Manten Sushi Marunouchi

When in Japan, it is impossible to leave the country without having a decent sushi Omakase meal, and this restaurant comes highly recommended by many reviewers, so I made a booking for lunch

Located in the Marunouchi area, the mall is frequented by an office crowd, and almost all the restaurants are fully packed during meal times. With over 23 courses for less than 7,700 JPY per person, it is considerably affordable for quality sushi Omakase, which is the main reason why it blew up on social media. With a few outlets, it was not difficult to get an online reservation for the restaurant, but a deposit had to be made during the online reservation

The prices have since changed from my visit in December 2024 for both lunch and dinner. For reservations, they will only allow the more extensive menu at 7,700 JPY, which is now 8,800 JPY. The cheaper menu at 4,400 is not available for reservation and is only for walk-ins. The space is not too huge, with the centre sushi counter sitting 14 customers at any one seating. There are also a few separate tables at the side for bigger groups who don’t mind not being at the counter seats

We started with a small cup of rice wine to start our palate for the course ahead and were served a seaweed dish which was unlike normal seaweed. It was slightly slimy, savoury yet quite refreshing. Next, we got a tuna sushi with pickled ginger, followed by crab meat chawan mushi. Next was seared tuna slices with a nice cooked rim and soft raw flesh in the centre. The seared sides gave the fish just enough charred flavour, which complemented the freshness of the meat

Next batch, we had the squid with soy glaze, an extremely soft and melt-in-your-mouth tofu cube, more fatty tuna, and a roll of mentaiko cod and abalone inards. The one which stood out in this batch of items was the tofu. As unassuming as it looks, we were expecting plain tofu flavours, but the chef pre-empted us by saying this could be the best item we have today. Indeed, he was not wrong as the cube of tofu burst out in flavour in your mouth with a great balance of soy flavour and milky creaminess

The next batch included a scoop of seasoned ikura on sushi rice, soy scallop sushi, chutoro sushi, grilled foie gras, and a torched mackerel fish sushi. I liked this next batch better as each item really embraced the flavours well, and the sweetness of the fresh ingredients exploded in my mouth

The next batch included prawn sushi, clams, and miso sushi, as well as sea urchin sushi with seaweed, a cube of tamago, torch-seared cod sushi, a chopped tuna handroll, and pineapple slices for dessert. The one item which stood out in this batch was the sea urchin sushi, which was fresh and sweet

Overall, the food and services were great at the restaurant, but to be honest, I was not overly impressed. I had some more impressive Sushi Omakase outside of Japan, so this really was a slight disappointment to me. While I am not overly impressed, the price is still good for those who wish to experience Omakase in Japan at least once, as the Chef makes it really fun and interactive, and the quality of food is also good

Address: ブリックスクエア, B1F, 2 Chome Marunouchi, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 100-6990, Japan

Opening hours: 11 am to 3 pm and 5 pm to 11 pm