Dinner at Sushi Namba Hibiya

Fine dining experience in Japan wouldn’t be complete without sushi. In April 2024, I was grateful to try out some of the best sushi in Fukuoka including Sushi Sakai and Tenzushi Kyomachi.

Forwarding into January 2025, I only had less than one week in Tokyo and had troubles finding a high-end sushi place here. Though I did get to eat at Sushi Ueda in Kobe while I was in Osaka a few days before arriving to Tokyo, and that place was fantastic for its value (sadly no pictures were allowed).

Thankfully, Sushi Namba Hibiya opened up last-minute slots in Omakase and I bit the bullet to finally get a taste of what one of the best in Tokyo has to offer.

Sushi Namba Hibiya is a Top 10 sushi restaurants in Tokyo according to Tabelog ratings, and earned both Tabelog Silver and Gold accolades as well.

How to Get a Reservation at Sushi Namba Hibiya

Getting a reservation in Sushi Namba Hibiya takes a great amount of luck and flexibility, especially as a foreigner. It was through luck that I was able to get a last minute reservation here.

As a foreigner, you can rely on two online platforms: Omakase and Tableall.

Omakase is my recommended option since it’s a lot cheaper than Tableall which only charges 390 yen reservation fee while Tableall charges 8000 yen. The base price on Omakase will be cheaper as well.

Either way, both platforms will be competitive, so reservations are not guaranteed. However, Tableall may release exclusive seats just for their platform. Whether the extra cost compared to Omakase is worth it will be up to you.

Lunch and dinner are served here, but dinner will be quite late (starts at 8:30pm). I’d rather go for lunch, but I could only work with dinner. Price for full omakase experience is the same for both lunch and dinner.

The Food

Around 8 otsumami and 17 pieces of nigiri were served, so there’s plenty to go around in here! Drinks are available, but menu were not given. Since I don’t speak Japanese, I forgo the drinks and just have hot tea to accompany the meal.

Otsumami

The otsumami were the highlights in Sushi Namba Hibiya. Some of the best I’ve had in a sushi restaurant in Japan. My personal highlights were kinki in dashi soup and the monkfish liver (ankimo). I also got to try raw whale tail, but I didn’t take a picture of it.

Interestingly, the grilled anago were served early here, where they’re normally served at the end of the meal. But, there’s another one coming with rice at the end.

Nigiri

Most of the nigiri served on the day was conveniently listed in a mini booklet given to all customers. There’s details of the temperatures of neta (fish) and shari (rice) which is different compared to many other sushi restaurants, and is what Chef Namba-san’s obsessed about.

Most of the nigiris have warm to hot shari which was interesting to say the least. I’m not sure if they’re to my preference though. To be very honest, it’s very hard to tell whether or not few degrees differences in the rice have huge impact on the taste. Some pieces have the rice fall apart too, and I wonder if the hotter temperatures affect that.

All the pieces tasted good, but are smaller than what I’m accustomed to. However, the tuna pieces are big to compensate.

The crimson sea bream was one of the best looking piece here.

Unfortunately, I got a botched piece of the grilled shirako, and the shape was messier than what it’s meant to be. Chef Namba-san apologized.

Conclusion

I had high expectations with Sushi Namba Hibiya, but it ended up not being a favorite sushi restaurant of mine. The shari tends to be too warm for me which were not to my liking. The ostumami were fantastic though, and they were the best I’ve had in a sushi restaurant.

But, I’m still glad I went since it’s valuable to learn your own dislikes as well. Though, this could just be an off-day for Chef Namba-san as well, which happens to everybody.

One thing I haven’t mentioned is that it seems Chef Namba-san tends to be tired during dinner shifts, which can impact quality and service. It might be the reason why some of the pieces fell apart after being picked up by hand.

With that said, lunch shift may be the way to go here, and I would recommend not booking dinner shift at all to avoid risk. I personally think 8:30pm is quite late too (which also impacts my focus and energy), and the meal’s done some time after 10pm.

Total Damage: 48,000 Yen