Restaurant: Sushi Chohi (Seoul, Korea)

Sushi Chohi • Seoul, Korea

Category: Japanese Sushi

Rating:  (4)

We decided to go to one more Japanese restaurant before heading back to the US. This time, instead of doing “omakase”, we decided to sit in the “tatamai” room and try a 10 course meal. A “tatami” room is a private room with sliding doors made of wood and paper and you are seated on the floor cross legged. One thing that is common in many Asian countries is that the floors are heated. Where in the western world, heat is supplied thru either a central heating system or a localized heating system by means of a radiator or fireplace, in the Asian culture, heat is traditionally supplied thru the floor itself . Heat is distributed evenly thru the floor and since heat rises, it distributes heat evenly throughout the room.

The meal itself was excellent, with a variety of sushi and cooked items and the service was extremely attentive. The variety of courses were selected well and the pacing was excellent with food arriving shortly after finishing the previous course.

One of the courses was blowfish or “fugu” in Japanese. A highly toxic fish that if not filleted properly can be highly poisonous and lethal in many cases. This time around, instead of being served as sushi in a raw state, it was deep fried with a very crispy coating.

The meal itself started with “ankimo” which was a nice touch. “Ankimo” is Japanese for monkfish liver which has been deveined and steamed. It is often referred to as “foie gras of the sea” and is aptly named.

Another nice dish was a trio of fried shrimp head, fresh crab and abalone in a kabocha sauce. Kabocha is a Japanese variety of winter squash and has a very deep and sweet flavor much like acorn squash in the US. As a chef, I also love using kabocha to make sauces and soups with and it’s inherent flavors compliment seafood very well.