Hosokawa

Yesterday evening, I went here with a friend and my bf to try their IENS dinnerdeal special. The reception was friendly, though a bit aloof, but maybe that’s the thing with these more expensive restaurants.
As we were seated, we ordered drinks and checked with them if our altered menu was still available. My love and I don’t eat meat, so they thankfully could sub the steak for sea bass. Thankfully, they still remembered and served us a fish-​only menu.
We had miso soup as a starter. Just to wet the appetite. It was ok, not much to say about it. It’s miso! Next we had sashimi of tuna, salmon and a fish I forgot. It was quite good. Next course, sushi! We had sake nigiri, ebu tempura and kappa maki. The sushi was good, but the rice was a little on the dry side. Kappa maki (rolled cucumber) was nice, but not really the kind of sushi that makes my taste buds explode. The sake nigiri was good and tender, but not wow.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am all up for simplicity. But then, it has to be done perfectly for a restaurant of their stature right?
The main course, for us the sea bass, for my friend the black agnus, was very tasty. It was grilled perfectly and tasted lovely. The veggies on the side where steamed. The rice that accompanied the dish, again, was a little dry. Not as steamy and full of flavor as I hoped it would be.
My love and I already discussed in the car that expensive restaurants have a tendency to fall short because the expectations are so high. Then again, if they charge really high prices, you would expect ultra-​good food right?
Normally, this menu would have cost around 60 euro’s. It was now for half. Honestly, in my opinion, it wasn’t worth 60 euro’s. The discount was fair enough.
It does make me wonder. Do they put less effort in a discount menu? But that wouldn’t be smart right, because it would generate bad publicity? I’ve had sushi and sashimi in cheaper places that were soooo good! So what’s the deal?
And both my love and I felt the same about the quality of the food (my friend loved it, but she doesn’t eat sushi on a regular basis). She asked me what I would give this restaurant and the menu. It’s honestly a 7. Which translates for me as three stars. Because no, I am not a fan. It was good, but definitely not divine. And I am saddened by it, because I really hoped it would send me through the roof.

Absolutely average sushi. Horribly painfully slow evening. If you want to kill 3 hours for decent sushi this is your spot.

The food here is acceptable with an unacceptable high cost. We had the sushi dinner not teppanyaki, you had to choose one or the other. We had to make reservations here also. We ordered lots of nigiri, maki sushi and two meat dish mains. The reason why I can’t remember the exact nature of our dishes was because the food took such an incredibly long time to be served we had almost forgotten what we ordered. Maybe that’s a tactic of theirs? They take forever to serve food and then when it finally arrives you’re so happy because you’re hungry you’ll eat whatever they serve you… so maybe we got served the right dishes… or maybe not. My guess is as good as theirs.
In reality the setting and interior was more nicer than the food. The food wasn’t terrible it was just not worth the overall cost of € 179 in combination with the slow service. Also they had some aircon blowing full blast in there so we had to re-​fetch our overcoats from their cloak hangers because it was becoming quite uncomfortably cold inside. I think the teppanyaki choice would’ve been wiser, the people at the teppanyaki tables seemed to be having a brawling loud time. And so the hunt for a decent Japanese restaurant in Amsterdam continues…

«Toro so creamy and good, makes ya’ wanna have sex.»
Sorry for the x rated headline, but my goodness! Doesn’t a perfect cut of clean, silky, toro just do that to you?
Well it does to me!
Listen, I’ve heard all the stories about Okura here in Amsterdam. And while I’m sure it is just as fabulous as everyone claims; I’m not Beyonce– And I can’t really drop a mill on dinner right now. Haha.
So far all of the sushi I’ve had in Amsterdam has been bad, or at best– okay. Then I found this place.
OMG!
So fresh. So delicious. So well executed. Lovely interior and INCREDIBLE SERVICE.
Yes I was yelling.
Why? Because great service is the unicorn of Amsterdam. You know in your heart that it exists, but it’s so rare that you may go your whole life and never find it.
Well folks, I have found the Unicorn, and it’s riding in with the best damned sushi in Amsterdam on it’s back.
We ordered the hot «house Sake» bottle from the menu. The bottle came out and my thought was «hmm, that’s pretty small for € 25» that was until they refilled it… 5 TIMES! I was so excited.
The chef selection sashimi and wagyu beef roll are a must.
Great for business meetings or a romantic dinner or just getting saucy with the girls.
I highly recommend.

Reasonable food (good, not amazing) but this place was full of creepy middle aged men and their prostitutes. Either this company works with an escort service, or some escort service just likes to send their foreign clients here.
Service was friendly but we found ti exceedingly slow. I don’t think we would return here.

We got the place at 955pm following their opening hours and were told they were closed… The opening hours at the entrance day they close at 10pm… Unilocal shows 11pm.
Place easy to find and next to Hard Rock Café.

Thursday night dinner. You can choose teppanyaki or table sushi, we opted for sushi.
Food — very good by Amsterdam standards. Not your average sushi joint, this is on the higher end. Good for a romantic dinner or a «real» Japanese food experience. Attentive and professional service. Warm, elegant interior. Quiet and spacious enough. Good selection of sushi delicacies and robata — not quite world class, but quality enough that I’d definitely go back.

We went here on a Sunday night.
The restaurant was far from crowded luckily so plenty of space to choose from.
First the atmosphere: cosy place.
The food: excellent food, the fish was of a very good quality, and all sushi, sashimi, maki, etc… were excellent.
The service: it’s ok. Except for an efficient main waiter, the other helping waiters were a bit slow, and seems as if they were a bit dreaming in another world… Still this did not stop us from enjoying dinner ;-)
The location: in central touristy Amsterdam, so excellent location if you’re visiting Amsterdam, near Museum plein, next to Leidseplein.
So as a wrap-​up, a good address where you will enjoy your excellent Japanese dinner, where hopefully waiters are more awake on other weed days :-)
Just a small remark, maybe a small problem with ventilation that night… we were far from the tepanyaki tables but we could smell it til our table and clothing was a bit smelling afterwards.