Tag: Ningyocho

Adventurous yakitori at Takesan in Ningyocho

Takesan is a small one-chef yakitori in Ningyocho. It is a very interesting yakitori where to find many unusual parts cooked to perfection. Reservation is a must.

The visit

It attracted my attention as a nice mid-range yakitori and I made a booking through a concierge service. The 12 seats around the counter were all taken by the end of the evening. The chef does not speak English, but it was mostly fine since there was a course meal. He worked alone with a young assistant, taking care of all the customers. I read some reviews online saying that he is rude. That was not my impression. Certainly he did not make any conspicuous effort to communicate, but I found him perfectly professional. After all, he is under no obligation to speak in English!

The meal started with an appetizer, a sort of congee with a row egg yolk.

I was also provided with miso and some raw vegetables as side dishes.

I ordered the 10-skewer course meal and at the end I added a couple of skewers. Actually, on the menu there is much more. I saw other customers enjoy chicken sashimi, intestine, and oyakodon. I tried to order the chicken sashimi but I was told that it was finished!

The service was posed… nothing like the pace at Takechan, but it was ok. Each skewer was perfectly grilled and offered several delicious bites. Because of the lack of English, I am not sure about some of the skewers. The first one should have been neck.

The second skewer was harami, outside skirt.

Then it was a skewer of gizzard, very tender.

The next was small intestines. It was again very tender and flavorful. One of my favorites.

I am not sure about this one (kidney?).

Some bell peppers.

Not entirely sure!

A type of skin.

This was a type of skin (from around gizzard liver).

This looked like breast (sasami).

I decided to order an additional small intestine and a tsakune skewer (chicken meatloaf).

The check

Including the additional skewers, I ended up spending 5,280 yen (49 USD). Given the quality of the skewers, it was a very reasonable price. As a matter of fact, I would have ordered more if I had an English menu.

Where in Tokyo:
2-chome-25-11 Nihonbashiningyocho Chuo City.
〒103-0013 東京都中央区日本橋人形町2-25-11 三幸ビル1F.

Soba breakfast in Ningyocho

This visit was accidental, I was just waking by early in the morning and the place was open (in fact, one of the few places open… it starts business at 6.15am and I was in the area at around 9am on a weekend). It does not have an English name, in Japanese it is called 福そば 立ち食い.

The visit

I entered and selected a dish from the vending machine (like in ramen restaurants you pay and get a ticket to hand to the cook). Everything was in Japanese, so it was pretty much random.

It turned out it was pretty much the standard soba dish that entitled me to select a tempura piece from the counter. I selected the pinkish one… I think it was some kind of small shrimps, but I need to admit that am not sure…

This was the result. A bowl of thin soba noodles with a soft-boiled egg and a thick broth. It was delicious. I ate it along with the other customers standing in front of the counter. It was 5 minutes, but a very tasty start of the day.

The check

The dish cost me a mere 490 yen (around 4 USD). I am pretty sure the soba was handmade.

Where in Tokyo:
1 Chome-16-3 Nihonbashiningyocho, Chuo City.
In Japanese: 〒103-0013 東京都中央区日本橋人形町１丁目１６−3 (Google Map link).

Fabulous parfaits at Morinoen Café in Ningyocho

Ningyocho is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Tokyo for the array of traditional businesses that dot its streets. I have already described Amazake street in Ningyocho and this post is about a more in depth visit to the cafe operated by Morinoen, a roasted green tea (hoji-cha) shop on Amazake.

The visit

I visited the cafe twice in late December 2019. It is located upstairs from the shop selling roasted green tea.

It is a simple cafe in terms of decor. Of course they have a wet towel for you upon your arrival.

The menu is all in Japanese, but it is profusely illustrated, so ordering is no problem even if you do not read or speak Japanese. At the time of my visit they had some seasonal sweets with purple potatoes.

I did end up ordering their seasonal parfait that was massive. In addition to purple potatoes, there was also their signature hoji-cha ice cream. All the ingredients were creamy and tasted genuine to me.

On another occasion I had a more conservative hoji-cha ice cream with jellies and other ingredients. It was also great.

In both cases the dessert went with hot green tea.

The menu is quite extensive and they also have other sweets based on green tea and of course hoji-cha.

The check

Both sweets cost me around 1,400 yen (13 USD) that actually is not so bad in Tokyo for this kind of dessert.

I massively enjoyed the experience of great desserts coupled with a quaint authentic establishment.

Where in Tokyo:
2-4-9 Nihonbashi Ningyocho, Chuo-ku.
In Japanese: 東京都 中央区日本橋人形町２－４－９　 森乃園.
Website: https://morinoen.jp/.

Snacking on Amazake Yokocho in Tokyo

Amazake Yokocho (alley) is a lovely street in Ningyocho neighborhood in Tokyo. The name comes from the old days, before the big Kanto earthquake, when there was a popular shop selling amazake (a sweet drink made from fermented rice). The street, less than 400-meter long, is dotted by interesting shops and eateries.

The visit

I spent some time checking out the shops after a meal in Futaba restaurant.

The first obvious stop was Futaba shop itself specializing in tofu products.

In the shop you can find tofu in all imaginable ways. Most of their offering seems to cater to households or other restaurants, but…

There is a product you should not miss. Made out from soy milk, their donuts are something to try. Just a few hundred yen.

in front of the shop they have a bench and a couple of chairs where you can enjoy the donuts.

Next to Futaba, there is a shop called Morinoen specializing in toasted green tea (houjicha). You can smell the aroma of the green tea being toasted from the street. They have a nice houjicha soft-serve ice cream that I tried. They also have a tea room upstairs. The place deserved another visit.

Across the street there is a famous seller of taiyaki (the popular cake filled with read bean sauce shaped as a fish) called Yanagiya. On a Saturday afternoon the queue was just too much for me. Go on a weekday.

I did go back and got my prize during a weekday later in December (just 160 yen for one). It was peeping hot and the red bean paste was tasty, but I am not so expert to judge what makes people queue.

Next to the taiyaki place, there is a shop selling traditional sweets that I highly recommend. A lady that I suspect was the owner spoke English with me.

One of their signature product is a type of dorayaki, pancakes stuffed with red bean paste that have a tiger-pattern (for this reason is called torayaki, tora meaning tiger in Japanese) . Hence the tiger in the shop window. These are very nice gifts.

The choice was pretty amazing. In the end I tried a cake with chestnut. This sweet is called gyokuman, which consists of a chestnut surrounded by five stacked layers of red bean paste.

They even had some parfaits and their own soft-ice cream good for your stroll.

One more snack

Ningyocho is the place where ningyo-yaki were originated. These are small pancakes filled with sweet red bean paste shaped as heads. Literally, it means “cooked dolls” and is yet another reference to the doll-making businesses that were once located in the area (Ningyocho means “doll town”). The head actually are a reference to the faces of the Seven Lucky Gods. There are a few places selling those in Ningyocho. The ones pictured above were purchased from Amamidokoro Hatsune (甘味処 初音). On one of the corners of Amzake street Itakuraya is another shop selling them.  

The check

All the snacks mentioned above cost a few hundred yen each (just a few dollars). I highly recommend this street for a good snack or two.

Where in Tokyo:
Nihombashi, Ningyocho 2.
In Japanesse: 日本橋人形町2.
Website: http://amazakeyokocho.jp.

Atmosphere and delicious tofu dishes at Futaba in Tokyo

Tofu cuisine is a thing in Japan; there are even high-end restaurants serving tofu-based course meals. While exploring Ningyocho I came across a shop and restaurant specializing in tofu that I decided to try: Tofu no Futaba (豆腐の双葉) on Amazake Yokocho street. Contrary to what you might find online, the restaurant is no longer open for dinner, it only serves set lunch menus from Monday to Saturday.

The visit

I knew the restaurant was upstairs and initially I headed to the main shop on Amazake street. But it is the wrong entrance for the restaurant.

The shop keeper assigned her six year old son to escort me to the right entrance on a side street around the corner.

Actually, I later realized they had a sign explaining where to go in front of the shop, but it was all in Japanese.

It was a Saturday and there were a lot of customers in the dining room dominated by a long communal table where I sat.

No English menu, but ordering was simple since they had a nice picture menu and you can order only set menus that start at 1,000 yen. I went for the most expensive deluxe set.

The order was taken by a lovely old lady that was literally running the all place by herself. After taking the order and going into the kitchen, she ran out and from the other side of the room she asked “Ponzu ok?”. Hell, yes, it was ok, I love ponzu, a citrus-based vinegar sauce. I guess she must have had trouble with some other foreign customers so she asked. She was adorable.

Soon the lunch set I ordered arrived in all its splendor. There were three different tofu dishes, in addition to a large miso soup, rice, cabbage, and pickles.

The tofu was prepared in different styles and combined with different vegetables. I found all dishes delicious even if I might have not understood all the details.

I have filed this restaurant under “vegetarian”, but you know that in Japanese cuisine they use a lot of stocks made our from meat, so I cannot guarantee that it is really vegetarian.

After lunch I had a dessert or two on Amazake Yokocho street.

The check

The check was 1,500 yen (or 13.75 USD). All the experience was really nice and I would certainly go back for the food.

And after the meal you can stroll on Amazake Yokocho street for desserts.

Where in Tokyo:
2-4-9 Ningyocho.
Website (not updated): http://www.futaba-tofu.jp.