One of Mexico City’s top-rated Japanese restaurants is Asai Kaiseki Cuisine, an intimate establishment tucked away from Polanco’s usual hustle and bustle. You might recognize Chef Yasuo Asai from TV — in 2022 he was invited to host an episode of MasterChef Mexico — but the truth is, you’ll usually find him behind the sushi bar, whipping up food that will transport you from Mexico to his native Japan, if only for a few hours. Chef Asai is known for running two very successful ventures: First, one of the most authentic Japanese kitchens in the capital, with an outpost in Merida.

Second, an engaging TikTok account where he experiments with new recipes, using fresh ingredients from the local tianguis and imports from Japan. His dishes are a fascinating fusion of beloved Mexican classics like blue corn, mole, nopales, and dried chiles, incorporated with Japanese wagyu, miso, and sushi. A scroll through his social media accounts takes you down a mouthwatering rabbit hole of his personal kitchen “experiments,” filmed in quick succession, taste tested by the king himself, and then rated.

Not normally one to keep entertained by reels or TikTok, I found myself glued to the screen. I spent far too long watching him effortlessly concoct colorful plates of blue corn shrimp tempura served with lime and salt (which he proceeded to rate a measly 3 out of 5, leaving me to feel relatively sure that we do not have similar palettes) and lime ramen with chicken whose decadent-lookin.