赤寶亭 (Sekihoutei)

Posted on September 22, 08 by seat

From 5250yen lunch course. Umeshu(Sour plum wine) included in the course. Fig with goma(sesame) sauce, ginnan(ginkgo nuts), hamo no ko(roe of hamo) inside the orange leave, satoimo(taro), suzuki(eat with green sauce), anago sushi. The last three items are warm.

Hamo and atsuage. I’ve tried hamo a few times before and I never thought it was anything special, but after trying the hamo in this restaurant, I realised I just never had a good one before!
Makogarei and Maguro. Eat with either ponzu or soy sauce. The brown-ish cube is kanten jelly with seeds.

Aubergine and pumpkin takiawase. It is so simple but so delicious.
Fried ayu was great but the fried pepper, edamame and corn were truly outstanding.

Maitake mushroom takikomi gohan. Miso soup with winter melon.
Kyohou grape jelly. So nice!

The food might look ordinary and sound simple but the quality is just fantastic. At first the pace of delivery of each course was a bit too fast – we were busy chatting – but I told the staff to slow down a bit and it was fine. The lady in kimono was very friendly. Two of us shared a small bottle of nihonshu(1000yen) she recommended which was very nice. I went for lunch on a Saturday and only booked the day before but I had no problem getting a private room on the first floor. On the way to the bathroom(only on second and third floor), we saw that while the tables are only partitioned with screens, they look very comfortable with sunlight coming through the windows. Nice place to have a relaxing holiday lunch~

赤寶亭 (Sekihoutei)
Add:3-1-14, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 03-5474-6889

和牛屋赤坂くうたら (Wagyuya Akasaka Kuutara)

Posted on September 4, 08 by seat

From the 6825yen course. Everything in the photos are for one person. Cold potato soup and “dadacha” beans. Wagyu sashimi. Normally it should include raw liver(what this restaurant is famous for apparently) and boiled cow stomach, but we went on “Obon” holiday and they didn’t have raw liver that day. My friend doesn’t like innards so we also skipped the cow stomach, and had three types of raw wagyu beef instead.

Fried cow cheek on a skewer. Lettuce.

Raw beef nigiri-sushi. Beef nikomi(simmered) and garlic toast. The nikomi is quite nice, but I wish the garlic toast were bigger to mop the thick sauce with.

Yamaimo. Very hot wasabi taste. Charcoal-grilled wagyu steak. Hmm, I expected better quality for the main beef steak….

Curry rice made with beef dashi. It is quite salty. Matcha ice-cream.

I can’t say the food is bad, but it is not that great either. It was just two of us and we wanted to try a bit of everything so we opted for the set course; maybe a la carte is better? Also we didn’t get to try raw liver and motsu-nabe which are recommended in the reviews I read about this place.

Menu(J): 1, 2.

和牛屋赤坂くうたら (Wagyuya Akasaka Kuutara)
Add: 3-11-7 Akasaka, Minato-ku
Tel: 03-3568-2129

鳥田むら本店 (Toritamura Honten)

Posted on August 29, 08 by seat

A friend took us to this tiny yakitori place near Isetan Shinjuku. Never passed these alleys before and was surprised to see so many old but interesting-looking eateries around.

We ordered the yakitori course plus many additional orders.

Tori-sashi – raw chicken. Ume Tataki – raw chicken with sour plum.

Nikomi – Chicken giblet stew. Doesn’t smell at all, very good! Right pic is soft bone.

More yakitori. Can’t remember what they are…but all are good!

Chicken salad. Grilled vegetables.

Pickles. Tori zosui – chicken soup rice.

Food is good, price is cheap – with a few drinks it was about 4000yen per person. The chef(40 something?) and the owner(60 something?) are both very kakkoi…^^;;;
Menu(J): 1, 2.

鳥田むら本店 (Toritamura Honten)
Add: 3-11-2, Shinjuku
Tel: 03-3356-7955

鮎正 (Ayumasa)

Posted on August 19, 08 by seat

Apparently this is the only washoku restaurant in Tokyo specialised in “Ayu”(English article on Ayu here). Everything is from the 15,750yen omakase course, which is only available in summer when Ayu is in season. The restaurant is almost fully booked for August when I called up a week ago. I was quite surprised when I walked through the door…I was expecting a nicer environment(considering the price of the menu), but the place turned out to be very small and kinda shabby – basically like an old family-owned cheapy izakaya. We sat on a tatami around a tiny table which is very cramp – my friend maintained an unrelenting frown throughout the entire dinner and rolled her eyes whenever the drunk salarymen right behind her were getting too loud. ^^;;; But luckily no one smoked(the place is likely non-smoking) and the staff are very very friendly.

Appetizer. Grilled ayu in clear dashi. Winter melon at the bottom. Delicious! Good dashi is always a good sign.

Ayu sashimi. Grilled Ayu with salt. You are supposed to eat the whole fish including the internal organs and bones. The bones I can handle but the internal organs are just too bitter for me. My Japanese friends are used to this way of eating fish so they have no problems with it.

Aubergine and uruka(“ovaries, spermary and other internal organs preserved in salt”). Comes with a small bowl of rice that you eat the leftover sauce with. This is also slightly bitter but the sweet miso makes it much easier to eat. I like it very much(a bit of bitterness is fine!).

“Bitter uruka”. Seriously it is really really bitter! I almost died trying to finish it (ToT). Apparently it has been fermented for one year ….The deep-fried roll of uruka miso and ayu is not so bitter – very good. The madam said the crispy skin is made from “udon”(flour and water).

Grilled Ayu simmered in a nice broth with raddish. Vinegar-pickled ayu in Konbu dashi.

Rice cooked with Ayu – this is so good! I wish I could ask for another bowl. Dessert is sweetened green sour plum and grated ice.

It is definitely an interesting experience to try so many different ways of preparing Ayu. People who love the taste of Ayu will sure enjoy this place. For me, once is absolutely enough. ^^;;;

鮎正 (Ayumasa)
Add: 4-17-5 Shinbashi, Minato-ku
Tel: 03-3431-7448

銀座とよだ (Ginza Toyoda)

Posted on August 11, 08 by seat

うなぎ、白瓜、トマトに土佐酢のジュレ。しんじょうと糸瓜。
From 5000yen lunch course. Cold appetizer with unagi, cucumber, tomato and vinegar jelly. Shinjou(grounded fish meat) in clear soup.

お造り：マグロとスズキ。鮎の塩焼き。
Maguro and Suzuki sashimi. Grilled Ayu.

にしん、ナス、小松菜の炊き合わせ。トウモロコシの炊き込みご飯。
Takiawase(simmered) of Nishin(cured herring), aubergine and komatsuna. Rice cooked with sweet corn.

白桃のプリン。ゆずのゼリー。京番茶。
Peach pudding. Yuzu jelly and Kyobancha tea.

I love every dish in the course! From the sweet tomato in the appetizer to the last piece of yuzu jelly and Kyobancha tea served at the end, everything is satisfying. No-frills, no creative fusion whatver, just solid good quality washoku. The atmosphere is quite casual at lunch. We sat at the counter and watched the chef at work and got served by the good-looking female staff in kimono. Definitely a place I will feel comfortable to take friends from overseas to try traditional washoku.

銀座とよだ (Ginza Toyoda)
Add: 2F, Ginza 7-5-4, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-5568-5822

明神下　神田川本店 (Myoujinshita Kandagawa)

Posted on August 2, 08 by seat

I like eating unagi in winter months cos it is much fattier, but seeing lots of pictures of unagi on the day of douyo no ushi(土用の丑) makes me crave for it too. The old building of this unagi restaurant is so gorgeous that it alone is worth a visit. Booking is absolutely necessary and although there were only two of us, we got the private room all to ourselves. Unajuu(unagi on rice in a bento box) is not cheap – a bit more than 4000yen(there is service charge) and soup is not included. But the quality is really high and I love the sauce which is not sweet like the usual kind. Location is convenient – easily accessible from Akihabara or Ochanomizu.

明神下　神田川本店 (Myoujinshita Kandagawa)
Add: 2-5-11 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-3251-5031

志な乃 (Shinano)

Posted on August 2, 08 by seat

A friend recommended this little soba place in the middle of an office area. There is always a long queue at lunch hour.

合盛（大）、￥１２５０。けんちん汁（並）、￥４００。
Aimori(soba+udon). Soba is thick and hard type, while udon is soft and springy type. Both are homemade and are very good. Eat with a light dipping sauce, and also spring onion, wasabi, shiso, grated radish and grated ginger. Kenchin-jiru with lots of root vegetables in it.

冷麦、￥１５００。
Very cooling Hiyamugi. Though I ended up ordering a small portion of hot Kenchin-jiru.

けんちんそば（並）、￥１１５０。五色そば、￥１０５０。
Kenchin-soba. Hot soba in Kenchin-jiru.
Five-colour soba. Hot soba with kamaboko, aubergine tempura, quail egg, shiitake mushroom and leek.

とろろ合い盛り、￥１３５０。
Tororo Aimori: soba and udon with grated yam and quail egg.
In general, I like the soba more than the udon, and menu that are served cold are better than the hot ones. The staff are very friendly and the atmosphere is warm.
Lunch menu(J): 1, 2.