The chef at Sushimou, Antonis Drakoularakos, had been in his profession for 10 years with a special interest in fish when he decided to turn his dream into reality and open a “small, accessible sushi bar” in Athens. So he learnt Japanese and in July 2014 traveled to Japan to take classes at the Tokyo Sushi Academy, from which he graduated with honors.

All this time, he has been writing about his experiences on his blog, after which the sushi bar was named.

Sushimou, the English transliteration of the Greek for “My Sushi”, consists of 11 stools around a bar. If you can find a space, great. Otherwise, take a walk around the neighborhood and come back later. The venue is low-key, with a décor of predominantly light wood. The star of the show is the chef. You can watch him slice fish, work the rice and assemble his creative dishes.

You don’t have to choose from the menu, just leave it up to the chef. He’ll adjust your order to your taste. That’s what we did. We accompanied our order with a carafe of ice-cold sake and edamame beans and started with a DIY dish where you create your own sushi roll, along with a selection of sashimi, from skipjack and cuttlefish to scallops and mackerel.

The flavors are incredible. The nigiri is very good, with mullet (the crisped skin served separately), marinated eel, crab, amberjack or anything else Drakoularakos finds in the fish market. Bravo chef!  

* Originally published in Kathimerini’s K magazine.