Ginza Okuda, Tokyo

Last year, during our first trip to Japan, a fellow food geek friend of mine recommended I visit the one michelin starred Ginza Okuda in Ginza, Tokyo. The first trip was so wonderful that we had to make a second visit during our second trip.

This restaurant is considerably easier to book than its three star contemporaries and we asked our hotel concierge to book it for us a month or so in advance.

At Ginza Okuda, you must choose one of three set options of varying prices, which determines the type of ingredients you are served. You must choose this in advance. All options are delicious and prepared with the utmost care and respect. A wine/sake pairing is also available, which I highly recommend.

Both times we visited, we were sitting at the bar watching the expert chefs prepare all of the dishes, from sashimi to grilled fish. The knives are a work of art and the chef's skills are mesmerising.

For those who aren't heading to Japan any time soon, the good news is that Ginza Okuda is opening a sister restaurant in Paris very soon!

Here are the little sweet fish again!

Such amazing detail with such an enormous knife (which, we were told, is only to be used for sashimi) 

Freshly grated wasabi

Matcha tea to finish