Tokyo Kyobashi Areas Izakayas (part 2) 東京の居酒屋 東京駅八重洲京橋付近 パート2

3. Tsukiji Jikan Kyoubashi Branch 築地十干京橋店

Tokyo Square Garden BF1
Kyobashi 3-1-1
Chuo-Ku, Tokyo

For reservation 03-6260-6936,  Credit card accepted, Non-smoking

Although details are a bit unclear, it appears that there are two branches; one in Kyobashi and the other in Meguro. This izakaya might be run by the same entity which has a dried sea food store called “Hoshimon-ya Tsukiji Jikan 干しもんや築地十干”. It is a retail store for dried sea food but it was reported to transform to standing izakaya in the evening. In any case, I read that this place offers fresh sashimi, sushi, meat dishes, and oden. It was walking distance from our hotel. I found the building, in which this izakaya is located, called “Tokyo Square Garden 東京スクエアガーデン” easily enough. I somehow missed that this place is on the basement floor. On the front side, several restaurants were visible in the first (ground) floor but not the one we were looking for. It took some effort but we finally found it. You have to go into the building and take an escalator to BF1. By now we had learned the secret of  “you must make a reservation” to get a seat. Accordingly we had made a reservation but it was on the same day we were going to eat. As a result, seats were available but only at the counter. Once we got there, a middle aged waitress greeted us (very motherly person). The seats at the counter were extremely high stools. She immediately, worried that the tall stools at the counter may not be suitable especially for my wife. But there was a small shelf under the counter on which we could rest our feet so we were OK with that. She recommended a couple of sakes and as she served, she placed sake bottle in front of us for me to take a pic.

Her sake recommendation was quite good. From the counter, we could see the open kitchen. Several young cooks and two much older guys; one preparing sushi and the other mostly cooking meat items. We started with sashimi. Despite the “Tsukiji” name which emphasized the access to good fish, the sashimi was average. We had a few more items including lamb cooked in a skillet. We had some sushi as a shime dish. The sushi was ok but my wife thought the rice was not well seasoned/vinegared. Overall a good evening experience with a motherly waitress taking care of us. Next time, we should make a reservation a day or more before we would like to go and ask for low table seating (they have high tables with high stools as well).

4. Sakana-no-Mekiki 魚の目利き東京駅八重洲口店

東京都中央区日本橋3丁目2−16マスヤビル7F

Masuya-bldg 7F, Nihonbashi 3-2-16
Chuo-Ku, Tokyo

For reservation: 050-5486-4394, credit card accepted, only heated-tobacco allowed*

*We learned that “kanetsu-shiki tabako or heated-tobacco 加熱式タバコ” is a type of “vaping” popular in Japan. By heating (but not burning) tobacco leaves instead of using liquid tobacco extracts as is done with vaping, nicotine containing vapor can be inhaled. This type of “smoking” was permitted in this isakaya and when we were there, we did not detect any “cigaret” or other type of tobacco smoke.

The name of this Izakaya means “connoisseur of fish”. The owner must have a close tie to the fishing port called “Misaki 三浦”  on the Izu peninsula 伊豆半島, Kanagawa 神奈川 near Tokyo.  Fresh fish from Misaki was emphasized on their web site. This appears to be a one-store establishment (i.e. this is not part of a chain but also it is not a mom-pop-run izakaya either). It is on the 7th floor of a small building but it has an elevator.

This was one of the most enjoyable izakaya we tried. We made a reservation. Our table was separated by hanging semi-opaque fabric barrier which made it somewhat private. They have a number of interesting dishes but as usual, we started with  assorted sashimi and sake. The sashimi was quite good. “Tai” perch had a bit sinewy part but it was confined to the part under the skin. Better than the “Tai” we have had else where (it appears this year’s “Tai” perch is chewy/sinewy). We also had “Tuna shuto with cheese マグロ酒盗チーズ” which was unusual and good. Another one which is a bit usual was“al ajillo” of small shrimp and small bait fish. The baguette came with this could be better, though. Another interesting dish was “iburi-gakko kurimu chizu いぶりがっこクリームチーズ” (I made a similar dish getting idea from this dish which is a subject of another post).

We had more sake and couple of other dishes. All quite good. 

Cream Cheese with Pickled Daikon クリームチーズ 沢庵入り

While we were in Japan, we had cream cheese with  “iburi-gakko いぶりがっこ” at one of izakayas we visited. “ Iburi-gakko” is a local food peculiar to the northern part of the main land Japan (Tohoku region 東北地方).  It is made by hanging daikon radish over the hearth (old farm houses had open fire hearths) which dried and also smoked the daikon. It was then cured (not with vinegar but with salt and rice bran mixture). This produced “iburi-gakko”. It is crunchy with a slightly salty and smoky flavors.  The combination of cream cheese and iburi-gakko was really great. Although we did not have “iburi-gakko”, I made a similar dish using the pickled daikon I made.  I served it with cucumber and nappa cabbage “asazuke” (picture #1).

This was a part of small “otsumami おつまみ”  dishes (picture #2). From left to right, baby artichoke hearts and olives dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, renkon in sweet vinegar or “Subasu 酢蓮” (subject described in a separate post) with salt-broth soaked snap peas スナップ豌豆の塩びたし and cream cheese with pickled daikon. These are just nice small dishes that go with cold sake in the evening.

Ingredients:
1/3 block of cream cheese, warmed up to room temperature
1 inch home made picked daikon, cut into small dice

Directions:
In a bowl, add the daikon and cream cheese and mix.
On the plastic wrap, make a log about 1 inch in diameter, roll and wrap it tightly (picture #3)
Refregerator at least one hour before slicing

Although, it lacks the smoky flavor of “iburi-gakko”, the salty and sweet crunchy daikon, really worked with the cream cheese. I will be making this again for sure.

Tokyo Kyobashi Areas Izakayas (part 1) 東京の居酒屋 東京駅八重洲京橋付近 パート1

We have not posted for sometime. That is partly because we were in Japan for several weeks. In any case, we are back. Mostly for our own benefits, I am listing the izakayas we visited while we were in Japan. This is not an endorsement or criticism of the places. Just our impression/description for the reference next time we go to Japan. I choose izakayas based mostly on their location, and review, menu, and pictures available on line. 

Just some observations on the current izakaya situation in Japan compared to our previous experiences on our previous visits the last in 2017 (8 years ago). In the past getting a table at an izakaya was a relatively low key affair. You would find an izakaya where you wanted to eat. You would then in stick your head in the door ask if there was room (which there usually was) then entered to be seated. No reservation required. Once seated that spot was yours for the duration. There was no specification of allotted time, or the number of dishes or drinks you had to order in that specified time. Things are quite different now. It seems that Japan has been inundated with foreign tourists especially from China. The izakaya have been flooded with foreign customers and seating is limited. We saw many people turned away or told there would be a long wait before they could be served. In addition there are now a number of other restrictions including a maximum allotted time to use the table and required numbers of orders of food and drink.  After some lack of success in appropriating a seating at izakaya we had selected we found the secret was to make a reservation even if it was only several hours before you wanted to eat. Once we discovered this secret we had much more success but it required us to plan more in advance. Things were not as spontaneous as before. Another difference we noticed is that many Izakayas in this area (many office workers) are into serving lunch and sometimes lunch is more emphasized than evening Izakaya. As a result, many of reviews on line are about lunch.

Tokyo Yaesu Kyobashi area 東京 八重洲, 京橋付近

1. Uokichi Sakaba Tokyo Branch 魚吉酒場東京店

東京都中央区京橋1丁目4−13 初音ビル 1F

Hatsune Bdg 1F
Kyobashi 1-4-13 Chuo-Ku, Tokyo

For reservation 050-5594-1328
Credit card accepted, Smoking allowed

This is a classic chain Izakaya. We went there because it was close to our hotel. We did not make any reservation and went there around 6 pm. We were told that we could have a table until 7:30 pm. The inside appeared to be newly renovated and very bright. The staff is all young and most of the customers are also young. The Sake selection was OK but not extensive. The food menu was also very classic for a chain izkaya. We had a sashimi assortment and several other dishes including fried food. Nothing extraordinary but not bad and the service was average. The reason we had to vacate by 7:30 became apparent as a group of people with cameras started gathering in front of the store. Apparently a YouTuber was making “contents” starting at 7:30.

2. Ichinokura Kyobashi-ten 一ノ倉京橋店

東京都中央区京橋1丁目4−13
Kyobashi 1-4-13
Chuo-Ku, Tokyo

For reservation 03-3517-1570

Credit card accepted

Non-smoking with smoking area 

We visited this Izakaya 8 years ago. We came here because it was next door to Uokichi and, for nostalgic reason, we decide to try it again. This was slightly more upscale than “Uokichi”. The entrance is at ground level, but you had to go down one floor. We had not made a reservation. Again, we were told we could have a table until 7 pm since the only available table had a reservation starting at 7:30 pm which left us about 1 hour. So we were ushered to a semi private room/booth. The server tried to be as efficient as possible. I asked for a sake recommendation first. He recommended one sake so we said “yes” but he came back and said “sorry we are out”. As compared to 8 years ago, the sake selection was not as extensive. Our first order was assorted sashimi which came in a shallow bowl covered with a dry ice induced fog, which entirely obliterated the view of sashimi (see below). Although nothing could be seen because of the fog the server pointed into it “identifying” the unseeable fish varieties that were supposedly there and explaining what kind of sashimi we got.

The sashimi was ok except for Tai perch which was so chewy my wife could not eat it. So she chewed for  a while and spitted it out and hid it under the garnish of “Otoshi”. That did not escape the keen eyed server’s notice. He asked “Oh, she cannot eat raw fish?” I answered “Yes she can but this was too chewy even for me” which shut him up. (This chewy Tai repeated in other izakaya we visited except for one in Kyoto called ‘Irodori” (more details later).) In any case, we were less impressed with our experience at this izakaya than we were 8 years prior and made an early retreat.