This is a real Japanese restaurant. I've lived in Japan and I've eaten at many sushi-ya's in Houston over the last 30 years, and Sushi-jin very good to excellant even by Japanese standards. The head chef (or the Itamae in Japanese) is classically trained, and by that I mean he paid his dues through years of the very tough Japanese apprenticeship unlike most of the other sushi-ya where the chef run the gamut from Chinese, Korean, Mexican and even Mongolian who never even been to Japan much less understand the nuances and safety practices of sushi - yes, there more to sushi than cutting up a dead fish and slapping it on top of a block of rice if you want to keep your customers healthy.\r
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The sushi rice (meshi) here is very good and the nigiri-sushi as well as the sashimi preparation and presentation is among the absolute best I've seen anywhere. The head chef which you can ALWAYS tell in a real Japanese establishment is always to your left side of the sushi counter is amazing to watch as he prepares either sashimi or sushi. I have tried in good humor to trip-up the guy by asking about some decidedly obscure fish that are only available in Japan, and this guy unfailingly knew them all. Try that at any of the other places and you would be lucky if the chef even knows how to pronounce the fish. \r
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