Gyukatsu Ichi Ni San is in Akihabara and is another small diner in the basement of a non-descript building. It only serves gyukatsu, the Japanese beef cutlet.
The visit
After descending a very steep stair…
You get in a very small dining room. I was seated on one of the two small tables at the end of the room; the other seats are at the counter.
Their lunch menu comes in three sizes: 130, 260, and 390 grams. You can choose whether to have or not the grated yam (only 100 yen difference, but I can understand that some people may not like it, it is an unusual flavor. It is a kind of puree that is to be poured on the rice).
I went for the small size that came with the usual sides: rice, miso soup, grated yam (I kind of like it), sauces and some greens, plus cabbage and a scoop of potato salad.
As usual the meat is left rare inside.
And as usual you have a personal stove on the table where you can complete the cooking to your liking.
The check
Final check was 1,400 yen (or 12.75 USD). A very reasonable check for what was a delicious dish after all.
Now… if you read my review of Gyukatsu Motomura you will notice that the two places are very similar. Too similar. Actually it is the identical experience. The only difference is that Motomura also has some fancy mini side dishes while Ichi Ni San offers also the jumbo size. I really tried to find differences in the meat and the batter. I would venture to say that the meat was marginally better, a bit more juicy. But it was basically the same thing. I could not determine who came first. My impression is that Ichi Ni San may now be owned by Motomura, but it is just speculation. The Akihabara venue of Motomura I visited was way more comfortable, so it would be my preference if I was to eat another gyukatsu in Akihabara.
Still, my search for the perfect gyukatsu in Tokyo is not finished… to be continued.
Gyukatsu is a pretty unique Japanese dish: a fried beef cutlet with the beef left rare inside. It is delicious. Let’s see my experiences in Tokyo beginning with a classic, Gyukatsu Motomura. As the name suggests, this shop specializes in this type of food entirely and has grown to become a nationwide powerhouse: they have branches across Tokyo and other prefectures.
The visit
I picked up the Akihabara branch during my October 2019 trip to Tokyo that is located in the basement of a building not far away from Akihabara Station.
The dining room is spacious enough and well it. I was seated at the counter.
Tea was included.
Ordering was pretty easy as they had an English menu (and even a young waitress speaking English) and basically you are given two choices: you can choose the size of the steak (130 or 260 grams) and the number of side dishes. There were four side dishes available: omelet, nanban miso (a chili-infused miso), warabimochi (a type of soft starch cake), and spicy cod roe (mentaiko). I opted for the 230 gram-steak and the mentaiko. The set also included rice, grated yam (called tororo in Japanese), miso soup with tofu strips, and some green pickles, shredded cabbage (with its own sauce available on the table), and a scoop of potato salad. There were two sauces: wasabi and soy sauce and another horseradish sauce.
As you can see, the meat beneath the crust is rare (on the company’s website they say medium-rare, but I beg to differ). This is actually one of the reasons I like gyukatsu.
On the table I was provided a small stove that I could use to complete the cooking of the meat to my discretion. This is particularly useful if you do not like rare meat.
I was advised to eat the grated yam with the rice. It was a very rich flavor. The side dish, the mentaiko, was excellent, but just a tiny bit.
The check
My set (260 gram-steak and one side dish) cost 2,300 yen (21 USD). The price is pretty standard.
It was a very pleasant experience, even if the meat was not as juicy as I was hoping and the crust not as crispy. Retrospectively, the gyukatsu I reviewed in Nagasaki was really good!
Where in Tokyo: 1-15-18 Sotokanda – Okuyama Bldg. B1F. In Japanese: 東京都千代田区外神田1-15-18 奥山ビル地下一階. Website (for more locations): https://www.gyukatsu-motomura.com/en/.
In Tokyo thre is a Michelin-starred restaurant (one star) specializing in sardines (iwashi in Japanese). It is Shinjuku Kappo Nakajima (or just Nakajima). It is a nice illustration of how Japanese chefs can take even the most trivial ingredient or cuisine and make it special. In this case, it is owned by a family in its third generation of chefs in Tokyo (and two in this restaurant).
It is also heralded as the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant where to have lunch in Tokyo. You can spend less than 9 USD. Dinner however is another story: they serve sophisticated and pricey course menus and a reservation is almost always required. I went for a lunch (October 2019), when reservations are not accepted.
The visit
In the tradition of high-end restaurants in Japan, Nakajima is located in the basement of a residential building.
I arrived at the worst possible time, around noon, where the line was still pretty discouraging. However it moved quickly. Still, I had to wait more than half an hour. By the time I left, at around 1pm, the line was much shorter. The doors open at 11.30 and the last order has to be placed by 1.30pm.
Inside they have the classic counter seating around the open kitchen, but also a few private rooms that for lunch were shared among different customers. It is not a small place. I seated in one of the private rooms sharing a table with two Italian ladies. Obviously, you are not welcomed to linger around. A group of Aussies at another table in my room was kindly asked to leave as they were finished but did not give any sign of moving.
Sardines were available in four styles: raw (sashimi), deep-fried, simmered in soy stock, and casserole (nabe).
The lunch set included rice, pickles, and miso soup.
I tried the deep-fried dish. It was good, even if the frying covered the flavor of the sardine that I like natural. This was the half portion.
It was also possible to order additional dishes individually (without the side dishes). I tried the sashimi that was much more satisfying. Also this was the half portion.
Finally I had their casserole dish (nabe) that the staff seemed to be particularly proud of. There were eggs and spring onions. It was indeed a good and rich dish, recommended, but very hot… This was the full dish that came with the side dishes (but it was the last dish I got).
The check
The nabe was 990 yen and the two half portions cost 770 in total. It was just 1,760 yen (tea was complimentary) or 16 USD. It was really affordable. If you go, I suggest you to do like I did and try more than one dish (queuing for just one small lunch set may not make sense, unless you get full easily).
I am glad I tried the restaurant and I think I got what I was supposed to get. The lunch sets are good, but not high-cuisine, and are priced very reasonably. I do not think I would spend 100 USD for one of their dinner menus though.
In my trips to Japan I always try to include a high-end yakitori (grilled chicken skewers). I had some particularly good in Osaka (Ueda and Ichimatsu). This was my first Michelin-starred yakitori in Tokyo. Please note that there is another restaurant with the same name in Shinagawa. The starred one where I went is in Sumida, near Kinshicho Station.
The visit
Needless to say, I had a reservation, for an early dinner (the exact time was chosen by the restaurant). At 5.30pm the door opened. I and three Japanese were the first customers and we were quickly seated.
I thought everyone had to be there at the same time, but other customers kept arriving at different times. So this was not a rule in this place.
On the table the drink menu was bilingual. I was also provided the translation of the skewers.
I just had a cold oolong tea.
I was sitting in front of the cooking station and I could observe the chef-owner cooking, making use of a fan to help the ventilation system and keeping the charcoal at the right temperature, and finishing the skewers with fine sea salt and yakitori sauce.
Chopsticks were presented with a small bowl of pickles and
radish (to be used as a side, not replenished).
Appetizer: tomato, zucchini, salad, and cold shredded chicken breast.
Sabiyaki (chicken breast) with wasabi. It was supposed to be almost raw according to the menu, but it was mostly cooked. Flawless juicy tender meat. The wasabi was too spicy for my taste. The chicken was sourced from Kagoshima.
Sunagimo, gizzard. This is the kind of part that I can hardly eat in a normal yakitori place (just too chewy and hard), but here, be it the cooking (quite pink inside) or the quality of the chicken, it was excellent.
A slice of lemon was provided, but I hardly use condiments when the cooking is so perfect.
Palate cleanser: shredded raddish, with some plum jelly on top.
Small onion (Kotamanegi) and chicken tight (Kashiwa). Both delicious, especially the tight was much tender and juicy than usual.
Chigimo: liver, partly raw, with yakitori sauce. Another delicious skewer, the meat would melt in your mouth and had a nice bitter kickback.
Tsukune, chicken meatballs, recommended with lemon. This was a bit bland as compared to what I had in similar rstaurants. But good, with some tidbits of spring onion to boost the favor. Then there was a zucchini skewer that was carefully dipped in yakitori sauce during the cooking
Intermission: a chicken pot, with boiled carrot, artichoke, mushroom, and obviously chicken meat.
Here there was a pause to catch up with the new customers. The time was filled with conversation with my neighbors at the counter.
A matsusake mushroom with lime and soy sauce. The condiments in this case did enhance the flavor.
Kawa: crispy chicken skin. Crispy, but still tender inside. Great.
We were offered an half small tomato as a palate cleanser.
Tebayaki (chicken wing with bones) and shiratama (quail egg) with some salt for the eggs.
The chef taught me how to pull the bones that came out easily (you just need to lift them). The meat, still with its skin, was again so perfectly cooked. Not too hot, and still juicy inside.
Ginnan: ginkgo nuts.
Chicken soup with onion stripes.
Bowls of rice were available as an add-on, but I was fine at this point.
Japanese and Chinese spices were available along soy sauce, but
I did not use them.
It took a little over 2 hours.
The check
The cost for the course menu and a drink was 7,535 yen (800 yen as service charge) or 70 USD. It was reasonable.
I found the whole experience pleasant, even if the timing was big dragged, and I would recommend it to other yakitori fans The menu however lacked the adventurous twists of Ueda and Ichimatsu I mentioned earlier.
Where in Tokyo: 1-8-13, Kinshi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, 130-0013 In Japanese: 〒130-0013 東京都墨田区錦糸1-8-13 小坂ビル1F. (3 minutes from Kinshicho Station, take North exit.)
Maguro Shoten is one of those touristy places that do things right. If you like tuna, this is a great place. Apart from the variety of tuna dishes, you can also see their daily demolition show and learn about the anatomy of a tuna.
The visit
I had a reservation at 6.15 on a Sunday with the goal of attending their famous demolition show that takes place at 6.30pm on weekends (I believe it is 7.30pm on weekdays).
The restaurant is located in the basement of a building in a busy street of Shinjuku.
I arrived at around 6pm and I was seated at the counter, right in the middle of all the action. Ordering took place through a device providing an English menu. I had several dishes before the show.
This was a piece of “skin meat”. With the help of a spoon I scooped up all the delicious tender meat.
I ordered their fried tuna. Delicious, but a bit heavy.
A very popular dish was the bucket of sashimi. The pieces of sashimi were placed on a “dome” of ice.
A very special dish was this dark tuna meat, from a region rich of veins. Quite a strong flavor. I will pass on it next time.
I also tried the tuna eyeball. It was very gooey and every bit of tissue was edible.
I believe this ball was the actual eyeball… there was actually an hard “ball” covered by tissue. This dish was mostly for fun. It was not disgusting, but nothing I would like to try again.
Around 6.30pm the staff gathered everyone in the restaurant in the main dining room to see the demolition show. Seating at the counter, I had a front-row seat. The show was well managed. There was even a screen with English translation. The two cooks provided information about different species of tuna and its anatomy.
Then they invited customers to play paper-rock-scissor with them (all against one…). It was a rock and I kept my palm open. I was one of the winners getting a special card entitling me to a free dish with meat harvested from the freshly cut tuna.
This was the dish I won.
Finally I was one of the two customers who could order the precious kama-toro (a fatty meat from the tuna’s collar even more prized than the famed o-toro). It was a great finale for this memorable dinner.
The check (and some tips)
Final check was 8,810 yen that became 7,810 thanks to a discount… The discount was a coupon downloaded from Voyagin (for free) entitling the holder to get 1,000 off for every 5,000 yen spent. So in the end I spent 72 USD. For what I ate it was a very good deal. I can think of restaurants where just the last dish would cost that.
I also pent 800 yen (7 USD) for the booking through Japaneazy service. The reservation was not really necessary, but I do not regret the price since it guaranteed me a seat at the counter that gave me the best view of the demolition show.
Where in Tokyo: 1-23-14, Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-0021 In Japanese: 〒160-0021 東京都新宿区歌舞伎町1-23-14 第1メトロビルB1
In Ginza, right under the expressway overpass on Chuo Dori, there is a reliable izakaya I have been going for years. It is called Uoya Iccho (うおや一丁 銀座本店) and it is part of a chain from Hokkaido specializing in seafood. This review is based on a visit in October 2019.
You can see the entrance above: it is the restaurant with the blue sign.
The visit
The actual izakaya is upstairs and it is huge. They have both a smoking and a non-smoking section. Most customers looked like salarymen (and women) after work.
They do have an English menu and you can call the waiter’s attention by pushing a button.
I usually go for their assorted sashimi. On the paper it is for three or four people, but I had it all by myself.
In this assortment there was a whole squid, already finely cut.
Then salmon, prawns, tuna (two types), octopus, and what must have been some kind of amberjack were there.
Finally I had some croquettes with crab meat on top. In the menu they have a lot of fried dishes and crab options.
The classic soft-serve ice cream made from Hokkaido was tempting but I did not try it.
The check
I spent around 4,000 yen or 36 USD including a drink.
I would describe this izakaya as “average”, but average skewed toward the good part of the spectrum. It is a large operation and everything seems to be fresh. Service is ok. They also have course menus and all you can drink options. It is open daily until 11pm, so it can be a good place if you come back to Ginza (presumably to your hotel) quite late (it open for lunch on weekdays).
Where in Tokyo: 1-2-3, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0061. In Japanese: 〒104-0061 東京都中央区銀座1-2-3 2F.
After reviewing Ning Hai and Ji Mao Dui Tang, this review is about a third remarkable seafood restaurant in Ningbo. The main location of Shipu Restaurant is in the central district of Haishu (60 Yanyue St.). For this review I visited the branch in Wanda Plaza (Yinzhou district) along with other six people.
The visit
The restaurant is articulated into three levels (2nd, 3th, 4th floor). We headed to the 4th floor for a private room.
As usual for this kind of restaurants, we went to the “seafood room” where we placed our orders picking the fish and shellfish from what was on display.
We ordered a combination of appetizers and seafood dishes. One appetizer was these hot buns with sweet and sour pork for the filling.
A fried fish.
A type of pancakes.
An interesting dish: squid filled with pork meat.
Some rice pancakes with soy sauce.
More cuttlefish.
Scallops with cheese. Too much cheese.
A delicious local dish served braised.
Vegetables.
The check
The total check with a little discount was 880 RMB (125 USD, or less than 18 USD per person). The quality of the food was excellent and the final check made this meal a great value for money.
Where in Ningbo: 999 Middle Siming Road (inside Wanda Plaza, with the entrance from the street side, not inside the mall).
Ning Hai Shi Fu is another of the big names of seafood in Ningbo. Originally from another city called Ning Hai, it has several locations in Ningbo that are usually very busy. I visited their Yinzhou branch with two friends on a weekday and it was jam-packed.
The visit
The restaurant in Yinzhou district I visited boasted a cabinet full of prized Moutai wine, with a lot of bottles from rare years selling for over 1,000 USD each.
My party was given a table in a room with other two small groups.
As usual we went to the room where all kind of seafood and dishes were on display and we placed our orders. All labels were translated into English and prices were clearly indicated. Having a Chinese speaking friend helped a lot, but I think one could manage an order even with no Chinese (if you are not picky about the details of the preparations).
Some watermelon was offered free of charge.
And so were some hot bread filled with sesame paste.
One of the appetizers we chose was preserved cold meat sprinkled with Moutai. I promise you that there was no trace of the prized wine.
Seasonal vegetables.
One of our mains was a tail of a large fish called “rhubarb” that came with purple potato noodles. It looked like a large seabass.
The result was a braised fish in a delicious sauce with noodles. Luckily there was a lot of meat and not many bones.
I insisted on ordering the geoduck (the clam with an overgrown body pictured above on the right).
It came as a sashimi. A large part of the clam was its stomach, which we did not eat.
The stomach was used to give flavor to a soup with rice that we got at the end of the meal.
A very nice dish was rice cakes with squid ink. The rice cakes were soft, like mochi.
We had the restaurant’s home made shrimp cakes that were excellent, with pieces of shrimps discernible in the paste.
We also tried their local abalone (a bit chewy but affordable) in two styles: braised and steamed with a garlic sauce.
The check
The final check was 738 RMB (105 USD or 35 USD per person). We did not pick any super expensive seafood such as king crabs or yellow croaker, but we had more than enough for three people and the final bill was incredibly reasonable. It is another winner if you wish to feast on seafood in Ningbo.
Where in Ningbo: 613 Siming Zhong, Yinzhou. (There are several locations with slightly different menus, this is where we went.) Tip: write “Ninghai Restsaurant” in Didi and double check the resulting address.
Ningbo, a port city in Zheijang province, boasts its own breed of Chinese cuisine and is famous for fresh seafood. There are many great seafood restaurants and the most the famous ones have several branches.
Ji Mao Dui Tang has only two locations and boasts some of the highest quality seafood I have seen in Ningbo and in China generally.
The visit
We were a group of six people and we got a private room without any extra charge. It is pretty normal in Chinese restaurants. I believe there was a minimum spending, but it was so low that it was not even a remote problem.
Like in similar restaurants, in a room there was all the seafood and sample dishes on display. All were clearly priced and an assistant would input our order in a device as I and my friends walked through this room.
There was a lot of prized seafood, including the famous yellow croaker and pomfrets, two of the most sought-after types of fish from the East Chinese Sea.
Peanuts with peppers were complimentary (in Chinese restaurants it is pretty common to be offered a snack free of charge).
We had several appetizers. One was a plate of marinated bamboo shoots.
The restaurant also had a few meat dishes like these sweet and sour spare ribs.
The cuttlefish, soaked in its own ink, was certainly a highlight.
On the vegetables sides, we also had a plate with dried bean curd with black fungus.
Another appetizer was a dish with asparagus and small prawns.
The braised beef was another highlight. It was extremely tender. I believe it was cheek.
Garlic chives with eel was another interesting dish.
The most anticipated main was a pomfret grilled (this kind of fish is caught wild and has a very distinct flavor and the meat is firm).
The tiger prawns with garlic came nicely arranged.
Since it was hairy crab season we had three crabs. I must say that it was a disappointing choice, there is really so little to eat from these crabs.
A type of razor clams came in a nice casserole.
There was a nice roll with read bean paste.
Another revelation was the battered tofu fish. It was extremely soft and delicate and the frying did not kill the flavor.
The mussels were just spectacular, super meaty!
We got some fruit at the end of the meal that was also complimentary.
The check
We spent 2,713 RMB (386 USD or around 64 USD per person). It was a big check, but there was a lot of quality seafood. The two big ticket items were the pomfret (around 100 USD) and the prawns (83 USD per six big prawns). The three crabs cost around 50 USD. The other dishes were quite inexpensive.
I have been back also other times. The place seems to be always busy, even at lunch time. For two people it is possible to dine, for a single diner it may be more challenging to find the right dishes, as they are mostly designed for sharing.
Where in Ningbo: Bai Zhang Dong Lu 909, Nong 1-3 Hao.
Warning: “popular” used in the title does not necessarily mean good. It just means that this is a place that is usually crowded. There are even people queuing on weekends, but I personally do not get it. I ended up at Dim Sum Square a couple of times mostly because I did not have much time before going to the airport.
The visit
Contrary to what you may find on some websites, the entrance is not on Hiller Street (perhaps the official address), but on Jervois street.
Even on a weekend during the protests of 2019, the place was pretty crowded. But no line. I could see a lot of tourists in the crowd.
Ordering was pretty easy thanks to a bilingual menu.
I had their siu mai with crab roe. It was just ok. It did not taste particularly fresh even if it was supposed to be steamed on order (and do not get me wrong, I am sure it was, just the result was not remarkable).
The rice rolls with mixed vegetables were ok.
I tried something different, a osmanthus flower coconut milk cake. It was basically a jelly cake. It was interesting.
The “lava buns” with creamy custard were difficult to eat, with the filling that was too hot.
The check
I spent 100 HKD (12.75 USD). Tea, as usual, was included, but there was a small cover charge (4 HKD). For what I got, it was actually not cheap.
The dishes were not bad, but just regular. I think a random cafeteria could do the same. I really do not understand all the rave reviews, unless they are coming from clueless tourists. I do not know, maybe I was put off by the touristy environment. but I found this place just average.
