The interior at Ryu Sushi features a stylish dappled stone counter, lustrous copper back wall and a floor-to-ceiling window, which floods the room with the freshness of natural light. There’s also the distinguished air of authenticity – the chefs take their Edo-style sushi seriously and have been doing so since their restaurant opened at Tsukiji over 50 years ago.
In true Edo-style, you’re encouraged to eat your sushi with fingers rather chopsticks. And don’t ask for salmon – it wasn’t a fish served during the Edo period and it isn’t now at Ryu Sushi. The restaurant has a few other unique touches, too: the small sets of makizushi rolls feature fatty buri (yellowtail) rather than the standard fatty toro (tuna), and the kappa-maki (small cucumber rolls) are filled with very finely shredded cucumber rather than a whole slice, delivering a textured crunch.
The chefs will guide you on whether to use soy sauce or not – the suzuki (sea bass), for example, comes with a touch of grated salt and is so delicate and balanced it doesn’t need even a hint of soy sauce. There are several options for omakase sets (¥4,300, ¥3,500 and ¥2,500), as well as a maguro-don (tuna rice bowl) or anago-don (conger eel rice bowl) for ¥3,000, chirashi-don for ¥3,500 and sashimi for ¥2,500. Ryu Sushi is cash-only.