Goji Kobayashi, chef-co-owner of Sushi Kuuya was recently awarded the “Young Rising Star Chef Award” at Top25 Restaurants Awards Bangkok 2024, an AI-generated list.
Having only been opened for six months, Sushi Kuuya has generated quite the buzz in the omakase scene. The restaurant gets its name from local slang in Hakata, chosen by the chef’s father to honour chef Kobayashi’s hometown in Fukuoka.
In Japanese, Kūya is an informal expression often used in certain dialects, particularly in the Kansai region, to say “let’s eat” or “eat up”. And, eat up you will at the eight-seater counter. The restaurant logo is sketched by a Japanese fish master in Yaizu, Shizuoka.
“I go for more of the traditional side of Japanese sushi. I wouldn't say that its Edomae because that means that all the fish is sourced from the Tokyo Bay region. Some of the fish I serve is in Edomae-style like the cured and cooked clam that I serve. But my style is to do a blend of modern and traditional and occasionally ‘my style’,” says the chef. “I prefer more simplicity and am more focused on the flavour itself.”
A meal at Sushi Kuuya is also an introduction to ingredients like white seaweed or Shiraita kombu. “I cook the kombu with dashi, vinegar and sugar, which adds a bit of texture to the fish. Normally it is used for battera sushi, which is like a pressed sushi from Osaka, where it is used more with saba or mackerel. I cure the young sea bream with salt and vinegar, which is a similar concept to how saba is cured, and which is why I put them together,” explains the chef.
The Sashimi course consists of Tairagai or pen shell; Tennen honmaguro Akami or wild bluefin tuna; and Kamasu or Japanese barracuda is served. The pen shell is seasoned with a bit of sea salt from Okinawa. The bluefin tuna is sourced from a particular fish broker, which is the same person that supplies Jiro. “Though it is the same tuna supplier, I use a different type of tuna. The tuna I use for this season is from Ireland,” clarifies chef Kobayashi.
The rice, which is the essence of most sushi restaurants, at Sushi Kuuya is a blend of three types, each adding its unique texture and flavour. The chef infuses his secret vinegar recipe into the mix to ensure that each batch of rice is freshly cooked and seasoned for every seating, of which there are two each evening.
“I had a passion for sushi, not so much for being a chef, but for sushi. My parents used to take me to a lot of sushi restaurants and what I found most enjoyable was the interaction between the diner and the chef. Every piece was served very delicate and the story behind it was explained, and that was the concept that I really liked,” says chef Kobayashi. “I moved to Hokkaido at an early age and started working in a sushi restaurant. I soon went to San Francisco and Los Angeles, and moved back to SF to work at Michelin-starred omakase, which was a small one. I soon moved to Bangkok to try something new, met my wife, got married and we opened Sushi Kuuya together.”
His experience throughout the years has come in handy at Sushi Kuuya, where chef Kobayashi echoes a well-balanced omakase that is quintessential to traditional Japanese cuisine.
In the Small Dish course, the standout dish was the Kinmedai shioyaki or grilled golden eye snapper, which is aged overnight in kelp. “Once the kelp is removed, I dry age the fish for a few hours and then wrap back in cling wrap, so as not to let the fish loose its moisture, and keep ageing it, usually for five days,” adds the chef.
Though it is the standout dish here would be Anago or sea eel. To ensure that each piece is tender and flavourful, the young chef carefully debones the eel, which is then simmered for an hour. This is to tenderise the meal and right before serving, the eel is grilled in front of diners. What is served is eel with a slightly crisp exterior and soft interior.
Though I am rather partial about uni. At Sushi Kuuya, Murasaki uni is served. This variety is from a purple sea urchin with longer, sparser spikes. The roe is usually yellow or light orange, milder and slightly less creamy than the more common Bafun uni.
The Zukemaguro temaki or marinated bluefin tuna is put in the marinade 30 minutes before serving and is a special blend of shoyu-no-mi, sake and shio koji, and to add a bit of spice, shichi-mi,” adds chef Kobayashi.
As the summer begins, the omakase has introduced new seasonal ingredients, including the Hanasaki gani or Spiny Blue Crab. The menu at Sushi Kuuya evolves regularly based on the seasonal availability of ingredients and the freshest options. But what the omakase has going for it most is the friendliness of the chef and his wife, who manages service, which adds to the experience.
