Konnichiwa: Possibly Cape Town's Best Sushi, Definitely its Most Remarkable Sushi Chef

 Cape Town’s newest eatery looks like your average sushi restaurant, but wait til you meet the man responsible for the menu! If you're looking for what is easily the best sushi restaurant in Cape Town with a chef who can cater to local tastes with a solid understanding of authentic Japanese cuisine, Konnichiwa at Pullman Cape Town is the place to go. 

Full confession: Before walking into Konnichiwa, I was not a fan of sushi. There’s nothing wrong with the flavour but it was never delicious enough to help me get past my raw-fish texture issues. (I never got the occupational therapy I needed as a kid.) Last week, this changed for me.

My "nervous but trying to be open-minded" smile

A Simple Space with Big Surprises

Located on the ground floor, the Pullman Cape Town restaurant Konnichiwa is a small, unassuming restaurant. The decor is simple with a minimalist Japanese aesthetic that has a calming effect on diners. It’s a very pleasant space, but one that misleadingly lulls you into believing that you’re in for a very conventional and somewhat unremarkable dining experience. Taking a seat at the sushi counter, I was introduced to Shokunin Chef Ernest Tsosane. Holy moly! 

Chef Ernest Tsosane

Meeting the Master Behind the Counter

I knew he was going to serve us various items from both on and off the menu but I wasn’t expecting such a memorable lunch. Considering my texture issues, the first dish was a nice way to ease one into an afternoon of eating copious amounts of raw fish. We started with a Salmon New Style, where thinly sliced salmon was seared with some hot oil and then presented with sesame seeds and soy sauce. It was a great way to dip a toe before diving headfirst into sushi heaven. I’ve tasted sushi many times in my life but this is the first time I really enjoyed it.

As Ernest prepared more dishes for us, he also filled us in on his career journey thus far —one almost as unexpected as my newfound love for sushi! A sushi chef of more than 15 years, he started his career in IT. While servicing a sushi restaurant’s tech needs, he took an interest in what they were serving. 

After tasting it for the first time, he was hooked! After developing an appreciation for it, the restaurant owner offered to teach him how to make it. He started learning on weekends and fell in love with it. “You have to put your heart in it,” he explains. “Whoever’s eating it must feel your warmth in everything you do. It’s the passion you must put behind it.”

He left IT and ended up working here for three years. He ultimately went on to train under master chefs in Japan for six months and went on to work in restaurants like Tang, KōL Izakhaya, Koi, Nikkei Japanese Peruvian and even Nobu at the One & Only.

What Sets Konnichiwa Apart From Other Sushi Restaurants

I feel like fine dining restaurants in particular, or any restaurant that’s trying to be fancy, love to use the term “culinary journey” to describe the experience of dining in their restaurant. This is the first time I really felt like I went on a culinary journey. While expertly crafting a wide range of dishes in front of us, Ernest took us on a trip with stops in Japan, Jeddah in the Middle East and Johannesburg before bringing us home to Cape Town with full tummies and even fuller hearts. His story is incredible! 

His anecdotes were just as delicious as the food. From learning how to cut live eels (yikes) to idiosyncrasies of Japanese culture and surviving 48-degree heat in Jeddah, his story was as much part of the experience as the sushi, which was pretty amazing to begin with. In fact, this incredible man seems to be less a chef and more a mixologist of raw fish, even making items to cater not just for peoples’ preferences but also their moods. 

When I asked him about what differentiates him and his sushi from other sushi chefs, he said, “It’s basically understanding what you’re serving to your customers. You come in not knowing what to expect and interacting with the chef, getting to know your palate for the day, what you’d like to have, creating something that is going to align with your feeling on the day.”

Konnichiwa's Standout Dishes

Apart from the Salmon New Style, other highlights included:

• The prawn nigiri, beautifully cured for a soft texture and full of flavor.
• The Salmon roses, a must-try.
• The Gunkan nigiri. (I do have a weakness for anything shaped like a boat.)
• The hand roll, which actually has meat from the top all the way to the bottom (instead of just rice at the bottom like we’ve come to expect). This literally gets handed to you (in your hand), the Japanese way.

Chef Ernest has a vast knowledge of what constitutes authentic Japanese sushi and how to tailor it to the tastes of both Japanese people and South Africans who are accustomed to our own take on the cuisine. And to top it all off, it’s all made with the finest sustainably sourced ingredients. So, you get top-tier sushi and a clear conscience. Win-win!

How to find Konnichiwa:

📍Konnichiwa is located at Pullman, Cape Town, just off Bree Street. 

Reservations:

🚫 This relaxed eatery has a no-reservations policy.

Konnichiwa's Opening Special

🍣 There is currently a R180 special that includes 20 pieces of sushi along with a glass of HER Collection wine or a soft drink. This is available during lunch, 12 pm - 3pm and again from 6 pm to 9 pm. It also explains why the restaurant already had “regulars” even on Day 3 of it being open. 

Opening hours:

🕑 Konnichiwa is open Monday to Saturday, 12 pm to 9 pm.

Find out more on Pullman Cape Town’s Instagram.

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