神田きくかわ (Kanda Kikukawa)

Posted on November 6, 09 by seat

(Apr 19 2007)
うな重（２匹付）（イ）、２６２０円。
A famous place for Unaju – eel on rice in a box. The difference in price is just the difference in size of the unagi. I had the cheapest(2620yen!) and it was pretty big already. The madam said unadon(eel on rice in a bowl) uses fatter unagi, but she recommended Unaju so we all had it. It is very good. Huge portion. Want to try the Unadon next time!
(Whole set looks like this.)

(Nov 03 2009)
大串うな丼、￥２７００。
More than 2 years later, I went back to try the Unadon(Y2700). It was very good but I had no idea if it was in fact fattier than the Unaju I had 2 years ago….

Menu here.

神田きくかわ

衛藤　武蔵小山 (Etou Musashi-koyama)

Posted on November 6, 09 by seat

付出吹き寄せ
Appetizer from the 3800 yen dinner course.

御椀　かます・玉子豆腐・舞茸・菊菜・菊花
造里　本日の造り
“Owan” soup course: Kamasu(fish), egg tofu, maitake mushroom, kikuna(vegetable) etc.
“Tsukuri” sashimi course.

煮魚　秋刀魚味噌煮
焚合　小松菜・南瓜・蕪・占地・糸がき
Fish course: Miso-simmered “Sanma”.
Takiawase course: Komatsuna, pumpkin, turnip, shimeji mushroom, itogaki(dried tuna).

食事　秋鮭いくら御飯・ふり柚子
菓子　本日のデザート
The “meal” course: Rice with autumn salmon and salmon roe. Soup is not included.
Dessert: Mont blanc

Everything above is included in the Y3800 dinner course. The food is nothing too fancy but tastes good. At first I thought Y3800 was unbelievably cheap for a full course but the portion turned out to be a bit small(even in Japanese standard). The staff did ask us if we wanted additional order from the a la carte menu before bringing us the rice course but we said no. We ended up going to “nemo cafe” which was nearby and had pastry and dessert and coffee.

The course menu can be found in the restaurant’s homepage and I found out too late that you can pre-order the store-made chiffon cake for special occasions.
Menu(J): 1, 2.

衛藤　武蔵小山(Etou Musashi-koyama)
Add: 3-4-10 Ebara, Shinagawa-ku (nearest station is Musashi-koyama)
Tel: 03-3788-2077

九段一茶庵 (Kudan Issaan)

Posted on August 19, 09 by seat

A fantastic soba place located somewhere between Kudanshita and Jimbochou. Absolutely crazy about the soba here. Been going back again and again since last winter and tried everything in the menu. A lot of items are seasonal and only available for a few weeks or so. I think they have MORE variety during summer, probably because soba is actually a seasonal food that doesn’t taste as good in summer so they offer more variety of toppings to compensate.

For all the hot soba with soup, you can choose between regular soba(“seiro”) or thick soba(“inaka” or “country”). For the other soba(e.g.cold soba), you can change the soba from “seiro” to “inaka” for a charge of Y100. I love inaka soba so I always ask them to change it for me. “Oomori”(large size) is plus Y500.

五色盛りそば（￥１８００）：　季節そば（さくら）、黒ごま、田舎、せいろ、けし。
5-colour soba(Y1800): seasonal soba(sakura), black sesame seed, inaka, seiro, keshi(poppy).

つくねそば、￥１５００。たまご焼き、￥８００。
Tsukune(duck meatball) soba, Y1500. Tamago-yaki, Y800.

おろしそば、￥１１００。焼き味噌、￥５００。
Oroshi(grated radish) soba, Y1100. (Inaka +Y100)
Grilled miso(with soba flour), Y500.

鴨南蛮、￥１５００。揚げゆば、￥７００
Kamo Nanban(duck), Y1500.
Fried yuba(tofu skin), Y700.

辛味もちそば、￥１２００。茄子田楽、￥５００。
Grated radish and fried mochi(rice cake) soba, Y1200.
Nasu Dengaku(grilled aubergine with grounded meat in miso), Y500.

胡麻だれせいろ（冷）、￥１３００。つくね煮、￥６００。
Cold seiro with sesame seed sauce, Y1300. (Large +Y500)
Simmered tsukune, Y600.

ねぎそば、￥１２００。ぶっかけ、￥１３００。
Negi(leek) soba, Y1200.
Bukkake, Y1300. Default is inaka soba.

夏野菜かれいせいろ（冷）、￥１５００。竹の子そば、￥１３００。
Summer vegetable curry seiro, Y1500.
Bamboo shoot soba, Y1300.

なす茗荷そば、￥１４００。すずしろせいろ、￥１１００。
Aubergine and myouga soba, Y1400.
Suzushiro(shredded radish) seiro, Y1100.

湯葉とじそば、１３００。赤なす揚げ煮せいろ、￥１４００。
Yuba and egg soba, Y1300.
Fried red aubergine stew seiro, Y1400.

そばとろ、￥１３５０。
生のりと梅もずくの冷かけ（冷）、￥１４００。
Soba toro(grated yam), Y1350. (Large +Y500) (Inaka +Y100)
Raw seaweed and sour plum mozuku cold soba, Y1400. (Inaka +Y100)

一本穴子せいろ、￥１９００。豆乳坦々せいろ、￥１５００。
Anago seiro, Y1900. (Inaka +Y100)
Soy milk tantan seiro, Y1500.

仙台地鶏とたたき長芋のぶっかけ（冷）、￥１５００。
梅ぶっかけせいろ（梅干、大葉、茗荷、三つ葉、カツオ節）、￥１４００。
Sendai chicken and Nagaimo(long yam) Bukkake, Y1400.
Sour plum Bukkake seiro, Y1400.

天ぷらせいろ、￥２２５０。
沖縄島オクラとじゃこヘイヤ（冷）、￥１５００。
Tempura seiro, Y2250.
Okinawa Okra and dried fish and Molokheya, Y1500.

Menu(J): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

九段　一茶庵　本店(Kudan Issaan)
Add: 3-6-6 Jimbocho, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku
Tell: 03-3239-0889

まにわ (Maniwa)

Posted on June 1, 09 by seat

酒肴コース、￥３０００。
先付：生海苔の冷製茶碗蒸し・のれそれポン酢（穴子稚魚）・真鯵の棒寿司。
刺身：伊佐木・帆立・ぼたんえび。
From the Y3000 dinner course.
Appetizer: Cold chawanmushi with seaweed, young Anago with ponzu, Ma-aji(Japanese horse mackerel) rod sushi.
Sashimi: Isaki, scallop, Botan shrimp etc.

冷物：初夏野菜と素面の冷し鉢（茄子・トマト・オクラ・もろこし）。
The Botan shrimp head left from the sashimi was fried and served.
Cold dish: Early summer vegetable(aubergine, tomato, okra, corn) and somen.

肴物：まぐろと胡瓜の酒盗あえ。
温物：大山鶏つみれの味噌仕立て小鍋。
Snack: Maguro and cucumber with shuto.
Hot dish: Daisen chicken tsumire(meat ball) in miso hotpot.

金目鯛の土鍋炊き込みごはん（２～３人前）、￥１６００。
Rice cooked with Kinmedai in a Donabe(Japanese clay pot). It is not included in the dinner course. Y1600 for one big pot and is enough for 2-3 people.

漬物：自家製ぬかづけ。
Store-made pickled vegetables.

A very tiny washoku place in Asagaya with only about 8 counter seats. Still fairly unknown and not even a decent map available in the internet. I’m so glad my friend brought me here because the food – prepared by a young and pretty lady all by herself – is absolutely delicious and the value for money is unbelievable. You have to order the rice/udon separately from the dinner course, but it’s still very cheap considering the quality and the amount of food you get. I had two storemade fruit wine and it came to about Y5000. Asagaya is a bit out of the way but the value is totally worth the trip.

Menu(J): 1, 2.

まにわ (Maniwa)
Add: 2-10-11, Asagaya-kita, Suginami-ku
Tel: 03-6421-3456
Open: 18:00-23:00
Holiday: Sun, 1st and 3rd Monday of each month

Direction: Come out from the north exit of JR Asagaya station, walk straight and go under the shopping arcade. When you see the fastfood joint “なか卯”(Na-ka-u), turn left. Walk for about 5 mins and Maniwa is on the left side of the street.

伊勢重 (Iseijuu)

Posted on February 27, 09 by seat

すき焼きＡセット、￥３０００。
Sukiyaki lunch set A(3000yen + 10% service charge even at lunch time). The cheapest Sukiyaki set in the menu and the meat is the lowest rank. The meat is a mix of different parts(loin, thigh, filet etc.). The staff spread the fat in the pan, added the warishita(soy sauce, sugar, mirin) immediately without grilling any meat, and before the warishita was brought to boil, added the first few slices of meat directly. I thought the way she did it was a bit odd but I found out later that it is the style of this restaurant. After that you can cook the rest of the beef yourself, and the staff will come back and check on you, help you cook the veggy etc. I found the warishita too salty and too sweet – apparently strong warishita is traditional Tokyo style for Sukiyaki. I had to order another bowl of rice because I couldn’t eat the meat on its own. Rice is not refillable but for some reason they decided not to charge me this time.

牛ヒレカツレツ、￥２７００。
Beef filet cutlet lunch set(2700yen). The set includes beef tataki, salad and ice-cream. At first I thought the round thing was Calamari but it was actually onion ring. The beef was tender.

すうぷ煮Aセット、￥３６００。
Shabu-shabu A set(3600yen). Also the lowest rank.

角煮揚ごはん、￥８００。牛ヒレステーキごはん、￥１０００。
They sell meat right next door and also do take-away bento which are quite cheap(compared to the price of the restaurant menu).
Kakuni-age Gohan(800yen). Fried pork in a sauce that is basically thickened warishita….the pork is nice but the sauce is again too salty+sweet for me.
Beef filet steak Gohan(1000yen). The beef is surprisingly good quality for the price. Though there are only a few pieces so you need some side dish to finish the rice, which is plenty.

真正牛鍋ごはん、￥９００。焼豚ごはん、￥７５０。
Gyu-nabe Gohan(900yen). Basically sukiyaki on rice – it’s quite nice. Not too strong-tasting.
Yaki-buta Gohan. Under the salad is grilled pork(pic here). So-so.

I haven’t visited that many Sukiyaki and Shabu-shabu restaurants so it is hard to judge but I think I prefer Imahan Banyou(see posts here) more than Isejuu.

Menu(J): 1, 2.

伊勢重 (Iseijuu)
Add: 14-9 Kodenmacho, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-3663-7841

京料理八平 (Yahei)

Posted on February 15, 09 by seat

A restaurant in Arakicho(Yotsuya 3-chome) serving Kyoto cuisine. We tried the 10,000 yen Suppon Nabe course. Reservation in advance is necessary for dinner course. 8000yen and 15000yen are also available.
Sashimi: Shibi-toro(i.e. Binchou-Maguro) and Hirame. Portion is for 5.

Very delicious Kabura-mushi. Lots of ingredients including turnip, ginkgo, fish meat etc. Grilled Managastuo on right pic. Both are for one person.

Buri-daikon(simmered radish and yellowtail). Left pic shows portion for 5, divided for us by the staff.

Suppon Nabe(Japanese turtle hotpot). A whole nabe for one person. Suppon meat is all gelatin – supposed to make your skin smoother. It doesn’t look so appetizing but okay to eat(think fish head). The soup however is absolutely delicious. Very strong ginger taste. The staff recommended us to add garlic paste but my advice is to add a tiny bit and test the taste first, because it totally spoiled the soup for me…
After the nabe, came the the veggy and crab meat in ponzu, which I thought was strange to be served after the suppon nabe, but it did refresh our palette.

Ochazuke with hamo tsukudani. Nice but quite heavily seasoned with sansho. Hamo seems to famous in this place but hamo season was over when we went so probably that’s why the hamo came in tsukudani(preserved).

Dessert is melon and Warabi-mochi.

Due to lack of research, I was expecting kaiseki with fancy presentation but the food turned out to be quite home-style cooking feel. Still, taste was great and the portion was really big – I’d never been this stuffed after a Japanese course. We were a group of 5 and had the private room to ourselves so it was a very comfortable meal.

A la carte menu: 1, 2, 3.

京料理八平 (Yahei)
Add: 3F, Arakicho, Shinjuku-ku (Yotsuya 3-chome)
Tel: 03-3341-3990

Ponta Honke (ぽん多本家)

Posted on January 17, 09 by seat

(Jan 15 2009)
カキフライ、￥３１５０。
I think this is the most expensive fried oyster set I ever tried. 3150yen including rice and soup. The oysters are MASSIVE and there are six of them, all perfectly fried and undeniably delicious….

(May 22 2008)
穴子フライ、￥３６７５。カツレツ、￥２６２５。
Took a friend to try this super expensive but also super delicious tonkatsu place. Had the standard “Katsu-retsu”. Also tried the “Anago Fry” for the first time – 3675yen is crazy(rice and miso soup not included) but they give you two big pieces and damn they just taste so good that you don’t regret paying(though I didn’t have to pay at the end hohoho).

(Sep 11 2007)
Couldn’t resist and went back to try “Ebi korokke”, i.e. Prawn croquette. With rice and miso soup, it is 3150yen also. Very expensive…but it is so delicious! Inside the perfectly-fried crust are corn cream and big chunks of prawns. Only two croquettes but they are quite big. Though I think the pork cutlet is of better value.

(Aug 09 2007)
Yoshoku restaurant established since 1905. I was a bit dazed when I saw the menu…a salad is 1050yen, deep-fried seafood is 3000~4000yen, cow tongue stew is 4200yen…good thing my target was katsu-retsu(i.e. tonkatsu) which is an affordable(relatively speaking) 2625yen. Rice and soup and pickles are an additional 525yen. Seriously, it never cease to amaze me how yoshoku sometimes can be so expensive and yet many people are so willing to pay. I mean you can have a full course French lunch with that amount of money. Anyway, the cutlet turned out to be quite delicious. ^^;;; Coating is thick but crispy. Apparently thick and floury coating is the traditional style for deep-fried things in Japan. I guess people in the past didn’t worry so much about calories. The pork is fried twice, first very slowly in low heat oil, and then a quick finish in very hot oil. It did take a long time for it to come. The pork is a thick huge piece, has very little fat, soft and tender, feels a bit sandy in the mouth and not the juicy kind but I like it a lot. Didn’t feel ill afterwards but apparently it is fried in lard….There is only a bottle of sauce on the table which I reckon is for the cutlet but I prefer eating it just with salt and mustard. Oh, I sat in the counter(only 4 seats) on the first floor and there was only a salaryman eating alone. He was drinking wine and eating a plate of something, and I overheard his bill was over 13,000yen…^^;; I found an English review here.

Menu(J) 1, 2.

ぽん多本家 (Ponta Honke)
Add: 3-23-3 Ueno, Taito-ku
Tel: 03-3831-2351

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