Honmono Grand Sushi

Although only recently opened, Honmono Grand Sushi on Sathorn Road is already one of the most popular places in town for sashimi and sushi. The formula for Honmono’s success is simple: impeccably fresh fish and warm and convivial surroundings.

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Because of its popularity, the restaurant is usually packed with chattering people who are enjoying themselves. The feeling is infectious and most customers soon add to the banter and laughter inhabiting the place. Although the cuisine here is Japanese, most of the clientele is Thai and they bring the casual laid back atmosphere of Thailand with them – a refreshing change from the formality of many of the city's sashimi and sushi haunts.

The entrance to Honmono is impressive and customers are invariably greeted at the door. Although a tad on the austere side, the interior of the restaurant is pleasant and filled with Japanese atmosphere. There is a black slate floor, sushi counter with large tanks filled with live shrimp and lobster, an army of sushi chefs wielding long thin knives and numerous tables covered with paper mats for dishes and glasses. On the second floor there are several private rooms with both Western and Japanese style seating arrangements. They are often filled with politicians and dignitaries who have already decided this is the best place in town for a night on the town featuring sushi, sake and beer.

The quality of the fresh fish is attributable to Honmono’s size and popularity. Unlike many restaurants in town, it can import fish from Japan five times a week. Restaurants with fewer customers simply don’t have the demand to support this luxury.

We started our meal with a 1200 baht plate of otoro, or fat tuna belly. Three large pieces of tuna on ice soon arrived accompanied by shredded daikon. After one bite, my dining companion put down his chopsticks and declared, “I didn't know sashimi could be so good.” Although only a day or two fresher than his previous encounters with sashimi, the difference was immediately noticeable.

The other sashimi items we tried at Honmono were equally impressive, including some outstanding hamachi (sea yellow tail), marvelous raw shrimp and some very fresh salmon.

The sushi – fish combined with vinegared rice – also deserves accolades. In addition to a full array of traditional sushi items, we enjoyed an ebi tuna roll in which deep-fried shrimp was encircled in rice and rolled in seaweed. Our highlight, however, was a trio of items that had been seared with a blow torch before being brought to the table.

Perhaps the most notable was a small mound of sushi rice that had been covered with a piece of thinly sliced Matsuzaka beef and then ‘torched’ for a few seconds. This 1600 baht item isn’t for those on a budget, but if you can afford it, the experience is remarkably delicious. The fatty juices of the beef are absorbed into the rice so that full flavor can be enjoyed.

Almost as enjoyable were thinly slices of salmon and yellow tail that were cooked and served in the same way. Of the two, we preferred the yellow tail – probably because it was a first for both of us.

All is not sashimi and sushi at Honmono. There are host of other traditional Japanese favorites, including several beef dishes made with Australian wagyu or Kobe or Matsuzaka beef from Japan. An intriguing dish we enjoyed was Wagyu kaminabe, a savory soup served over a flame in a pot made of paper that for some reason doesn’t burn. In addition to being something to talk about, it is extremely delicious.

Honmono Grand Sushi is open for both lunch and dinner. If you are new to Japanese food, an inexpensive set lunch provides a reasonably priced introduction. A Sushi set, for example, is only 380 baht. For those not into raw fish, a Katsudon set (breaded pork cutlet) is 300 baht and a Saba steak set (mackrel) is only 230 baht. Prices at dinner, of course, are significantly more expensive.

Boontham Pakpo, the chef and director of the Honmono group, worked for 24 years in some of Bangkok’s finest Japanese restaurants. He and his partners have created a marvelous Japanese restaurant with the warmth and verve for which Thais are famous.

In addition to the newly opened Honmono Grand Sushi on Sathorn Road there are sister restaurants on Thonglor Soi 23 and in the Chidlom brand of the Central Department Store. On top of this a new restaurant will soon be opening at Park Lane on Soi Ekkamai.

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