(Last updated: December 27, 2025)
Sushi Kinetsu is a place I’d wanted to try for years but was also afraid of, knowing full well I’d probably go there, spend $2,000, and leave hungry. I finally gave it a go though in October 2025, after the manager at Zuicho told me it was worth visiting.
The restaurant was known for years as Shinji by Kanesaka, which held a Michelin star from 2016 to 2020. Then Covid hit, the doors closed, and it looked like it might never come back. In 2024, it returned as Sushi Kinetsu, in the exact same venue, with the exact same layout, and according to the Michelin Guide, largely the same kitchen team doing sushi the same way they always had. And just like that, the Michelin star came back as well, returning in the 2024 to 2026 guides.
We went at lunch and chose the Omakase Yuki ($1,680), which begins with six small courses, followed by nine individual pieces of sushi, and ends with dessert.
The opening dish, Watermelon with Scallop sounded intriguing until it arrived tasting almost exactly like miso soup. Not “inspired by miso.” Not “delicately reminiscent of miso.” Just miso.
There was nothing fine-dining about it, nothing imaginative, nothing happening that I couldn’t recreate with a blender and bad intentions. 1 star
Next came Katsuo Sashimi, which is bonito with the skin charcoal-grilled. It looked promising, but the sauce was overpowering and the smoke so dominant it felt like something I could have barbecued on my balcony at home.
If I want grilled fish, I’ll make grilled fish. Whatever they were trying to achieve, all I tasted was smoke. 1 star
Things improved slightly with the Barracuda Soup with Sesame Tofu. The fish was decent and the broth warm, although by then I’d already consumed enough miso to float a small boat. 3 stars
After the rough start, the next three dishes showed exactly why Sushi Kinetsu holds a Michelin star.
The Monkfish Liver on Rice Cracker was rich, creamy and salty, with the cracker providing the necessary crunch. Right up there with the pork liver pate at MacauSoul. 4.5 stars
The Octopus with Eggplant and Grapefruit Skin was spectacular. Moist and substantial enough to eat like steak, with the bitter grapefruit cutting straight through it. 5 stars
The Kisu Tempura was just as impressive: crisp, delicate, and every bit as good as the prized tempura I had in Kyoto years ago. 5 stars
Then the sushi parade began — nine pieces, one of each.
The Flounder was flawless. A whisper of lime, the right amount of wasabi, clean and perfectly balanced.
If the whole meal hit this level, I’d be writing a very different review. 5 stars.
Unfortunately, the Stripjack followed, bringing back that same dry, grassy flavour and smoky aftertaste from the earlier katsuo. 1 star.
The Hokkaido Surf Clam was respectable, although the rice did most of the work. Macau chef Betty Fung once told me that rice makes or breaks sushi, and this piece proved her point. 3.5 stars
Then came the Kotto Tuna Belly — thick, luscious, dry-aged for three weeks, releasing more richness with every chew.
I watched a documentary on Kim Jong-il recently and learned the man was obsessed with tuna belly sushi. And so were his prodigious rolls of fat. After this bite, I finally understood why. 5 stars
The Sea Eel came next and was one of the clear highlights. Soft, properly glazed, and delicately sweet, it landed exactly where anago should. 5 stars
The Salmon Roe with Seaweed and Uni was refreshing, almost like a strange seafood dessert, though it could have used more rice. 4 stars.
The remaining two sushi were both 5 stars. Starting with the Saury, it was seasonal, autumnal, and simply outstanding.
So was the Baby White Shrimp. Whatever my complaints about the meal, Sushi Kinetsu can make some awesome sushi.
Dessert brought Egg with Shrimp followed by cantaloupe. Neither was bad, but I’d forgotten both before leaving the restaurant.
The problem with Sushi Kinetsu isn’t quality, but consistency. While most of the sushi is genuinely top shelf, too many of their dishes disappoint. What really bothered me though was that you get nine pieces of sushi, and that’s it. No returning to favourites. No second bite of what actually impressed you. No flexibility at all. If it were up to me, diners should be allowed to repeat two or three standout pieces at the end.
Instead, you do what any self-respecting fat-boy diner who believes in excess does: you pay the bill, leave, and keep eating. We ended up down the road at Don Don Donki, loading our basket with more sushi and sake, then going home and finishing the job properly.
In the battle between Sushi Kinetsu and Zuicho at Grand Lisboa Palace, the winner is clear and obvious.
Zuicho earns its Michelin star. Sushi Kinetsu doesn’t.
