Tsu and Nami
Chef Norio Nomoto presides over a restaurant in two parts: Tsu, dedicated to contemporary Japanese food, and Nami, a teppanyaki steakhouse. “Usually when you visit a Japanese restaurant you have to choose between sushi and teppanyaki” he says, “but here you have both under the same roof.”
Tsu has built a reputation for serving the freshest and most delicious sushi and sashimi. The seafood is imported live twice a week from Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji and Fukuoka markets, and it tastes sensational - the likes of red clam and sweet shrimp sushi, hirame halibut sashimi and ‘new wave’ creations with garlic miso. In-the-know regulars also order the fabulous taraba crab hot pot, a rich, warming mix of king crab and vegetables cooked in a delicate soy-tinged broth. A superb sake menu - with scores of bottles, ranging from fruity, clear Gekkeikan to the ultra-dry Sawanotsura Karakuchi - completes the mix.
Nami, meanwhile, specialises in show cooking. It’s a joy to sit up at the counter and watch the chefs at work on hotplates in front of you, flipping and sizzling meat, seafood and vegetables with acrobatic grace and creating dishes which satisfy and inspire. You’ll need to choose a base for your teppanyaki, and the speciality here is beef - wonderful cuts include Australian Angus, Kobe beef striploin, Hitachi and tender Matsuzaka wagyu. Twinned with some pickle fried rice, it’s an unbeatable dinner.
Tsu and Nami are linked by an attractive sake bar, and united by an unusual and eye-catching piece of design - a large, arching bamboo “wave” that leaps artfully along their walls and ceilings. The two come together in the weekly Sunday Brunch, of which Chef Nomoto is justly proud. “It’s Bangkok’s first Japanese Sunday brunch”, he says “and it showcases some of our very best dishes, so it’s the perfect introduction to the restaurants.”
JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok
4 Sukhumvit Road, Soi 2
Bangkok, 10110 Thailand
4 Sukhumvit Road, Soi 2
Bangkok, 10110 Thailand