The glass elevator shafts, jazzy soundtrack and twinkling lights of The Taste Thonglor community mall are a million miles from the brisk trading atmosphere of Japan’s Osaka Fish Market. That’s where Endo Sushi first started out four generations ago, and today exists as the market’s tourist hot-spot.

Here in Bangkok, Endo Sushi Thonglor belongs to that league of sushi restaurants which follow a pre-aburi-volcano-crispy-roll model. You have nigiri, sashimi, yaki, tempura and that’s your lot, all served from an austere counter manned by four sushi chefs and delivered by shuffling, kimono-clad wait staff. The result is classy but not stuffy; hushed but not somber. It’s a lovely little spot, more upscale than its mother branch, serving food which not so long ago would have been considered up there with Bangkok’s sushi finest.

Sets of five nigiri cost B450, each piece featuring a generously sliced chunk of fresh fish atop malty rice, just the right temperature and so softly pushed together the grains part in your mouth. The hamachi (amberjack) tastes sweet, the toro (tuna) metallic, the engawa (halibut muscle) rich and the uni (sea urchin) decadent and custardy (if a little too slimy for the uni big leagues). The tempura prawns (B400 for five) are lightly battered and cooked to such a soft degree that you still get that fresh-prawn, mouth-coating texture. In all, a sushi restaurant with little to nitpick about beyond a salmon shioyaki (B350) so salty it dehydrates your mouth.

In style and quality Endo is very close to Sakuragawa Sushi at Asoke. There, a 10-piece nigiri set will cost you B1,500, and once you’ve had your fill at Endo the bill will probably come out around the same (or more if you’re drinking). You don’t get any dessert list, but you do get a short and rather pricey selection of wine. Junmai daiginjo sake starts at B800 (Dassai 50), while the lesser stuff begins at B380 (Karakuchi Namacho).

If you want your sushi blowtorched and topped with Matsuzaka beef then forget Endo and stick with Nippon Kai; if you want to experience something close to the low-key sushi counters of Japan, go with Endo—the sound of those shuffling waitresses will soon make you forget the community mall outside.

This review took place in September 2016 and is based on a visit to the restaurant without the restaurant's knowledge. For more on BK's review policy, click here.