Second half of a two part blog that picks back up from restuarant No.14 in this 22-restaurant review dump. Link to Part 1.
No. 14
Restaurant Tachibana Sushi
Location📍Shimbashi
Rating
Notes - Now this is my kind of sushi. In my opinion, here is the best itamae sushi I had all trip. In fact, I really dig'd it I went there twice. They have been in business at the same location for over a century. The eldest itamaesan is over 90 years old and still works behind the bar on the simpler dishes like nigiri-making. The son is the main itamaesan, a highly experienced sushi man himself, who does most of the cutting, de-shelling, frying and other types of cooking behind the bar. With one or two exceptions, the pieces and soup served in the course are without any vinegar-y or sweet embellishment and are instead prepared with flavors that the sea life instrinsically embody, bringing out its natural sweet-, salty- and funky-ness. Of course traditional flavor-supporters like wasabi, soy sauce, pickled ginger and kombu are present. If I remember correctly, the course cost about 10,000 yen.
No. 15
Restaurant Tsujihan
Location📍Arkhills
Rating
Notes - Way before the craze about it on TikTok, this place got my stamp of approval back in January. At that point, I rated it in the high 90s, since it was an unassuming lunch spot serving a humble 1,250 yen dish that brought you extreme happiness as you left the restaurant chewing on your toothpick. I went twice in two weeks, consistently amazing the second time, which is a true sign of a top-notch eatery. Come March, after it understandably went viral, I went again only to find the lines to be irresponsibly long, and the taste compromised landing it a 8.9 (pretty good if you ask me!).
No. 16
Restaurant Etsubo
Location📍Arkhills - South Tower
Rating
Notes - The orchestration of the staff at this upper-scale after-work izakaya is remarkable. They have an open kitchen layout where you can see the stations from the bar. There are three stations in a fairly tight space, and with about two persons per station the space looks even tigher. Watching them put out dishes for a packed happy hour crowd was super impressive. Looked like some kind of a well run sports team or a groovin' jazz ensemble that counts each other in to and out of measures with subtle nods and facial expressions, somehow keeping perfect tempo without a conductor. From the frying station to the charcoal grill yakitori corner to the sashimi/raw bar, the place hums so smoothly that they should be studied by restuaranteurs. They use a menu system where you order from a website accessible by QR code, and all the servers walk around with just repurposed iPod Touches that can fix orders and check on other things.
No. 17
Restaurant Tenfuku
Location📍Oomorikita
Rating
Notes - For this 15+ course meal, you sit directly at the bar and are presented with dishes that are mostly fried in lightly coated tempura breading. Highlight is the last dish, the tendon, which is vegetable and seafood tempura over a bed of rice with light soy sauce. I think they mentioned that the bento version of this item is a big hit for the lunch crowd.
No. 18
Restaurant 양평해장국
Location📍Ookubo
Rating
Notes - Solid 순댓국. Clean and good flavor but nothing stands out. If you have a Korean food fix in Tokyo, this is the place to go.
No. 19
Restaurant Kara-age Senmon Kimisei
Location📍Roppongi
Rating
Notes - I would eat here very frequently for lunch if I worked in the area. Four large chunks of dark meat kara-age chicken with unlimited rice and cabbage salad. Would be nice if the breading was a little lighter. Large portions!
No. 20
Restaurant 세광양대창
Location📍일산
Rating
Notes - Highest rating of the trip! It is hard to go wrong with 대창 from 한우 marinated in lightly sweet and spicy sauce cooked over a charcoal grill; however, without proper ventilation, the smoke levels can get disastrous. This is where this place shines because at each table is a cool looking vent that comes up from the ground, around the table, staring directly at the grill sucking up all the smoke expelled from the rendering down of the clumps of fat on the meat. Friendly staff explains the cooking process and will insist on doing the grilling themselves since cooking 대창 is not as simple as cooking typical K-bbq. The cleanliness is impressive, considering they are cooking the greasiest part of the cow right at the tables.
No. 21
Restaurant Congee GoGo
Location📍일산
Rating
Notes - They had a fire at this location a couple months prior and re-opened when I was visiting the town. Old favorite, tastes just as good if not even better than the last time. Apparently coming back from a fire in the restaurant world is some kind of good luck in Korea. Korean superstitions never ceases to amaze me.
No. 22
Restaurant Sarutahiko Coffee
Location📍Shimokitazawa
Rating
Notes - Bonus coffee rating. Got a regular latte that was the perfect blend of smooth and strong. A franchised coffee shop with multiple locations where people come to work, read and chat. A thousand times better than starbucks, dunkin or pete's.
Annnnnd there you have it. I would like to mention that my stomach was growling the entire time I was writing this, and I hope people will appreciate the pain and suffering I had to endure to get this out there. Finally, a funny piece of observation, which is that, in Japan, one of the premium brands of water is from Fuji, where in the states we have Fiji. Riddle me that.