www.honmonosushi.com

Open daily 17:30 - 24:30 Sat-Sun (lunch) 11:30 - 14:30

3 comments:

Tattoo 仁 said...

hi, i'm a japanese in bkk, just found your blog & would like to let you know the name of "Japanese pea pods".
it's "EDAMAME"(=baby soybeans).
check this unique site which is only for edamame! > http://www.edamame.com/

i like your blog. pls keep updating nice restaurants in bkk!

mtfnmtfn said...

I definitely have to go. Thanks for your review.

Sybaritewino said...

have you ever had sushi in japan? if not, it can be difficult to truly understand just how good sushi can be...and affordable