Otaru Masazushi Main (Hokkaido)

The fellow greeting us at the front door was extremely friendly. That was the best part of the experience. Sushi was average. The king crab was a huge disappointment. On the menu they advertise it a King crab for 8800 yen but in reality it is a few small legs. When it came out I thought they must have made a mistake on the order. It was very disappointing as we came to Otaru for the crab and we had to wait an hour for a table.

The service and quality was worth the price for me. My favorite was the fat tuna & salmon sushi. The seafood was very fresh. Highly recommend trying when visiting Otaru.

Tried the sushi platter. Really authentic method of preparation, wasabi in between rice and fish. Tasted really fresh and the portion of the fish it's on par with other sushi shops. Tried their specialty fish sperm sac (shirako) as apparantly it's a seasonal cuisine. Tasted really creamy and umami. It's not as fishy as umi (sea urchin). Service from them is top notch. No issues with that. Only downside is you might need to wait, we waited around 30mins as we visited around 1pm. But they have a comfortable area for waiting. Overall will definitely visit again but might do a reservation first before hand.

The seafood is very fresh and sweet. Their good quality speaks all. They are delicately prepared and the sushi are amazing. The sea urchins are rich and full of taste of the ocean, they are very good. The steamed egg and the tempura are also made to perfection. The staff are nice and welcoming. However, given the extremmmeeely long waiting, the high prices and unparalleled small portions, I doubt if it is worthwhile.

My first visit to this Sushi house was in May 2008. I returned in November 2025, because of my 2008 impressions. Physically, the exterior looked familiar enough to be instantly recognizable from a nearly 18 year old memory. Internally, the decor and layout is far more modern and refined than it was in 2008. Service was attentive, skilled, (naturally polite at Japanese service levels,) pleasantly timed tea refills - no asking, the staff just knew about when to refresh the tea cup, and friendly. The staff even attempted to interact in English & supplied English-language menus before they accommodated my desire for Japanese-language interactions. The Sushi chef, also, attempted some English before joining me using Japanese. The chef was personable & not at all aloof. He was open to questions regarding the varieties of seafood and rice used in the meal. The food was great. The Hokkaido rice used with the sushi & deconstructed nigiri (uni & ikura) was particularly delicious with near creamy outer texture. Each seafood item was noticeably fresh and crossed several mouth feels from melt in your mouth to hearty-bite-down maguro. I am looking forward to returning before 2042.

We were told that there is a waiting time of 15 to 30min for a table when we walked in, however we got it less than 15 min. We enjoyed the experience and the quality of food. The sashimi is awesome and fresh.

We traveled a long way to visit this renowned restaurant, only to experience differential treatment. I’m not being overly critical—we were among the first group seated, with five people in total (three of us and two Japanese guests). We all ordered the omakase course for 15,180 yen. Since we were seated close to the young, bespectacled chef preparing the fish, we could clearly observe from the sashimi course onward that he intentionally reserved the two best and largest portions, while the rest of us received inferior cuts of fish with smaller servings. At first, I thought the chef was distributing randomly, but with each dish, those two larger portions consistently went to the Japanese guests—too coincidental to be unintentional. For example, when it came to shellfish, the three of us shared one piece cut into three portions, while the neighboring guests each received a half-piece of the same ingredient. This happened with every dish, including tuna and sea urchin. It was truly baffling. I won’t be returning.

Came to have lunch and it was quite the experience. We were greeted and seated very quickly. The staff confirmed our reservation and walked us through the meal course. They were very attentive and helped refill our drinks consistently. Food was very well presented and tasted very delicious.