The original sushi specialist

A decade after its founding, Yotsuba, the capital's grandmaster of sushi joints remains singularly focused

"When you are cutting, be incisive; when you are finishing, be sensitive," Kobayashi Atsushi says as he shapes a small glob the size of a golf ball in his hand. "It must be beautiful. In the art of making sushi, beauty equals taste."

Counting the time it takes to cut the meat, he can make one piece of sushi in about 10 seconds, he says.

Before starting to work in Yotsuba sushi restaurant in Beijing in 2004, Atsushi had performed his sushi-making art in Shinjuku, central Tokyo, for 15 years.

Yotsuba is said to be the first genuine sushi restaurant in Beijing.

When Harada Shoichi, the owner of Yotsuba, came to Beijing a year before Atsushi, it was not as though there were no Japanese restaurants, he says. The trouble was that few specialized in sushi.

"What most of them offered was sushi, sashimi, tempura, noodles and all other Japanese odds and ends in one restaurant. It was like a hodgepodge buffet.

"It doesn't work that way in Japan. Usually different restaurants specialize in different sorts of food. There are restaurants for sushi, others for tempura and still others for noodles."

So the following year, he opened Yotsuba, which specializes in sushi. In Japanese, yotsuba is a plant with four leaves on one stalk, although the managers of the Beijing restaurant say that in its case the name refers to customers, suppliers, staff and stakeholders.

Over more than 10 years, Yotsuba has become extremely popular, and there are now three outlets in Beijing, and one in Shenzhen.

We went to the Yansha outlet, which has been freshly renovated, looking to sample what are said to be its top-value business lunches.

The restaurant has an unobtrusive shop front with unimposing rustic wooden doors. Once we entered, we were immersed in a traditional Japanese restaurant setting with warm yellow light and at the entrance were asked to remove our shoes. We could then head for the sushi bar or one of five private dining rooms.

To get a closer look at how the food was prepared, we parked ourselves at the counter, where the chefs were busy working in front of us.

The menu is indeed not extensive. Yotsuba is true to its promise to serve only what it specializes in, sushi, so do not go there expecting to find udon, tempura and California roll. We ordered two lunchtime sets, starting from 150 yuan a set, and at that price the quality is top-notch.

To ensure authenticity, food such as tuna, rice and urchin are flown in from Japan every day, and decorations, cooking utensils and cutlery also came from there, we were told.

What I liked most was the Japanese steamed egg custard with gingko nuts, fresh shrimps and scallop slices, commonly known as chawanmushi in Japanese. The custard was soupier than what I had tasted before, because it was topped with a briny broth. It was smooth and tasted terrific. The texture of the eggs was superbly tender, and the dish had a subtle, sweet aroma.

This is a light and flavorful appetizer, or you could have it as a warm dessert.

It is often said that the proof of a Japanese restaurant is in its steamed egg custard. This dish is akin to a Western omelet, easy to cook and as basic in its ingredients as you care to make it, but tasting widely differently depending on who cooks it.

Sashimi and sushi at Yotsuba are beautifully presented, shiny and sharp-edged, and tasted flawless.

The miso soup was good, but not outstanding, a little salty to my palate. A chef at the sushi counter reckoned that miso soup in Japan tends to be even saltier than what Yotsuba provides.

Yotsuba's roasted Japanese Wagyu steak is new on the menu. Cooked medium rare to rare, the meat took on an outstanding texture and taste. To the nose it was aromatic and to the taste buds succulent. It melted in my mouth with its buttery and smoky flavor, the result of its being grilled over charcoal.

The scrumptious roasted Wagyu set was paired with a fresh bowl of rice, soup, small plates of salad and grilled and steamed items, such as sake-steamed clams. It costs 250 yuan.

Our dining experience at the sushi bar was quiet and pleasant; diners sitting at the counter all seemed to be intent on enjoying the food, with little of the usual preoccupation with mobile phones. Occasionally, the chefs could be heard speaking Japanese as they prepared the food.

dongfangyu@chinadaily.com.cn