Uchiyama Ginza is a kaiseki restaurant specializing in creative multi-course Japanese cuisine that opened in 2002 in Ginza. It was my first kaiseki experience in Tokyo. I booked a lunch on Christmas Day 2019.
The visit
The restaurant is in the basement of an office building in Ginza. I arrived early and unfortunately they did not have a waiting area, so I went to a cafe nearby waiting for the start of the second lunch turn at 12.30 (they have a first turn at 11.30am for a taicha-zuke set; on the second turn you can choose among different options. Mine was the second most expensive menu out of four ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 yen).
I was the first customer in the room so I could take a picture of the counter. On that day it was fully booked. There were 11 seats at the table. I think they seated us from left to right in increasing order according to the price of our menu.
1. The service started with sesame tofu with freshly grated wasabi. We were advised to add soy sauce. The tofu was hot, it had been heated on the charcoal grill. Externally it looked like bread, but it was soft inside. The sesame flavor was very light.
2. Fried shirako: the pulp was still fresh inside. The waiter translated in English as “fish stomach”, but of course was the cod sperm sac. Perhaps they did not want to alarm the foreigners at the table.
3. Ikura on rice. This dish was a softball, but still good.
4. Hirame (olive flounder) sashimi with fish jelly. The sashimi had a muscular tone and it was cut in front of us.
5. Kobako-kani (a female crab) with its roe and Japanese vinegar. It is a crab variety popular in winter (most of the fish used was seasonal). This was a delicious dish, especially the roe. It was neatly presented with the meat from the claws stacked over the roe using the crab shell as a container.
6. Ika (squid) with squid bottarga. A simple, yet clever and delicious combination.
7. Kue fish (a type of large grouper in season during the winter, called ara in Kyushu) and seri (Japanese Parsley) soup. This was a perfect example of seasonal dish, suitable for the winter climate.
8. Suzuki fish (Japanese seabass) with shiitake mushroom, and Japanese orange. The meat of the fish was firm and flawless.
9. Fried taro potatoes (shrimp shaped). Another strong dish suitable for the season.
10. Then it is pretty common for kaiseki to end with a rice dish, bit this restaurant went above and beyond and they had a special taicha-zuke dish at the end. The dish included assorted vegetables, dried small fish, tai (seabream) sashimi in a sesame sauce.
The rice was “finalized” in front of us with traditional utensils.
We were advised to transfer the sashimi in the rice bowl.
And finally we added hot tea from a iron-cast teapot. The result was satisfying and filling comfort food. The dried whitebait and the vegetables added additional flavor to the mix.
11. The dessert was starch noodles in sweet sauce. What was remarkable was that they pulled the noodles in front of us.
Finally we got a bowl with matcha.
At the end of the meal they told us that we could keep the branded cloth napkin and we were given a pair of disposable chopsticks with the restaurant’s paper seal. I thought it was a nice gesture.
I got the check at around 2.30pm.
The check
The check was 11,000 yen (10,000 yen plus tax, or 102.5 USD). Of course it is a hefty price, but that’s expected for a kaiseki, in Ginza, and I thought I got what I paid for.
The restaurant used to be awarded one Michelin star. Then in the most recent iterations of the guide it was lost. Who cares. I think this was a very good example of kaiseki based on seasonal seafood and I would have no issues recommending it.
Where in Tokyo:
2-chome-12-3 Ginza Chuo City.
In Japanese: 東京都 中央区 銀座 2-12-3 ライトビル B1F.
Website: http://www.ginza-uchiyama.co.jp/ (I used their website to make the booking leaving my credit card number as a deposit, but there was no advance charge).