One of my favorite restaurants in Tokyo is a place that you won't find in the Michelin Guide or on a list of the world's best restaurants. A far cry from the sophisticated fine dining establishments that the Japanese capital is known for, Abusan is a shoebox-size shellfish joint located on a backstreet near my neighborhood in western Tokyo. The L-shaped counter seats seven or eight in a pinch and the toilet is located in an alley outside the restaurant. The chef puts his trade in a corner outfitted with two charcoal braziers and a small refrigerated case displaying the day's catch.
Abusan's modest digs belie the meticulous care that the chef chooses and prepares the seafood. At the height of the season, chef slices speckled tsubugai whelk into a pile of crunchy-sweet sashimi presented alongside the mollusk's blanched liver and serves raw oysters plucked from the kelp-rich waters off the coast of Hokkaido.