蕎麦作つじ田 (Soba Saku Tsujita) CLOSED!

Posted on March 25, 09 by seat

肉そば(中３００g)、￥８８０。
Niku soba, Y880. Other than pork, there are also lots of stuff like half-cooked egg, leek, kikurage mushroom, shiitake mushroom, green veggy inside the spicy dipping soup for the soba. Since it was filled with too much ingredients, I couldn’t really dip the soba into the soup at first. ^^;;;

This small(10 counter seats) soba place is opened by a really good ramen shop Tsujita just across the road. The soba branch is nothing as “gourmet” as the ramen shop though. Big pile of soba dough is squeezed through a machine and drops straight into boiling water. But I still like this place because it is VERY CHEAP and they managed to make a bowl of cheap soba quite tasty. If you order cold soba, you need to choose from 200g, 300g and 400g. It is the same price whichever you choose and I always ask for 300g. For hot soba, maybe because of the fixed size of the bowl, they won’t ask you how many grams you want, but after you finish, you can ask for “kaedama” and they will serve you another portion of soba. There is a pot on the counter for you to add soy-sauce-based soba soup freely. Other FREE goodies on the counter are raw egg, raw quail egg(I always add this! There is a special scissor for cutting open the quail egg), regular tenkasu(crunchy bits of deep-fried flour-dough) and also spicy tenkasu.

豚そば、￥８００。
Buta(pork) soba, Y800. Very satisfying!

十割そば（かけ）、￥６８０。タコめし、￥２５０。
Juuwari soba(soba consists entirely of buckwheat), Y680. Tako-meshi(octopus rice), Y250. Tako-meshi has a nice buttery taste.

合鴨の味噌漬け、￥４００。海苔胡麻そば、￥７８０。
Miso-marinated duck, Y400. Heated with a burner before serving. It is a little salty and probably better as a snack for drinking beer.
Seaweed and sesame seed soba, Y780. The soba is not of very high quality so cold soba without soup to cover up is probably a bad choice.

天丼・十割そばセット、￥１０００。
Tendon(tempura on rice) and Juuwari soba set, Y1000. The tempura is fried on order. Not amazing but good for the price. Again Juuwari soba tasted better with soup. Tendon is 400yen if order on its own.

Location is 10 mins walk from Akihabara. It is open on Sat and Sun too.

Menu: 1, 2, 3, 4.

蕎麦作つじ田 (Soba Saku Tsujita)
Add: 1-1, Ogawamachi, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku

松翁 (Matsuou)

Posted on March 25, 09 by seat

白子天ざる、￥２３５０。
Shirako(fish milt) Tenzaru, Y2350. Available only in winter. Very nice shirako tempura(you get 3pcs) and also lotus root tempura and maitake tempura. They serve the tempura one by one so you can eat it while it is hot.

手打ちきしめん、￥１０５０。田楽（こんにゃく、小芋）、￥５５０。
Store-made Kishimen(flat udon), Y1050.
Dengaku(Konjac and taro), Y550. Usually dengaku is grilled but the one here is only steamed. Served with miso as usual.

なめこそば（鴨つくね　なめこ）、￥１４００。二色もり（むらめ切りと並そば）、￥１０５０。
Nameko soba(Duck meat ball and Nameko mushroom), Y1400.
2-shoku-mori(perilla soba and regular soba), Y1050.

田舎そば、￥１１００。けんちん汁、￥４００。
Inaka(country) soba, Y1100. Kenchinjiru(miso soup with root vegetables), Y400. The kenchinjiru is a bit salty so it maybe good to eat it with plain soba.

I like the tempura, the toppings on soba, the soup…but I’m not so crazy about the soba itself. Most items on the menu are quite expensive and for this kind of price I would rather go somewhere else for really good-quality soba(Just found a quite expensive but really good soba place in this area which I will blog after I’ve exhausted its menu in a few months or so ^^;;).

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

松翁 (Matsuou)
Add: 2-1-7, Sarugaku-cho, Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-3291-3529

とんかつ　やまいち(Tonkatsu Yamaichi)

Posted on March 17, 09 by seat

特ヒレ、￥２１００。
Special pork filet cutlet(Toku-hire), Y2100.

I love this tonkatsu place! Very small hole-in-the-wall restaurant with only a big round table for 8(need to share with strangers), a small table for 2, and 4 counter seats. The nearest station is Awajicho but it’s not far to walk from Akihabara. I’ve only been here for lunch and it is usually packed especially on Saturday, but there is no crazy lines. The chef fries everything himself behind the counter so during busy lunch hour, you may have to wait for some 15-20 mins. Watching the chef at his work with a very serious expression will make you patient though. The staff(chef’s wife and daughters?) are very friendly, and no matter how busy the chef is, he will always say thank you when you leave. Just love this sincere attitude of Japanese.

Anyway, the most expensive menu is Toku-hire but I think it really is the best. The meat is lean but soft and tender. The set comes with rice(refillable), soup and pickled vegetables.

特ロース、￥2000。ロース、￥１５００。
Special pork loin cutlet(Toku-rousu), Y2000.
Regular pork loin cutlet(Rousu), Y1500.
Toku-rousu is much nicer than Rousu so I think it is worth the Y500 difference, but Toku-rousu is not as good as Toku-hire. There is more fat in Rousu than in Hire and normally I will prefer the former because I like fat….but this place is an exception.

ヒレかつ丼、￥１７００。合びきメンチ、￥１０００。
Hire Katsu-don, Y1700. Menchi-katsu, Y1000.

カキフライ、￥１４００。　車えびフライ（３本）、￥１９００。
Kaki-fry(fried oyster), Y1400. Kuruma-ebi fry(3 pcs), Y1900.

海老しんじょう揚げ、￥１４００。
Ebi-Shinjou-age(fried chopped prawn), Y1400.

貝柱コロッケ、￥１４００。串かつ、￥１３００。
Scallop croquette(cream inside), Y1400. Skewered pork and vegetable katsu, Y1300.

ロースかつ丼、￥１６００。
半メンチ、ヒレ一口かつ、海老しんじょう揚げ、カキフライ。
Rousu Katsu-don, Y1600. Love the katsu-don here.
You can order all the katsu by one piece. I ordered one kaki-fry(Y250), one bite-size Hire-katsu(Y250), one Ebi-shinjou(Y250) and one half-size menchi-katsu(Y300). For 400yen you can make it a set with rice and soup. Good idea if you want to try a bit of everything.

Menu(J) 1, 2.

とんかつ　やまいち(Tonkatsu Yamaichi)
Add: 1-8-4, Sudacho, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-3253-3335

御茶ノ水小川軒 (Ochanomizu Ogawaken)

Posted on March 6, 09 by seat

A really nice yoshoku(western food) place in Ochanomizu that I’ve fallen in love with recently. In my first visit when I saw the price on the menu, I thought I would try once, but probably wouldn’t come back because there are so many yoshoku places in this area that are much cheaper. But after the first taste of the curry….I was immediately addicted. I ended up trying almost everything on the menu(Not in one day!) and everything I ordered was good. There is nothing fancy about the food, just basic yoshoku that is perfectly done.

ビーフカレー￥１３６５。マカロニグラタン、￥１５７５。
Beef curry(Y1365). The curry that got me hooked. The sauce is so smooth.
Macaroni gratin(Y1575). Winter menu.

シーフードカレー、￥１４７０。
Seafood curry(1470). All the lunches come with salad and pickled vegetables.

デミカレー、￥１４７０。トリュフショコラケーキ（自家製アイス添え）、￥５２５。
Demi curry(Y1470). Truffle Chocolat Cake & storemade ice-cream(Y525).

オムライス、￥１５７５。ハヤシライス、￥１５７５。
Omelette Rice(Y1575). Hayashi Rice(Y1575).

Raisin-wich. Souvenir that everybody seems to know about.

All the above were eaten in the first floor cafe where the lunch menu is mainly curry. I then ventured down to the basement restaurant which has a different lunch menu with the main item being hamburger. Basement restaurant is smaller and is a bit more expensive than the first floor cafe. All lunches come with a salad, a small soup, rice or bread, and coffee.

デミグラスソースハンバーグステーキ（１５０ｇ）、￥１６８０。
Chopped Beef(100% wagyu) Demi-glace Sauce 150g (Y1680). Super delicious! After the curry, I got hooked to the hamburger too…..damn.

カニクリームコロッケ、￥１９９５。
Chinese cabbage and Cauliflower soup. Crabmeat Croquette(Y1995).

和風ソース　ハンバーグステーキ、￥１６８０。
Chopped Beef Soy Sauce 150g(Y1680). The soy sauce is a house blend apparently. I spread a bit of wasabi on the hamburger and add the soy sauce….very nice!

季節野菜のハンバーグステーキ、￥１８９０。
Seasonal Chopped Beef 150g(Y1890). It is just the same Chopped Beef Demi-glace Sauce, plus some sauteed seasonal vegetables on the side.

Basically everything is nice. In particular Beef curry and Chopped beef Demi-glace sauce. The service is very friendly. And they give out 200yen discount coupons so well it is not tooooooo bad. Note that Hayashi rice(very good too) is available in both 1st floor and basement and the staff said it is exactly the same thing.

First floor menu here. Basement menu can be found in the homepage.

御茶ノ水小川軒 (Ochanomizu Ogawaken )
Add: 1-9-3 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku
Tel: 03-5802-5420

大喜 (Daiki)

Posted on March 4, 09 by seat

(Sep 01, 2006)
とりそば（塩味）、８５０円。味玉子、１００円。
Tori-soba – chicken ramen. I thought simmered egg was not included so I ordered it as extra toppings…ended up with 1.5 portion….^^;; This ramen reminds me so much of Cantonese soup noodles because of the clear chicken soup, the soft and juicy chicken topping instead of pork, and the thin noodles used. Very very good!

(Mar 22, 2008)
とりそば（塩味）、８５０円。みそらーめん、￥８００。餃子。
Tori-soba. Miso ramen.Gyoza.

(May 11, 2009)
特製醤油らーめん、￥９５０。
Special shoyu ramen. The soup is okay but the noodles is soggy…

(May 14, 2009)
かしわもりそば(太麺)、￥９００。
Kashiwa Morisoba. Thick cold noodles with hot dipping soup which is chicken-based and has chicken meat and chicken meat balls in it. The soup is great but the noodles is too soggy again.

大喜 (Daiki)

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

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Category Archives: Food:Tokyo

蕎麦作つじ田 (Soba Saku Tsujita) CLOSED!

松翁 (Matsuou)

とんかつ　やまいち(Tonkatsu Yamaichi)

御茶ノ水小川軒 (Ochanomizu Ogawaken)

大喜 (Daiki)

伊勢重 (Iseijuu)

京料理八平 (Yahei)