Top 20 Best Restaurants in Tokyo
Owned by the Kurosawa family, the famous film director Akira Kurosawa, renowned for his films including “Seven Samurai”. The building is Traditional Japanese style with Tatami floor rooms where shoes must be taken off. There is some memorabilia from Kurosawa’s films including posters as well as one of the helmets worn in the Seven Samurai. Nagatacho is near the “Diet” building (Houses of Parliament) and is the political area in Tokyo. During the weekday it can be difficult to get a reservation for lunch/ dinner as the restaurant is popular among politicians (similar to Simpson’s-in-the-Strand in London) but at the weekend the area is very quiet, the restaurant being one of only a few in the neighbourhood.
The food is Shabu Shabu with both pork and beef options. Shabu Shabu is a hotpot with strips of meat dipped in and swished from left to right/ right to left in the soup. The name comes from the sound of the meat swishing in the water which is commonly known as “shabu shabu”. There are a selection of set course menus and you are expected to pre-order the course you would like, at the time of your booking. I have tried both the pork and beef course menus and both are excellent.
The miso and pinenut appetiser which comes on a wooden spoon, with one of the pork shabu shabu courses and can also be ordered separately is delicious and a good accompaniment with Sake (Nihon-shu). The pork comes with salt and yuzu dipping sauce and the beef comes with sesame dipping sauce. The beef is beautiful marbled beef and melts in your mouth.
This restaurant is one of my family’s favourite dining places when visiting from abroad, with the beef option being my Mum’s favourite. It is a great place to take visiting family and friends as the tatami floor rooms are large and spacious with other diners in the same room making for a good ambience and a great introduction to Japanese dining.
At the end of the meal, rice and an egg is added to the shabu shabu soup picking up all the delicious flavours from the ingredients added.
Course menus range in price from JPY 5,000-11,000 per person for dinner, including mugi-cha (wheat tea) but excluding any alcoholic drinks. They have a good selection of Sake (Nihon-shu) with some excellent sake brands, ranging upwards, some being very expensive. Menu must be pre-ordered at the time of your reservation, drinks menu in Japanese only.
Weekdays Lunch: 11:30 – 15:00 Dinner: 17:00 – 23:00
Saturday / Holiday: 12:00 – 22:00
Sunday Closed
Restaurant website with location and course menu options: http://www.9638.net/eng/index.html
Top 20 Best Restaurants in Tokyo
matscat 