21 photos of Sukiyabashi Jiro sushi, probably the best in all the world

Cooking, like any art, requires an incredible amount of skill, dedication, creativity, and perhaps most important of all, technique. So, you would think that when it comes to a niche style like sushi, the competition for “best in the world” would be the very definition of intense. But it turns out that for most sushi connoisseurs, the answer is simple: Jiro Ono, owner and sushi master of Sukiyabashi Jiro.

With an entire documentary dedicated to the now 89-year-old sushi master, he’s become well-known throughout the world for his legendary cuisine–but not many of us will ever have the chance to try his perfectly prepared delicacies ourselves. While it’s not quite the same, we’ve found the next best thing: Close up photos of his creations waiting to be devoured! Just try not to lick your screen, okay?

For a single meal, which consists of 21 courses and is eaten in about 19 minutes, diners will pay 30,000 yen–which is worth about US$295 at today’s exchange rate. Which translates to eating roughly $15 worth of food every minute! That’s a lot of cheeseburgers…

Obviously, any restaurant with such dedication to perfection will be highly rated, and in fact, for six years running, Sukiyabashi Jiro has earned three stars, the highest rating awarded, from the Michelin Guide, considered by many to be the guide for fine dining.

▼A menu listing the items on the Chef’s Recommended Special Course

The restaurant itself is small, seating only ten people at a time, and located in one of the many underground shopping corridors in Tokyo. With such a small number of seats and such high demand, it’s little wonder that the restaurant is currently fully booked until May!

So, since most of us will never get a chance to even smell Jiro’s well-prepared meals, we’ll just have to make do with these photos…

▼Karei (flatfish)

▼Hirame (fluke)

▼Sumi-ika (cuttlefish)

▼Buri (Japanese amberjack)

▼Akami (top loin of Bluefin tuna)

▼Chu-toro (medium fatty tuna)

▼Oo-toro (fatty tuna)

▼Kohada (gizzard shad)

▼Mushi awabi (steamed abalone)

▼Aji (Japanese horse mackerel)

▼Akagai (ark shell clam)

▼Kuruma-ebi (kuruma prawn)

▼Sayori (halfbeak)

▼Katsuo (skipjack tuna)

▼Saba (blue mackerel)

▼Hamaguri (common orient clam)

▼Uni (sea urchin)

▼Kobashira (mactra clam)

▼Ikura (salmon roe)

▼Anago (eel)

▼Tamago (egg)

▼Melon

Of course, sushi may well be one of the most difficult cuisines to prepare–requiring countless hours and years of practice to perfect. Even something as simple as cooking the eggs can take six months to get right, according to one of Jiro’s old employees. Check out an excerpt from Jiro Dreams of Sushi to learn how long it took this apprentice to get it right.

Of course, even if you have the money to sit down to a full meal at Jiro’s restaurant, you might not be able to make the time to come all the way to Tokyo! If you happen to live in New York, though, you might still be in luck! The egg-cooking gentleman in the video above has left Tokyo for the Big Apple where he now serves as the sushi master of Sushi Nakazawa, located at 23 Commerce Street and one of the most highly rated restaurants by The New York Times.

If you’re not in Tokyo or New York, well, we guess you’ll just have to dream about all that amazing food.

Now, please excuse us, we have to go clean our monitors…

Sources: Sukibayashi Jiro, Izismile, CommonPost, New York Times
All photos: Luxeat

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