Stylish Omotesando is the perfect location for high-end sushi restaurants. Unfortunately many of them can be considered slightly stiff and offputting for vistitors as they are often silent, with an almost oppressive tradition born from hundreds of years of culinary art. Located only five minutes from Omotesando Station, GENTLE Italian and Sushi Bar, however, breaks away from these confines, bringing a luxurious yet flexible dining experience catered for all.

Slip through the forested exterior and down the stairs where you’ll find yourself in an intimately lit space furnished with sleek, deep-stained wood. Two lavishly decorated eight seater function rooms, a public, and six seater private sushi bar lie across from the open corridor, gently pulling customers in. The craftsmanship therein is spectacular. Each bar is crafted from a single piece of wood, with each scratch and stain delicately sanded out, leaving a surface that pairs perfectly with the carefully selected crockery.

The philosophy of GENTLE Sushi Bar is a simple one, pull at the more inaccessible threads of sushi culture and present a more varied, approachable, but none-the-less authentic experience for a fair price (¥11,000.) Weaving familiar nigiri (sushi) like medium-fatty tuna with rarer specimens like salt-grilled barracuda, GENTLE also studs the menu with hors d’oeuvre both traditional and unorthodox, the matsutake mushroom hot pot being a particular delight. With 20 seasonally rotating dishes on the chef’s choice menu, gone are the days of plodding nigiri only courses, and with dessert collaboration with the Italian restaurant upstairs there is a distinctly cosmopolitan feel.

Whether you’re an old hand or trying sushi for the first time, GENTLE Sushi Bar brings a sense of refinement and flexibility to a new kind of sushi experience.

Mon – Sat
Dinner: 5 – 11pm (L.O. 10pm)
Closed on Sunday

7 mins walk from metro
Omotesando Station B2 exit
5-47-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
03-6897-3777
gentle-base.com