Okuyama No Sushi

One of Budapest’s top sushi restaurants is buried in the basement of a strip mall, doesn’t have a functional Facebook page and its website looks as if it hasn’t been updated in two decades. Welcome to Okuyama no Sushi. With a puritan, absurdly bare interior, the place doesn't resemble the polished sushi restaurant you might find in New York or London.

The owner and sushi chef, Sachi Okuyama, ran a sushi restaurant inside the Hilton Budapest before opening up shop here in 2001. His signature offering is the oversized nigiri sushis, where fresh pieces of salmon, tuna, or prawn sit atop warm and perfectly vinegared mounds of rice. I also like the asari tsukudani, gummy bites of pickled clams seasoned in a rich soy and mirin-based sauce. Whenever I'm here, I usually order a tamagoyaki, a slightly sweet Japanese rolled omelet otherwise rarely available in Budapest.

Perhaps Okuyama no Sushi wouldn't stand out in cities bigger than Budapest or those with better access to saltwater fish, but currently it’s one of the top sushi restaurants in the city. Pricey for Budapest standards!