When it comes to premium yakitori, nowhere does it better than grillmaster supreme Yoshiteru Ikegawa’s brilliant Torishiki. Nowhere is harder to reserve, either. Which is why it was such good news when Torioka, his new offshoot, opened last autumn.
Not only is the location more central — in the heart of Roppongi Hills, no less — Torioka is also more stylish, more accessible and, for the time being at any rate, much easier to book…
Here's the link to the article online: jtim.es/RlQ030ncouf
When it comes to hanami, nowhere in Tokyo does it better than Ueno Park. Whether you're walking…
sitting down on blue tarps…
or lying comatose.
But it's even better if you're ensconced inside Innsyoutei.
Slap in the middle of the park, no restaurant is better placed to observe the evanescent petals.
The traditional timber architecture is a century old, but Innsyoutei’s dining rooms are fitted with huge modern picture windows that give perfect views onto the sakura boughs.
On the first floor (it's actually up a flight of stairs) you sit at a long counter; on the floor above, it is table seating, but with even wider vistas. There is also a small terrace where lunch is served al fresco when conditions are clement.
During the hanami season, the menu is pared down — bento boxed lunches (¥3,500 and ¥5,000) at lunchtime; and simple kaiseki multicourse meals (from ¥7,000) at dinner.
We had the ¥7,000 sukiyaki menu, which started with a simple sakizuke platter, including otsukuri (sashimi), with chawan-mushi custard (including a whole large hamaguri clam) on the side:
Next a clear soup (owan) with early season bamboo shoot and wakame…
Then, dialling it back down to earth several notches, a couple of tebasaki wings, seasoned with plenty of salt and pepper.
Then the sukiyaki. It was prepared at the counter, right in front of us…
This one featured chicken (beef is more common)
It's cooked in a rich, dark, slightly sweetened sauce with onion rings and (also unusual) watercress:
Then a light, palate-refreshing chicken salad:
The final main dish: a nabe hotpot – also cooked in front of us – featuring tsumire (balls of minced chicken meat), which our attendant formed out of a length of bamboo, and cooked surprisingly rare.
Also in the mix: kuzukiri clear noodles, plenty of negi, and a small slab of nama-fu (fresh wheat gluten):
As our rice dish, we were given a choice between gomoku takikomi-gohan; or chazuke. We had the former, although by this time we were so full we asked them to pack up the cooked rice to take home with us.
And, to wrap things up, a light dessert – sake-kasu ice cream and a traditional confection, sakura-mochi (a sweet sticky-rice dumpling wrapped in a preserved cherrry leaf. Very apt.
The whole process took two hours — the limit for everyone at this busiest of seasons. And then we were outside again, with the blossom overhead.
I gave Innsyoutei a short plug yesterday in the Japan Times' round-up of blossom-viewing dining options…
I also wrote up the teahouse on the ground floor in a JT column a few years back. What's changed since then – apart from the adjustment in prices – is that you can now book for two at a time (not just parties of four)
It's the Christmas tradition here in Japan. Instead of turkey or goose, a nice box of chicken wings courtesy of the Colonel. We had ours the other day...
…except ours were rather special. That's because they weren't KFC, they were "Dentucky" fried chicken. No, not a spelling mistake — a Christmas special at Den, in Jimbocho.
Inside the box, the kara-age deep-fried chicken wings were daintily laid out on a bed of straw…
…and the wings were beautifully stuffed with a mix of red rice, carrot and pine nuts. Superior in all ways.
But that's only as you'd expect from a chef of the caliber of Zaiyu Hasegawa. I'll be posting plenty more in the New Year about him and his own distinctive take on Japanese cuisine.
For the moment, though: Merry Christmas to everyone, wherever you are — and whatever you're eating this holiday season.
Food writer and restaurant reviewer for the Japan Times contact: foodfile (at) me (dot) com
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