Something fishy at Kogumaya

Wealthy Japanese businessmen and their wives frequent Kogumaya Restaurant and Bar in Shanghai for their daily dose of sashimi - shipped fresh from the docks of Japan's Nagasaki fish market.

"Packed with seawater and oxygen, the fishes are sent to us alive," said Head Chef Shingo Fukusaki. "The cost is one-third of our daily expenditure."

Five to seven pieces of thick-cut yellowtail costs punters 70 yuan. Served with freshly prepared wasabi and soy sauce, Japanese and Chinese chefs will slice up this melt-in-your-mouth serving in a masterful display of culinary skill.

Business has been going strong since the restaurant opened last year. It now caters to an elite group of returning-patrons, over 90 percent of who are Japanese.

Clutching their Gucci bags, Japanese housewives flock to the restaurant at lunchtime to take advantage of its bento box, which features organic salad, miso soup, pumpkin, eggplant tempura, a daily assortment of sashimi and homemade chocolate. The boxes cost 238 to 418 yuan and are served Monday to Friday from 11:30 am to 2 pm.

For those looking for something a little less raw, the Grilled Skewered Beef Slices (180 yuan per 100g) are sinfully rich in flavor, with an outer crispy layer of fat that is sure to satisfy any craving for calories.

Due to its fresh ingredients, the menu at Kogumaya never goes stale. Head chef Fukusaki is constantly rewriting - in brush-paint calligraphy - the daily menu. Over 40 dishes change everyday depending on the selection of fish being sent over.

Seasonal offerings also feature, with shrimp and shellfish the top choice from now until December. The restaurant plans to kick off the New Year with smaller fish as freshwater varieties come into season from January to March.

"We follow the rules of nature to serve only the best," said Fukusaki. "We even close the restaurant when the Nagasaki fish market is taking a break."

With just eight steamed king crabs on offer daily (88 yuan per crab), a steady stream of patrons have taken to lining up at the restaurant's door minutes before they open at 11 am to get their hands on one.

Guests will need to leave their shoes at the entrance of the second and third floors before settling down on a tatami floor-level mat at one of the restaurant's 10 Japanese-style private rooms.

The first floor provides a place for guests to continue sipping on some traditional Japanese sake in a more engaging atmosphere with dark wooden furniture dressing up the bar's chic undertones. But don't expect to find any Asahi beer here.

"We only serve sake and shochu; in sticking with tradition, we don't serve cocktails," said restaurant owner Wu Jun, a Shanghai local who spent several years living in Japan.

"Our authentic side dishes such as pickled squid and ayu (Japanese fish), which are hard to find at other places in town, are made to go perfectly with sake."

Kogumaya Restaurant and Bar

105-117 Chengdu Road S.

成都南路105-117

Tel: 6386-5179, 6386-5177

(China Daily 12/05/2009 page14)