Jiro and the Best Sushi in the World - Blu-ray

Film: Jiro Ono is 85 years old. For as long as he can remember, he has worked in a small restaurant in a Tokyo subway station. Just ten guests can be seated in the nondescript room. And yet Jiro's restaurant is considered the best sushi bar in the world, and was even awarded three Michelin stars in 2009. If you want to eat here, you not only have to book at least a month in advance. With at least 200 euros for about 20 sushis, a visit to Jiro is not exactly cheap either. But everyone who has eaten here is convinced that Jiro's creations are worth the price. Director David Gelb has observed the old sushi chef, who has no intention of retiring, at work and has produced an endearing and tasty portrait of Jiro and the best sushi in the world, which will not only make sushi lovers' mouths water.

In the documentary not only the working day of the sushi bar is traced, from the purchase at the large fish market, which has taken over Jiro's son for several years, to the preparation of rice and fish, the seating of the guests to the completion of the sushis before the eyes of the hungry guests. The old sushi master also gets to talk about his life and express his passion for sushi several times. He is on a quest for perfection and is sure that every day he can improve, he gets a little bit closer to his goal - even if he may never reach it. In addition, Jiro's sons also have their say: the younger one, who now owns his own sushi bar, and the older one, who has been working towards taking over his father's business one day for thirty years. He is aware, however, that he will always be compared to his father and would have to be at least twice as good as him for people to say that his food tastes as good as Jiro's.

David Gelb has succeeded in making a very rousing, likeable documentary in its rather quiet way, which scores points with many wonderful images from the sushi kitchen, the fascinating visit to the fish market or the disarming manner of the main protagonist. But also very interesting are the critical tones about the mass production of sushi and its consequences, which even a small, high-class sushi bar like Jiro's has not passed by without a trace. If you like entertaining portraits of interesting people and almost poetically beautiful food documentaries, you simply can't miss this beautiful film. Absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The picture quality of the documentary is really excellent. The image sharpness is even with smaller details on a very high level, the colors look absolutely natural and smudges or other image disturbances you look here absolutely in vain. The sound is not very spectacular, as it is mostly determined by the very centrally mixed voice-over commentary or the voices of the protagonists. But here and there smaller ambient noises and the music (among others by Philipp Glass) bring some dynamics into the action. Good!

Extras: In addition to some worthwhile deleted scenes (approx. 23:50 min.) there is also a visit to the fish market in the bonus material, where some masters of their trade are presented in more detail: The Shrimp Master (approx. 2:05 min.), the Rice Master (approx. 8:32 min.), the Tuna Master (approx. 7:07 min.), as well as the Octopus Master (approx. 1:39 min.). A really worth seeing addition to the main film. The trailer rounds out the supplemental offerings.

Conclusion: Jiro and the Best Sushi in the World is a wonderful documentary about one man's love for his calling. It is a tribute to what is arguably the world's smallest and most unusual three-star restaurant and to its owner, 85-year-old Jiro, who pursues the quest to serve the best sushi in the world here every single day. The Blu-ray presents the film in very good picture and sound quality and also has a few extras worth watching. Absolutely recommendable - not only for sushi lovers!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp