10 minutes before opening on weekdays

Not saito-san. But my personal experience from a few years back. Nice shari but alot of the materials taste quite ordinary. Better if there were lesser pieces but of better quality. Not to say there weren't any good pieces, but too few good pieces compared to majority of mediocre pieces.

Some of the pieces were pre-cut, hence were cold. Salad as palate cleanser didn't work for me. Chef Sato seemed cold, except to his regulars or folks who has been to his store previously.

Gyoku was the only memorable piece in my opinion.

@guest so it is most due to Neta quality in your opinion. Thank you for your feedback

For sure the neta is not the quality of a top tier sushi restaurant but "ordinary" feels a bit harsh. If the neta was cold that's because the chef didn't let it warm-up, not because it was pre-cut. I don't think the salad is a palate cleanser, it's a snack. Sad that he felt cold for you - you pay the same as regulars so chef should make some effort to make you feel welcome. He was not cold when I went.

Sato san is one of the nicest, friendliest chefs working in Ginza today. Him being cold towards you might be saying more about you than about him.

Almost all neta should be precut before serving, to allow them to come to room temperature. Some should be precut before service even starts. Some neta is also *meant* to be served cold.

Also, Hakkoku currently has a VERY respectable 4 01 Tabelog score. While the buzz on Sato san has died down a little bit, he is still respected and has the tabelog score to prove it. And it remains somewhat difficult to book a seat at his counter. Not the hardest, but also not the easiest booking. So, not sure where OP gets that Hakkoku is not regarded.

@guest while of course 4,01 it’s a very respectable score it is not among the very top in Tokyo. Chef Sato is indeed very respected and famous also in Europe and US. So after leaving tokami and opening hakkoku the expectations were really really high. I didn’t mean to disrespect Sato san by saying is not very regarded but the opinions that I have red, also on this site, are that hakkoku is good but not one of the best in Tokyo, which was probably the expectation after the opening.

@guest original commenter here. Let me clarify my comments.
When I visited, it was a few years back when he was serving 32 pieces of nigiri. Salads were palate cleanser and not a snack and there were 2 servings of salad to break up the whole course.
When I said neta quality is ordinary, I don't mean that it is poor quality. There were rare neta like budouebi. Just that compared to other restaurants of the same tier, each singular piece felt average and there weren't any standout item beside the gyoku.
If he reduce the quantity of nigiri to 18-20pcs but upgraded the neta quality, I would still be willing to dine there again.
When I mentioned pre-cut, I meant there were temperature control inconsistencies. Again if you prefer room temperature neta, be my guest but it is definitely not my preference.
Regarding cold service, YMMV. If you drink champagne with him, he seems to be very friendly to you at least to the other foreigner dining on the night. There were also a couple of locals who were neglected. I prefer not to pay that amount for preferential treatment.
It has a respectable tabelog score. Firstly, we all know the score doesn't really mean a thing especially since tabelog has been sued previously for score manipulation and its rating algorithm penalises places not frequented by popular influencers/"trusted" reviewers.
Secondly, it is a decent place but not among the best sushi restaurants which are easily bookable around the same price. If you have never had omakase sushi in Japan previously, this would probably still be a great meal. However, there are better alternatives in my POV.
Again, I am not stopping anyone if they are insistent on trying hakkoku. Just feedback from my personal experience, please take it with a grain of salt.

I don't know of any particular characteristics.

And ebiso endo as well. Thank u

Sorry to hijack, but is Yamada taking reservations from foreigners nowadays?

Definitely Yamada.

@justin, yes via JPNEAZY.

jpneazy[dot]com/restaurants/168

I am sorry but which Yamada are you referring to on this thread?

There is Sushidokoro Yamada in Ginza, which is an aged sushi place, and is bookable on JPNEAZY as mentioned below, but also on Pocket Concierge (though there is no availability right now).

And there is Sushi Yamada in Nishiazabu, which is bookable through Table check.

It should probably be sushidokoro yamada. Just for information, Sushi yamada has a much lower tabelog score than the restaurants listed. Sushi yamada in nishiazabu usesa kansai style sushi rice, which is more mild and sweeter. And tsumami/snacks are interspersed between sushi. It is opened under the arm of suntory, hence the name follows the name of the suntory president, Kenji yamada.

Oh I see - thank you for the clarification!

I looked at Sushi Yuu a few months back and it was rated 3. 96 on Tabelog and meal was 22k. Now it is 4. 17 on Tabelog and it is 27. 5k (starting April 1st). I get the price increase - many places have done it/are doing it. But the Tabelog score seems to have jumped very significantly. Any theories? Is it that much better than a while back?

I believe it is probably just a way tabelog changes its scoring algorithm and in addition to sushi yu being listed in 1 of the sushi manga recently leading to people visiting it. Pieces look similar to what I have a few years back, only exception being a fried kurumaebi temaki. If you like sushi places with a performance, it's still a decent place to go to.