Kinki, Japanese unagi and yellow croaker at Nakajima Suisan

Another satisfying breakfast at Nakajima Suisan (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六, 十七, 十八, 十九, 二十, 二十一, 二十二, 二十三).

Pretty surprised that they have kinki. Seems like they're also pushing the envelop with that since kinki isn't cheap and this was the most expensive set we've ever gotten at $49.90. That being said, I recognise that this was a lot less expensive than what most places charges for a fish like this. If you didn't know, there's a prawny flavour to the fish and it was delicious.

There's also a limited quantity unagi kabayaki teishoku featuring Japanese eels. Equally as pricey as the kinki but sadly not great. Meat was a little mushy. Don't expect the standards that one gets from Man Man/Unagi Tei. Or even Uya and Unatoto for that matter. Won't be getting this again.

Their yellow croaker is still available and still huge. Great value for quantity and the fish, though leaner and less flavourful, wasn't bad at all.

Natto, shoyu and rice.

An update at Nakajima Suisan

It's been a while since we ate at Nakajima Suisan. They've added some stuff to their menu which weren't there before.

I was reeled in by their akauo hiraki teishoku this time round.

The main reason was that I've learnt to appreciate this fish in the recent year. The fact that I've figured out a better way of eating them by stripping off the spine first helped. The other reason would be that there was something about the meat that reminded me of kinmedai.

There be oysters too and these grilled ones were pretty good. I'd get them again easily. But the shishamo today wasn't as egg stuffed as I was hoping for. Hmmmm......

They even have gindara shioyaki these days. A refreshing change from the usual teriyaki version.

Breakfast at Nakajima Suisan

We were at Nakajima Suisan (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六, 十七) one of the recent weekends for a grilled fish teishoku breakfast. A happy meal big breakfast kinda thing involving freshly grilled fish, rice, hot miso soup and some other things.

Got a double up saba mirin. Because an additional portion of fish never hurt. Topped the rice with mentaiko.

Seem to recall it not having so much bones previously. Anyways, it was deliciously savoury on the inside beneath that sweet caramelized mirin glaze on the surface.

Noticed that the saikyo mero looked larger than how I remembered them. Deliciously oily and flavourful as always.

Today's shishamo were disappointingly skinny and were oddly not salted at all. Not as much roe as I would preferred them to have.

Renewal at Nakajima Suisan

It's been at least a couple of years since we ate at Nakajima Suisan. Definitely missed them. (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六) The global pandemic had been in part, one of the reasons why we haven't been eating here. The other reason was of course, the usual relentless queue the shop has which can sometimes be deterring.

That being said, they have upgraded the premise. Seating capacity is about double what they once were and there seems to be minor changes to their teishoku. Apart from the old shredded cabbage salad with sesame dressing which doesn't seem to have seaweed anymore and the takuan, they've now also, if you would believe it, a little dish of chuka wakame with mala flavour.

There's also options to top up the rice with mentaiko or negitoro. We got the latter.

Fell back to some stuff which we thought was reliable. This akauo hiraki teishoku was satisfying. Fish was clean tasting, flaky and meaty at the same time with that faint prawny aroma.

On the other end was their buttery mero teriyaki which was flaky and rich. The crisped up skin was so good.

Breakfast of akauo, yellow croaker, portabello and natto at Nakajima Suisan

Breakfast at Nakajima Suisan (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六, 十七, 十八, 十九, 二十, 二十一, 二十二). This was the akauo hiraki teishoku with natto added on.

I don't know when this happened but the rice has changed. I remember them being dryer in the past...less Japanese-y. Came to attention today that the bowl we got was starchy and short grained so I guess it's a small upgrade. One of various little ones they've made through the years. Natto + shoyu + rice = 👍🏼

Trying their yellow croaker for the first time. Never seen them here before. The fish was huge.

Meaty and flaky with a little bit of fat. Not bad. Hope they're still around the next time we come back.

Grilled portobello caps are $5 a pop here.

Hon maguro hire, sanma and shake shioyaki from Nakajima Suisan

 

Haven't had the hon maguro from Nakajima Suisan (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六, 十七, 十八) in a while. There's jellyfish for their side dish today.

Those tuna fin were still the same unctuous and delicious morsels flavoured with little but salt and the char on their surface. 

Topped my teishoku with an additional sanma. Love those bitter sweet innards in the fish.

While I generally don't do salmon much, I even thought their shake shioyaki was delicious.

All at the price point to quality ratio that's still hard to beat.

Maguro nodo teishoku and buri kama shioyaki at Nakajima Suisan

Haven't gotten the maguro nodo at Nakajima Suisan (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六, 十七, 十八, 十九, 二十) in a while. Portion appeared to be a little smaller than what I remember previously when every other fish seemed have gotten larger. Also, getting breakfast here in the morning feels a little competitive. 😬

Tuna's still smokey, oily and delicious though. 👍🏼

Got an additional order of buri kama shioyaki (grilled yellowtail collar) on the side because...it's nice to have more fish. The meat from the collar felt a little more "refined" compared to the tuna because it wasn't as oily and had a finer texture.

A tai shioyaki teishoku and shishamo from Nakajima Suisan

If my memory serves, there was some 25th anniversary thing going on and Nakajima Suisan was offering grilled sea bream because of it. It was the most expensive set they had on the non-regular menu and also the largest whole grilled fish they've ever had on teishoku. It's not bad if one didn't mind the bones and tasty slimy bits.

I've been curious about some of the additional grilled items they have started offering in recent times. One of those were the shishamo and while it might not have been visually apparent, they were filled with roe unlike many cheaper places that served barren fishes out of season. Smoky and even juicy these things were. 

Akauo hiraki teishoku & sanma shioyaki from Nakajima Suisan

Back at Nakajima Suisan (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六, 十七, 十八, 十九) for their teishoku. It's their akauo hiraki set with extra sanma shioyaki today. Heh heh heh......

I've been favouring this over the much smaller portioned kinmedai. Think it's gonna be that way for a while.

Konbu saba yaki teishoku from Nakajima Suisan

We came across a limited time teishoku item at Nakajima Suisan. It was a konbu saba yaki. The menu described it as mackerel marinated with kelp. I was instantly curious about how the fish would taste like. I mean, when was the last time you came across grilled fish that had been marinated by seaweed? Wouldn't you be curious at the very least?

While it was a decent grilled fish as per their usual standards, I was a little disappointed because there was no additional flavour on the saba. Tasted exactly like regular saba without any seaweed flavour. Well, at least now I know how theirs taste like since I've never ordered before.