Tokyo

Ensui

日本料理　炎水

Creating something new by learning the old. A devout student of Japanese techniques, Chef Ryusuke Ito founded Nihonryori Ensui to offer his own interpretation of the traditional cuisine. With an emphasis on dashi as the key ingredient, his omakase menu brings seasonal flavors to life with great originality. While honoring the authentic approach, the cuisine here is not limited by the ways of the past.

Tucked away in the trendy neighborhood of Nakameguro, Nihonryori Ensui opened in 2020 to serve refined Japanese cuisine with a modern touch. As you enter the softly-lit restaurant, a wide counter stretches across the dining room, where the fragrant aroma of freshly made broth fills the air.

From behind the counter, the chef greets the guests warmly. A former RyuGin chef, Ito brings years of experience in traditional Japanese cuisine. Also a sommelier and licensed puffer fish chef, his diverse expertise allows him to create an unique, enticing menu.

“The name Ensui represents charcoal fire and dashi, which serve as the foundation of my cuisine,” he explains. “They are gifts that have been passed down by chefs and producers. I want to continue studying and perfecting these crafts for the rest of my life.”

The interior of the restaurant is simple and elegant, with just a few pieces of artifacts displayed around the room. The wooden carving of a boy and an eel is a work of Satoshi Yabuuchi, one of chef’s favorite artists. He also cherishes the bamboo serving trays, made by the fourth generation owner of Chikuseido, that he bought at the time of the restaurant’s opening.

Creating something new by learning the old

Ensui’s cuisine is built on a Japanese concept of creating new things by studying the past. Ito uses charcoal fire and dashi broth to reimagine the most authentic Japanese dishes with his own culinary style. While honoring the traditional way, his cuisine will feel original and exciting to even the most experienced gourmands.

The crab appetizer is a flavorful dish that highlights Ito’s exceptional style of presentation. A tribute to his home of Hokkaido, the boiled crab is served in a lacquered bowl made of a real crab shell. The salt paste underneath is molded into the shape of the island. The sweet and fluffy crab meat is cooked in fragrant kombu dashi.

Abalone is steamed over six hours in its own umami, and served with thickened broth, wasabi and liver soy sauce. Guests are blown away by the deep flavor, created using such a simple cooking method. "It's fascinating that the taste is completely different depending on which region the abalone came from," Ito says.

The vegetable course is a new signature dish that pays a tribute to the farmers. Sourcing seasonal produce from across the country, Ito cooks each ingredient using a different method. Some are steamed while others are fried or grilled. Served with bonito flakes powder, each vegetable brings its own flavor to celebrate the season.

A bowl of Nihachi soba noodles works as a light palate cleanser. The broth for the soup is prepared in front of the guests as the rich aroma wafts in the air. A playful touch, the spicy daikon radish on the side is decorated with a smiley face cut out of seaweed.

The day’s special dish, marked “SP” on the menu, is the shark fin hot pot. Fins of Yoshikiri blue sharks are stewed in chicken broth and left overnight before they are deep fried. The crispy shark fins are served over steamed rice in soft-shelled turtle broth. Seasonal ingredients such as matsutake mushrooms and ginkgo nuts add layers of flavor.

The dessert is like a work of art made with fresh seasonal fruits such as grapes, strawberries and mangoes. The fruits are thinly sliced and plated onto a glass bowl. With no sugar or sauce, you can enjoy the natural sweetness of the fruit.

INGREDIENTS
High-grade kombu and dried bonito flakes serve as key ingredients for the important dashi. For an aromatic and flavorful broth, he uses Okui Kaiseido’s Rishiri kombu from Fukui Prefecture. Blocks of honkarebushi bonito flakes are made by Sakai Shoten in Kagoshima.

The shark fins come from Yoshikiri sharks in Kesennuma in Miyagi. Seafood is sourced mainly from Tokushima. Buckwheat flour is selected from high-quality producers from Tochigi and Kagoshima. Vegetables are sourced from all over the country, including Toyosu market in Tokyo and Omi market in Ishikawa.

CHEF

Ryusuke Ito

Ryusuke Ito was born in Hokkaido in 1982. Since he was in elementary school, he would often help his mom in the kitchen and naturally became interested in cooking. When he was a high school student, he started working part-time at a local hamburger restaurant. He later became obsessed with Japanese knives and wanted to become a Japanese chef.

He trained at a number of restaurants in Tokyo before joining RyuGin, a top-rated Japanese restaurant, in 2010. He started there as a service staff and was in charge of the dining area for a couple of years before joining the kitchen as a chef. He trained there for the next 10 years, deepening his knowledge of the traditional cuisine.

Together with his wife, he opened Nihonryori Ensui in 2020. Since its opening, the restaurant has lured many gourmands, leading them to win awards for their excellent cuisine and service. Ito now has eight apprentices who are eager to learn from the experienced chef.

"Having a great team allows us to provide great food and service consistently," Ito says.

VISION
Ito says he wants to continue gaining a deeper understanding of Japanese cuisine. Just like the Japanese word for feast, or gochiso, which also means to run around, he wants to visit different regions to discover new ingredients. He also wants to highlight local produce like vegetables from Hachioji as a proud Tokyo restaurant.

DASHI

The Rishiri kombu used for the dashi is made by Okui Kaiseido in Fukui Prefecture. The company sources the seaweed from Kabuka Bay in Rebun Island off Hokkaido. They maintain strict control over the humidity and temperature to ensure their product is of the highest quality.

The broth for the soup is made using dried bonito flakes that are freshly shaved in front of the guests. The flat counter is embedded with a custom shaving tool that he uses to scrape Honkarebushi blocks. The light swirls of dashi flakes fall into a glass bowl and are transferred into a pot of hot water over the stove to extract the umami. The fragrant aroma instantly fills the air.