Sushikyu

We had lunch around 1 PM with no waiting time. The dining area is on the second floor, which might be a bit difficult for elderly people. There weren’t many options, but all the food selections were good. It was 35 degrees outside today, and the air conditioning in the dining area wasn’t very good. I couldn’t enjoy the food because it was too hot. Overall, the experience was fine.

A must eat when at Ise-Shima is Tekone Sushi, which is actually a chirashi don with red fish only. In this case, I had it with bonito at Sushikyu, in Okage Yokocho for 1500 yen. Tekone Sushi was a flavor bomb, no additional shoyu required. The bonito was already marinated with shoyu and so it tasted salty enough. The slices, fresh, not fishy at all. The red vinegar rice was also more vinegary than usual shari and act as a perfect complement to the very powerful bonito slices. The set also comes with soup and a small side vegetable, but those were pretty much forgettable, just serving as sidekicks to Tekone Sushi. Overall, a very enjoyable meal. For someone like me who likes bold flavours, the fish and rice were unapologetically savoury and vinegary. I felt for some chirashi dons, it may be over or underseasoned, but here, seasoning was not necessary as the flavours were already bold and marinated. One thing I would like was some wasabi to cut through especially the fish, as sometimes eating it alone was too salty. I would also like the fish to be a little more fatty.

We both had the 伊勢路膳 set which consists of 8 different small dishes and the Mitsusaka beef slices. The dishes were well-presented and seasoned. The steamed beef was outstanding. Great value for money. Restaurant itself is spacious, traditional and beautiful. Service was excellent. It didn’t take long for the food to come. Great value for money

I had the famous Tekone-Sushi The sushi rice was well seasoned, but the bonito was just too salty and not very tasty I was a little disappointed because I had high expectations

Nice atmosphere and food were excellent. Fresh marinated bonito on the red vinegar rice. It looks too much but the bowl was shallow so could eat everything. I additionally Tororo on the side. Tororo was already salty enough. I enjoyed Tororo with bonito eat together. I’d love to eat them again.

Affordable set lunches here and generous portion! Tatami style seating.

The most people choose 梅, which is the sashimi rice, the best disc here and not so expensive. I chose the most expensive one, but the beef was just fine.

Just taste the original tegone sushi with great view river.

Only after randomly dining at Sushikyu did we learn that the restaurant has a storied history: it has been serving local specialities, like tekone-zushi and tororo-jiru, since the 18th century. Perhaps this should not have been surprising given the high number of Japanese tourists lining up for the restaurant's high-quality, reasonably priced food. We ordered the tekone-zushi set, which featured thick slabs of tuna marinated in soy over a bed of rice as well as plate of tempura. This was one of our favorite meals of the entire trip thanks to the reasonable price (approximately 2100 yen) for the quantity and quality of the fish. Since we arrived before the lunch rush, we only waited 15-20 minutes to be seated after joining the waitlist. The restaurant is larger than it looks, with two floors of tables in tatami-lined rooms overlooking the river, so unless it's super crowded, you probably won't have to wait too long.

Long waiting time at least 30 minutes during rush hour traffic when time is limited like lunch. But the food quality offsets that at a high margin.