[Shanghai] Tsukiji Aosora Sandaime 筑地青空三代目

Tsukiji Aosora Sandaime 筑地青空三代目 | Dianping
Address: 长乐路191号1-2楼(近茂名南路) – 1F/2F, 191 Changle Rd near Maoming South Rd (卢湾区 Luwan District)
Date visited: 2014.03 for dinner
Total bill: RMB¥1,850 for three people
Will return: Yes

Sushi and I don’t get a lot of face time in Shanghai. Mainly because quality sushi places are too expensive to eat as often as I have sushi cravings (which is all the time). When I can afford to drop RMB¥1,000 at Maison Asano every week, I know I have made it. But until then, I will need to find another solution. I have tried to fix sushi cravings with the sushi-express type places and they are just offensive to my wellbeing. I have learned to either eat very good sushi or no sushi at all.

My friend, who has one of the finest palates I have had the pleasure to be in company with, goes to Tsukiji Aosora Sandaime once, sometimes twice a week for dinner. That already says a lot about this place without even stepping inside. I told her my first time here would have to be with her. So we made this a girls’ dinner over quality sushi and sake. I will definitely be stopping here for meals on the more casual side when I can’t cough up the funds for Mason Asano, which is on the higher end and saved for indulgence days.

We all went for the RMB¥400 set with 12 pieces, which includes sea urchin, toro, Botan prawn, sea eel, and the rest at the chef’s discretion. We sat at the sushi bar where the chef handed us our sushi piece by piece.

Three girls and a bottle of sake (RMB¥650) for the night.

One third of the lovely trio for tonight’s dinner. The other third is my trusty source for this place.

We started with warm tamago (sweet omelet). Perfect dose of sweetness. I prefer to finish my sushi with tamago at the end but good tamago is welcome anytime. Next time, I will ask for this to be at the end.

Hirame (flounder) marinated with vinegar and a sprinkle of seasoning.

Sweet and creamy botan ebi (botan prawn) that I love with the sting of wasabi.

There is a lot of hype around awabi (abalone) but I am actually pretty indifferent towards it–not bad but not special to me.

The toro was what we were all waiting for. Our first piece was the chutoro (medium fatty tuna). My friend likes this chutoro more whereas I prefer the fattier otoro that we had later.

Aji (jack mackerel) topped with scallion and grated ginger.

Uni (sea urchin), my love. I could not believe it when both of my friends had their uni substituted for other pieces but I suppose I have my own particularities. You can ask the chef to substitute anything you don’t like and adjust the amount of rice as well. One friend asked for less rice, which I don’t have enough will to resist.

The chef putting finishing touches on the ika (squid).

Otoro (very fatty tuna) that melted on my tongue.

I disliked ikura (roe) all my life until I ate amazing ones at Maison Asano, which reaffirmed that it makes a world of a difference when quality ingredients are used. The ikura here is quite good as well.

Towards the end, we transitioned to warm sushi with torched isaki (grunt).

Torched kinmedai (snapper).

Warm anago (sea eel) drizzled with sweet sauce, perhaps a little to sweet for my liking but very quality eel.

Simple cucumber rolls for a clean finish.

Overall, a very satisfying and simple meal of high quality sushi that won’t break the bank. I don’t think I will be beating my friend’s Foursquare mayorship here but I will certainly be making this a go-to sushi stop.

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