Review: If you knew like he knows SUSHI

The twin morsels of yellowtail sushi ($4.25) that Shinji Shibuya set in front of me in his tiny sushi bar the other day didn’t arrive with the usual escort of hot green wasabi. And it wasn’t that Shinji forgot.

“Everything must be in balance,” he said with a quiet, self-deprecating chuckle that lets you know he has probably just said something totally serious.

He went back to cutting fish with an ancient-looking wood-handled knife, and I took a bite. He was dead on. The premium tuna needed no more than the dainty swipe of wasabi Shinji had added with the rice. Any more would have drowned out what was next. The fish was firm at first, slightly cool, then in my mouth it suddenly swam with the most amazing, vibrant zing — an unexpected mix of what tasted like fresh lemon with a trace of something metallic, and none of the muskiness that can lurk in average yellowtail.

This was the best tuna I’d ever had.

“Oh, thank you,” Shinji said with a sight nod, not stopping to look up as he placed two limp, glistening, raw sweet shrimp on twin cots of rice ($3.95) and gently reached across to lay them on my plate. They came with soy sauce, but still no wasabi, and tasted as sweet and soft as cake batter.

Shinji’s Sushi Bar isn’t so much about what is there as what isn’t. While American-style sushi continues to grow more elaborately baroque and deep-fried, Shinji’s one-sheet menu is as simple and elegant as the traditional Japanese watercolor landscape hanging at the bar. Where some chefs focus on gimmicks, he focuses on great fish. It’s no wonder the longtime west-side sushi chef has such a following of regulars. Half the diners who find their way to his strip mall address are greeted by name.

These people must be sushi purists because you won’t find much else at Shinji’s. There is no chicken teriyaki, no katsudon, not even lowly tempura. There is just Shinji with his long knife, worn crooked and thin from making what is probably the best traditional sushi in town.

The one-man operation (plus a server who does dishes between waiting tables) is just like the traditional hole-inthe-wall sushi dens in Tokyo, where he learned the trade. “For one year,” he said of his apprenticeship, “I wasn’t allowed to touch fish.”

He was just expected to watch, learn and scrub the counters.

In his second year, he was allowed to go with the chef to the famous Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo to learn the art of selecting the best tuna. By and by he learned the deceptively simple craft he brought to Colorado Springs.

On my first visit, my wife and I sat at the bar, which, unlike most sushi bars, has no refrigerated glass case separating diners from the chef — just a flat counter that makes it feel more like a cooking school than a restaurant.

Shinji aptly plays the part of professor. He even showed us where on the tuna — just to the side of the backbone — he took the cuts for our yellowtail.

To test the place, we ordered the California roll ($4.50). Cheap sushi restaurants use sweet but flavorless Krab. Most places pack the roll with too much rice, assuming diners will just use such a boring item to mop up wasabilaced soy sauce. Shinji did something slightly different.

His roll came with a wonderfully thin veneer of rice wrapped around a bundle of avocado, cucumber, smelt roe and cooked shrimp instead of crab. The combo packed the perfect balance of flavor and crunch. No wasabi mopping required.

“This is terrific,” I said.

“Yes, balance,” Shinji said with a nod.

My wife, who has been complaining about sushi in this city for years, leaned over and whispered, “I’m home.”

Shinji deserves some kind of medal for keeping things in bite-size portions. Recently, I’ve seen rolls at other places grow to nearly the size of DVDs, making them impossible to eat in one bite. The supersize rolls fall apart when dipped and sink into the wasabi-soy bog. At Shinji’s, even more elaborate rolls, such as the rainbow roll draped with tuna, yellowtail and salmon ($14.95) fit your mouth.

The art of Shinji’s is the chef’s well-honed craft applied to admirable ingredients. His sashimi is perfectly sliced on an elegant diagonal to the grain. He is one of the few chefs in town to get his tuna and salmon fresh, not frozen. He makes his own mayonnaise (it has a little soy in it).

Not everyone will be as dazzled with Shinji’s. The service can be slow in this one-man shop. None of the waitresses I’ve seen are quite up to par. The selection is limited. If you want baroque sushi, try Academy Boulevard.

Shinji’s art is more like haiku. Since there is no room to waste, every little piece must sing. And as far as I can tell, everything does.

To truly appreciate the Shinji’s, go on a weeknight, sit at the bar and watch Shinji work. If it’s not too busy, order “omakase” and let the chef pick what sushi you’ll eat.

After nothing but dish after dish of bliss on multiple visits, the plate that finally blew me away was one I didn’t even order. Shinji unwrapped a cache of scallops that had been plucked from the deep, cold waters off Hokkaido, Japan. He sliced the raw, alabaster lumps into thin coins and spread them out on plates on the bar as if he were dealing cards, then he pulled a big jar of tan liquid from his fridge, gave it a quick stir with a long spoon and sprinkled it over the plates.

He handed the scallops (free!) to everyone at the bar, even though no one had ordered them.

I took a bite. The simple brown sauce was like a vinaigrette, but it was exploding with a robust onion flavor closer to French onion soup. A drizzle paired perfectly with the scallops, which packed rich, sweet taste with a slight brassy kick like Long Island oysters.

“What is this?” I asked.

“Onion sauce,” Shinji said.

“Yeah, but what’s in it?” I said.

“Onions,” he said with his wise chuckle.

“Yeah, but what else?”

He chuckled again. “Too many things to say.”

details

SHINJI’S SUSHI BAR

**** (A master)

Address: 308 M S. Eighth St.

Phone: 475-0669

Hours: noon-2 p.m. daily except Wednesdays and Saturdays; 5-9 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; brunch 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays.

Sushi: $3.75-$14.95

Vegetarian: limited

Liquor: beer, wine and sake

Plastic: yes