Taiwan might be one of the top three places you can find the same quality edomae style sushi outside of Japan. Of course at times it can come with a hefty price tag, but think about the costs importing all the top quality seafood from Japan to Taiwan, these ingredients have to be air-freighted too for a speedy and steady delivery.
So the ingredient-side has been taken care of, what about the "ryori cho," the chef who has the experiences and skill set to well-prepare and present these seafood? That's not a thing to worry about too.
There are so many talented chefs in Taiwan, sushi chefs too, and a good number of them was also approved by the Michelin guide. In fact, we have so many Michelin-starred sushi here in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan.
This time I'm visiting this sushi place called 鮨嘉仁 Sushi Kajin. Quite new but already received its first one Michelin star award.
Sushi Kajin was able to become a reality thanks to its strong capital-backup from Frank Huang 黃崇仁, who's the Chairperson of Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation. Locals often joked about Mr. Huang is a business person disguised epicure. He was dining at Kyoto Four Seasons' Michelin-starred sushi place and learnt that the restaurant was about to move. So he strongly invited the chef Okuchi Taichi 奧地太一 to open a new place in Taiwan instead.
You can roughly guess the rest of the story. 鮨嘉仁 Sushi Kajin was born around end of 2024. By the way, its one Michelin star was awarded in August 2025, super fast right?
Sushi Kajin wasn't fully booked everyday when it first opened though. I think partly due to many new sushi places opening in Taipei, we do have a lot of choices to pick around. Also partly due to Sushi Kajin's price point. Lunch set at about $6,000 NTD (about $200 USD) per person and dinner about $10,000 NTD (about $330 USD) per person, definitely hitting a somewhat niche target there.
Anyways, before we continue, Mister got a beer to start the night (don't drink and drive) -
I was definitely lucky to enjoy a very delicious dinner at Sushi Kajin. It might feel utterly expensive at first, but once you really stepped inside getting a feel of the vibe and the service received, plus the most important of all, the food quality and taste, you'll know it's money well-spent. This place is expensive for a rational reason.
Continue reading and examining the food pictures then you'll get a feel of what I mean.
During early stage of the meal, the chef starts with something light but elegant. Such as our first cold chawamushi topped with sea urchin, or the second ara (あら) sashimi, which is considered a type of high-end grouper from Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture.
Then slowly progressing, the chef will gently increase the "kick" you get, but not always seasoning-wise. Sometimes that punch is coming from the texture of the food or the concentrated umami.
Often times people are puzzled by the condensed umami taste from a sushi place. For instance, it might appear as simple as one slice of plain fish, but why so flavorful? That's definitely due to the skill and experience from the chef.
Sometimes they "age" the seafood for days, often accompany by lightly salting, curing, or storing with kombu. Of course there are other ways to enhance the natural taste of seafood too, but from diner's view, it's hard to tell what went on with the simple sushi presented in front. And that's one main reason why people are willing to pay premium for such experience.
Grilled sardine (イワシ) from Japan's Iwate Prefecture -
We also ordered some sake, so here it came all the beautiful cups for guest to choose from -
Warayaki kanpachi from Japan's Mie Prefecture -
When I first walked into Sushi Kajin, there's this hinoki woody smell gently filled the space. As time passed by, out sense of smell got accustomed to it. However, during this part of the meal another stronger aroma starts to permeate the area again. Something smoky, something charred.
At first I thought it was coming from previous dish, the "grilled" sardine as the preparation method implies. But the taste doesn't match the woody aroma. Then this kanpachi showed up, looking plain and simple. Could it be? After first bite I'm 100% sure that's it. Even though the fish might not appear heavily seasoned at all, but it does carry a distinct burning straw earthy aroma to it, very delicious.
Chef brought out the recent Michelin star plaque for the guests because some were curious about it. We can even hold it and take pictures if desired, but of course not going to make a fuzzy scene there -
I did try to hold it for a short moment. The heavy weight took me by surprise. It was made with acrylic and I had to hold the plaque with both hands in order to securely bring it up.
Kinki (キンキ) shioyaki from Japan's Hokkaiko Prefecture -
Kinki is a medium sized red colored fish, Japanese thornyhead some might call it. It's considered one of the high-end fish in Japan. It has a delicate texture and once handled correctly, like the salt grill here, will further enhance the natural sweetness of the meat. On the side you'll find fig with Hatcho miso and a ball of grated daikon.
Some pickled vegetables, including Japanese mountain yam, cucumber, lotus root, and daikon -
All very refreshing except for the daikon, which was more like a "takuan" style pickle, thus the darker color. This plate of pickles was not refillable. However, we were also given lightly pickled young ginger slices that can be added once finished. The young ginger was great by the way, zero fibrous texture with a light crunch to it, very refreshing.
Katsuo (かつお) from Japans' Wakayama Prefecture -
Baby cuttlefish (新いか) from Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture -
Pacific saury (さんま) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -
There's be a few years of not so good Pacific saury harvest, but not this time. The Pacific saury was booming this season with delicious fatty body. It was almost like juicy in a umami-bursting way.
Whelk (ツブ貝) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -
I especially love having all the whelk variety from a decent sushi place. The texture can be completely different from...let's say a rotating sushi place. I know I know comparing a high-end sushi with rotating sushi is not the fairest thing. But take tuna for instace, both expensive and cheap places can still all taste good. However whelk-wise, the difference can vary so widely like heaven and earth. I'm not exaggerating here.
This whelk from Sushi Kajin felt like a layer of moisture on the outside and crispy clean crunch for the actual flesh. It was light overall but a slight umami breeze throughout. Super enjoyable.
Large saltwater eel (おおあなご) from Japan's Miyagi Prefecture -
Akami (赤身) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -
Ootoro (大トロ) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -
If you enjoy the depth of umami from tuna, akami can be the best choice, especially from a sushi place that would go through great length of time to age the fish. On the other hand, if you enjoy the fatty part, ootoro at Sushi Kajin can deliver a true melt in your mouth experience.
Baby gizzard shad (新子) from Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture -
Grilled surf clam (ホッキ貝) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -
Don't think of it as the surf clam at a rotating sushi place, which is usually one of the cheapest items offered. The version Sushi Kajin had here was juicy and tender at the same time, a huge difference from the chewy white clam with red pointy tip on the sushi belt.
Morotoge shrimp (縞海老) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -
This is a type of shrimp that's both pretty with and without the shell.
Horse Mackerel (あじ) -
It wasn't on the menu. Sushi Kajin doesn't open on Sunday and we went on Saturday night. The chef would like to use up all the remaining ingredients before their day-off. Lucky us I say.
Golden-eye snapper (金目鯛) from Japan's Chiba Prefecture -
Hokkaido hairy crab (毛ガニ) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -
I kind of regretted that I didn't take more pictures of the hairy crab. It was awesome, like a umami burst and all that fine threads of crab meat just smoothly went down my throat. A bit different than the ootoro but one can for certain describe the crab as "melt in your mouth" too.
So usually the ootoro and the sea urchin are two of the favorite ingredients at a sushi place. I mean in general most people do love these two. However, if it's Sushi Kaijin's Hokkaido hairy crab, I would pick it over ootoro and sea urchin 100%.
Sujiko (すじこ) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -
Sea urchin (紫ウニ) from Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture -
Miso soup -
Tamagoyaki -
Texture like a moist yet dense cake with crustacean aroma to it.
They chose to serve Taiwan's Naitou County oolong tea in the end -
It wasn't just any ordinary oolong tea. I know it might sound absurd but some notes and the mouth feel do resemble puer tea to me. So smooth and warming, many guests asked for refill.
Fancy egg pudding for dessert -
Even for lighter-tasting sushi meal, I've always enjoyed something creamy to end the night.
Remember in the beginning I was talking about that Sushi Kajin wasn't fully booked everyday when it first opened? Well, surprise surprise, after the 2025 Michelin star announcement and a one star award, Sushi Kajin is fully booked now.
Glad I booked this dinner just weeks before the Michelin award, otherwise I might run into a hard time getting a spot later on. Such an interesting thing though, the price remained the same, but now Sushi Kajin is fully booked, especially the expensive dinner which is even more popular than lunch service.
I am happy though. I can tell that chef and the team really put a lot of effort into running Sushi Kajin. And this one Michelin star serves not only an acknowledgement for the hard work, but also a nice welcome gift to chef Okuchi Taichi. Thank you for bringing this sushi experience to Taiwan.
Chef was very happy too. As customers urged him to put on the Michelin custom-made chef coat, he was like "What now!?" "Yes now," all customers replied immediately. So he posed shyly for us to take pictures.
Later on after he took-off the coat, turned away, and walked back to store it, I noticed that chef was smiling, shy but a very happy look on his face. Congratulations chef, after this enjoyable dinner, that star absolutely belongs to you. Also kudos to the team and Mr. Huang who made all these a reality.
鮨嘉仁 Sushi Kajin currently holds one Michelin star status.
鮨嘉仁 Sushi Kajin
No.28, Jilin Road, Zhongshan District,
Taipei, Taiwan
Official website: https://sushi-kajin.com/
Facebook: Sushi Kajin facebook
Online booking system: Sushi Kajin inline booking
Opening hours:
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday
12:00 noon ~ 2:00 p.m.、6:00 p.m. ~ 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday and Friday 6:00 p.m. ~ 9:30 p.m.
Sunday off
