tokyo food file

blue blazer @ Fuglen

One of my favourite bars — and bartenders — making up my new favourite cocktail.

Thanks Yumi-san!

[yes it's a very primitive gif, but it gives the idea]

Ikku: anago otsukuri in Yanaka

 

This is the opening salvo in the anago (conger) kaiseki meal served at Ikku in Yanaka: otsukuri (sashimi), with negi scallions, fresh-grated wasabi root and akajiso sprouts.

Eel presented with as much care and precision as you'd find at a top fugu restaurant, and served with a dip of citrus-tinged shoyu.

Remarkable. And beautiful.

 

With a bit of persistence (and a good detailed map), you'll find Ikku hidden away in the atmospheric backstreets of Yanaka, a short walk from either Sendagi or Nishi-Nippori stations.

It has no web site; it looks very simple and plain; you can't just drop in (you have to book two days in advance; and it's quite unique.

More details (in Japanese) here…

Ogawamachi izakaya action

Kanda-Ogawamachi – home to the excellent Kagiroi – is an old-school low-rise carousing district with plenty of izakaya action. It's not so big, but there are enough small alleys to make it feel like it's a demi-monde all to itself. 

Come and stroll it with me…

 

 

Ogawamachi is a short stroll from the Jimbocho Crossing – which means (counter-intuitively) that it's actually closer to Jimbocho Station than to the subway station called Ogawamachi.

And that means you will also be in striking distance of Kiwamiya Ramen...

And then, on the other side of the lights at Jimbocho, you find yourself not far from Kankyo Shuten… Or Craft Beer Market… Or, of course, the very wonderful Den…

On the map, you'll find it here…

Kagiroi – a few more images from the teppan grill

 

From the front, Kagiroi – as introduced in my Japan Times column this week – seems quietly genteel: not your usual izakaya. And certainly not typical of the kind of places you find in Ogawamachi.

It looks the same way upstairs. In fact this stately three-story house, built back in the early days of Showa, used to be the residence of a sake merchant.

 

 

If you enter from the back – which is where the actual sake shop used to be housed – it looks rather more down to earth.

 

That's the area that is now the open kitchen – with the teppan grill.. 

 

And that's where the cooking action takes place. Here are a few more images of what's on offer – and what's good – there. Starting with an order of pork, served straight off the steel griddle…

 

It's from a breed called Seseragi pork, raised in the uplands of Gunma Pref. close to Mt. Akagi. They're fed on a diet high in barley, and given only mountain spring water to drink, which certainly gives the meat great flavour. The slices are marinated in miso before being crisped up nicely on the teppan, then served with a mound of shichimi-togarashi (seven spice).

This came as part of a lunch teishoku (set meal), with a green salad, potato salad miso soup, rice and pickles on the side. Great value for ¥900.

 

At dinnertime, the menu is a lot wider — and there's plenty of good sake to drink too. Such as Toroman, a hiya-oroshi from Aizu, in the uplands of Fukushima.

 

 

Because the teppan dishes can take a while, it's a good idea to order a few appetizers. The vegetable sticks with miso dips may look prettier, but the potesara (that's Japanese for "potato salad") is really tasty too. The spud is mixed with a mayo-miso blend: excellent with the cucumber slices.

 

Another side dish that is served promptly is the egg; halves of boiled egg slathered with a sweetish yellow miso and then browned over the charcoal grill.

 

The foil-cooked potatoes are even better: they're cooked with butter and then seasoned with a heaping dollop of sake-kasu mixed with miso. Quite an umami hit.

 

More pork is called for. This is the imo-buta, from porkers raised in Asahi, Chiba, that have been fed on sweet potatoes. Juicy and rich and piping hot straight from the teppan, it goes beautifully with the Hiroki tokubetsu-junmai.

 

And yet another great pairing: Meikyoshisui m12, a junmai daiginjō of some refinement from Nagano Prefecture...

 

 

… with the dengaku-style eggplant/aubergine. The miso was dark and a bit sweet, in true dengaku style, and the poppy seeds scattered on the top gave a nice contrasting texture to the softness of the aubergine.

 

What else was good? Plenty, though I don't have many more photos. Here's one final image: the mixed kinoko being given the teppan treatment. The perfect kind of warming fare for cold late-autumn evenings.

 

Here's a map link to Kagiroi…

And the restaurant web site… As you can see, it's part of the Yumemania group, who are responsible for some really good little places around town.

Including Tamayura, as featured here at the beginning of the year.

Where there's smoke there's fireside dining

 

It's getting to be that time of year…

Perfect temperatures for huddling around a charcoal grill. Or a grill of any description. Preferably with some sake. And good company.

More in my Japan Times column [which is now up — although the paywall may kick in]…