A note on the words: mehikari is a small deep-sea fish, usually fried whole; ikura is salmon roe; natto is sticky fermented soybeans; shari is sushi rice; and an octopus wiener is Japan’s beloved lunchbox trick of cutting a sausage so it fries up with eight little legs. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
Sushi Sake Sakana Sugidama, Azabu-juban on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Drinkers, thank you for waiting. It is Hangover Meshi time.
This time: a shop that seems to have materialised out of nowhere in Azabu-juban — “Sushi Sake Sakana Sugidama, Azabu-juban”! I could swear this was not here last time I walked this street.
At first, I noticed nothing unusual about it at all.
Only when I sat down to write this post and searched did I discover Sugidama branches absolutely everywhere — something like 35 in Tokyo alone?! And there is a reason for that. This shop…
…is run by the Sushiro group (Japan’s giant conveyor-sushi chain)!
The menu has a genuine cleverness about it. With that machine behind it, the number of branches makes perfect sense.
First, as ever: beer!
The glass has the character for “sake” printed on it in blue — presumably to stop drink orders being confused with soft drinks. Looking back, the whole place is full of these big-chain-honed tricks!
It is the signboard dish bearing the shop’s own name — there is no declining it!
A smallish boat-shaped vessel piled boldly with the day’s sashimi — great theatre on the table! Tuna, salmon, sea bream, shrimp, silver-skinned fish: a good balance of freshness and quantity.
With a name like that, how can you not think about it?!
A row of octopus-cut wieners, skewered mercilessly on the plate. Honestly, if they had not said anything, no one would have dwelt on it! That aside — octopus wieners are delicious. I ate these constantly as a child. Good with mayonnaise, too.
Wait — at least it was not ketchup. Small mercies!
The menu has an entire genre called “fried shari” (fried sushi rice). This is the natto one.
Sticky natto wrapped over a block of crisply fried sushi rice — something like a scorched-rice cracker. The vinegared-rice flavour is intact, so if they call it fried shari, fried shari it is. The contrast of textures between the natto and the crisp rice is great fun — do order it!
Apparently this one is a hit at the overseas Sugidama branches.
They have overseas branches?!
A thin sushi roll, fried crisp, with cream cheese hidden inside and negi-maguro (minced tuna with spring onion) dressed in a savoury-spicy sauce piled on top. The green chilli on top carries real heat!
The menu claimed development took more than a year.
Seriously?!
Baby scallops, tomato, potato, ark-shell mantle and more, bubbling away in olive oil, garlic and chilli perfuming the air. A baguette might be the proper accompaniment — though apparently there is an “abura soba” noodle option too.
Hahaha!
At a glance: ordinary fried mehikari, yes? Look closer. The eyes are gleaming. That is because…
…they have stuffed ikura into the eye sockets!
I… am not sure about this one?! It barely affects the taste; it is fun, but should it be allowed?! Well — once eaten, all the same. For the record: no ikura on the reverse side. Front only.
Hm. It does have that liver-sashimi stickiness and depth of richness, I grant them…!
By the end, it seems, we simply wanted to eat something normal.
So — a visit to “Sushi Sake Sakana Sugidama”, the izakaya arm of the Sushiro group that is currently expanding everywhere. Big-chain consistency of quality combined with menu items that take real swings, in content and in naming — a genuinely fun izakaya. Prices are very low too; the popularity explains itself. And the fact that I never suspected a chain until I looked it up — that is its own achievement.
May you meet something good to eat today too.
Sushi Sake Sakana Sugidama, Azabu-juban (sushi / Azabu-juban Station, Akabanebashi Station, Roppongi Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
