TOKYO: Iroriya Higashiginzaten いろり家 東銀座店 2nd visit

Read about our first visit here ( click) 

Nick and I always love to find new restaurants to visit, hence we try to avoid going back to places we have already tried unless we REALLY LOVE it so so so much i.e Matsukan where we have not 1, not 2 but THREE posts. Check them out here Matsukan 1 ( click), Matsukan 2 ( click), Matsukan 3 ( click)

Of course need to find new places la, otherwise how will this blog survive? Nobody wants to read repeated post on a certain restaurant right? Unless the blog becomes an official website of the restaurant....

We had so much fun previously in Iroriya shouting " Yoisho" for the overflowing ikura don and we have been recommending this place to many of our friends who have also come back a few times bringing other friends. So yeah, this is a good restaurant worth coming back multiple times for. The only downside is that reservation is needed and they do not take reservation in English ): So yeah, I think the best thing to do is to get your concierge to book it for you if you're unable to hijack a native japanese on the streets to make that reservation call :p

And if you manage to make a reservation, there's both Japanese menu and English menu. I highly recommend you to take a look at the Japanese menu as well if you are alright with reading chinese characters.
The english and japanese menu are quite different. The english menu offers items that can be made/found every day i.e non seasonal, but the japanese menu changes daily depending on what they can find at the market. So for example, if there's a super highly energetic prawn which the chef deems will be excellent on the table, he will purchase it, it will be reflected on the Japanese menu but not the english.

Beer in an izakaya is a MUST!

 An example of what is on the Japanese menu and not on the english menu. Fresh oysters

Potato salad is really nice here 380yen

YOU MUST ORDER THIS YAM BALLS! 630 yen

You can either eat it as it is or wrap it up in Nori ( seaweed) with some wasabi

Shitake mushrooms - please do not eat the stalk lol

This 3 different types of clams is another example of what is on the Japanese menu but not the english menu

Grilled atka mackeral 930yen

Grilled chicken 1280yen

Broiled fish head 1280yen

This is SO good, I highly recommend everybody to order this

THE LEGENDARY OVERFLOWING IKURA DON

Large 3480yen

Agadeshi Tofu 

Another example of what's on the japanese menu but not the english

The starchy broth was really good

VERY VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED PLACE ! And please remember to enthusiastically shout Yoisho for the overflowing ikura don if you don't want to end up with just white rice :p 

Iroriya Higashiginzaten いろり家 東銀座店

Ginza third hall 2 B1,3-11-11, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo,104-0061

+81 3 3547 7901 ( they speak english) 

open everyday 6pm -3am except sat and sunday 6pm -11pm

TOKYO: Sushi Zanmai

Sushi Zanmai is a sushi chain shop, if you've been around Tokyo you'll definitely have seen it. I think there are at least 2 branches in Tsukiji market itself. Zanmai first made a name for itself for winning bids for all the most expensive Tuna. They call it winning the bids "Charity", I call it " Publicity"

Okay look, Sushi Zanmai is a place where Nick and I will go in for a quick sushi snack, we never thought we would actually end up here for dinner. We were planning to go to another sushi place in Ginza ( I'm not gonna tell you which yet haha) which doesn't accept reservations. Our queue number was 96. And after walking around Ginza for 1.5hours, we went back... And .. there were still 66 people ahead of us. By then now, it was already 8pm. HOW TO CONTINUE WAITING?
HUNGRY UNTIL WANT TO FAINT ALREADY LEH !

So we abandoned queuing and decided to go into the nearest sushi joint before we both collapse in hunger.

Remember how I talked about nobody being called Dai Yama in my previous post ( read here), our waiter here at sushi zanmai is called Dai Yama ! WHUTTTT???!!!! Okay, no wonder Yakiniku Daichi kept our reservations, because there really are humans by the name of Dai Yama.

Start dinner off with some sashimi salad

Tuna special 

My favourite - shisamo ! I love all the eggs inside

Another Tuna special 

Deluxe sushi and Nick's favourite Anago 

Okay la, even though we didn't manage to try the popular sushi place I was still very satisfied with my meal. NO QUEUE LEH THIS ZANMAI. Immediately we were ushered to our seat and the food just started coming. It's the best place to go if you have 1) no restaurant reservations 2) unfamiliar with your surroundings ( Sushi Zanmai has branches EVERYWHERE ) 3) Hungry until want to faint and do not want to wait

TOKYO: Iroriya Higashiginzaten いろり家 東銀座店

Recently a new craze has appeared in Singapore - overflowing Ikura don.

I admit, I'm a trend chaser, I like to chase new things so that I can update my instagram and appear very cool hahaha. But unfortunately because I'm mostly based in Adelaide... which is a..... quiet a relaxing city.. I can't really pursue my hobby of trend chasing on a daily or weekly basis. 

So I just have to put in all my efforts when I'm travelling. 

I love Ikura. I love Ikura so much that whenever there's an Ikura sushi, Nick doesn't get to eat it. He probably hasn't eaten an ikura sushi for the last 7 years actually hahahahahaha. 

So when I heard about this izakaya with overflowing Ikura.. I was like NICHOLAS CHIA WE HAVE TO GO. STAT. 

Unfortunately, the first time we went, we were politely ushered out because they were all booked out.

I was so stressed that time, I remember looking thru all our dinner reservations and finding an empty dinner slot over the next few days. It's actually super difficult because if you see how I plan our travel itinerary, I usually have all our meals planned out with reservations confirmed at least a month before. That night was probably the only free night we didn't have a reservation for because we were meeting my friend for dinner. I can't remember which dinner we cut out in the end to make a booking for this place. I did not have any regrets. 

We highly recommended this place to some other friends who were recently in Tokyo and they also gave thumbs up for this place

How can you go to an izakaya  ( Izakayas are essentially Japanese taverns – drinking houses with a menu of small dishes for snacking while drinking. It literally means “stay sake shop” so traditionally this was a place where you could sit and drink on the premises. ... A place where you can linger with good friends, good food, and good drinks.) without drinking?

Food service may be a little slow, but please understand because there's only 1 chef cooking for the whole place !

starting my meal off with sashimi :D

 2 serves of vegetable and fruits is very important for a healthy diet ok?

Grilled Mushroom 

 YAM BALLS. SO GOOD

I am a huge fish eater, and this fish is so good! Nicholas and I were probably the most unskilled fish eater in this izakaya. We were peeling off the meat and taking the bone out of the meat and telling each other " eh eat fish don't talk" wah, there were so many small bones. Then from the corner of our eye, we saw 2 japanese ladies they just grab the 2 ends of the bones of the fish and lifted it up. and perfect, does not leave any small bones anywhere and you can enjoy your fish while eating without being scared of choking on a fish bone. 

Chicken looks ordinary but tasted really good

I have to say this beef also tasted so good

I was actually already very full, but HOW CAN I SAY NO TO OVERFLOWING IKURA DON WHICH IS WHAT I CAME HERE FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE ???

So it comes served as a bowl of plain rice. then the chef will shout something like ikura bowl i have no idea what is he shouting to be honest, then the service staff will come marching up with a gong and you have to chant after them. The louder you chant, the more scoops of ikura they give you. 

You better repeat "YOISHO" loudly then, otherwise if you're a shy patron you may end up with just white rice :/ heheheh

Iroriya Higashiginzaten いろり家 東銀座店

Ginza third hall 2 B1,3-11-11, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo,104-0061

+81 3 3547 7901 ( they speak english) 

open everyday 6pm -3am except sat and sunday 6pm -11pm

TOKYO: Michiba Washoku Tateno たて野

If youre a fan of Japan's Iron Chef, then I'm sure Chef Rokusaburo Michiba is no stranger to you.
However, he is a stranger to me because I'm just very ignorant about life and enjoyment in general hahahaha. 
I strongly believe that nobody should leave Japan without trying a Kaiseki meal. In essence, Kaiseki is a multi-course Japanese dinner. The term also refers to the collection of skills and techniques that allow the preparation of such meals, and is analogous to Western haute cuisine.
Just google Japanese Kaiseki in Tokyo and you'll be hit with many many choices. So which do you choose? Of course, you should definitely pay attention to those featured on the Michelin Guide. Because, EH MICHELIN LEH! Don't play play.

However, I've always believed that Michelin is there to act as a guide. It's a guide for people who only have limited time on their hands, and heaps of extra cash to spend ( Of course, I also do acknowledge that some Michelin star places are very cheap such as $2.50 soy sauce chicken in Singapore). There are definitely heaps of restaurants not featured in the Michelin Guide that serves top notch food, eg, HILL STREET CHAR KUEY TEOW $3.50 - $4 a plate you may read my blog post here thank you very much. 

 After heaps of googling and researching, I managed to find a reasonably priced Kaiseki restaurant in Ginza whose Chef also boost quite a good CV ( wth, what has this world come to, everything also need to see CV. speaking of which, since I'm back in SGP, I also wanna improve my CV abit la huh, I wanted to do this online course, BUT, the website is under maintenance. looks like its really God's will for me to just focus on relaxing instead of thinking about work this 3 weeks hahah)

Chef Tateno is apparently Iron Chef Michiba favourite disciple. And in TRUE Michiba style,
we were provided with paper menus with our courses listed in traditional Japanese calligraphy: vertically down the page from right to left.
But because watashi wa nihongo-ga is very bad, I asked for "eigo no menyu "

Dinner menus are priced at 10000, 12000 and 15000yen.
I opted for the 12000yen because 15000yen offered many turtles parts for the course And I don't eat turtle. And my nihongo is so bad, I don't know how to tell them to not give me turtle.

Starter: Boiled edible wild plant 

Assortment: Monk fish liver, duck, mullet roe, cheese with persimmon, soy bean.

 

 Soup: Abalone and bamboo shoot

Chef selection of Sashimi.
This was very special. It was sashimi course on a himalayan salt block ( far right)

The idea was to squeeze some of the small, green-skinned citrus (more tart than a lime) juice onto the salt block, and use chopsticks to swipe the sashimi over the salt and juice a two or three times, depending on your salt eating preferences.

Deep fried tofu and wild plants

Handmade Konyaku

 Hot pot with turtle.
Wah I did not eat any of the turtle meat. i just ate the vegetables. Cause my grandma says old wives tales: if woman eat turtle, they will age very fast.
I don't want to age very fast! I want to be kawaii forever ! :D

 Rice

 Fruits

 And we ended the meal with a cup of matcha green tea made in traditional style with powdered green tea and a chasen bamboo whisk. The end result presented to us was a bowl of foamy-topped hot tea, restorative and comforting from the first sip.

Overall, a very good experience. I've never been to any michelin starred Kaiseki so unfortunately I'm unable to tell you how this fared compared to the Michelin starred ones. But keep your eyes peeled out! I certainly have a couple of Michelin Restaurants lined up for my upcoming 1 month Japan Trip! :D

P.s: if dinner is too costly, you may also visit them during lunch. Lunch prices are 3150yen, 5250yen and 6300yen.

Michiba Washoku Tateno
Website
東京都中央区銀座7-6-10アソルティ銀座花椿通りビル6階
Asoruti Ginza Hanatsubaki Dori building
6F, 7-6-10 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Phone: +81-3-6252-5000

TOKYO: Imahan 今半

I love shabu shabu and I love sukiyaki.
If you asked me to choose which I prefer better.. mmmm.. sukiyaki I think? Because I love eggs and I get super excited dipping my wagyu in raw japanese egg.
But Nicholas loves shabu shabu, so we end up eating shabu shabu most of the time.

If you're in Tokyo and looking for a good shabu shabu/sukiyaki place, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IMAHAN. Established in 1895, they have multiple branches all over Tokyo.
The quality of the wagyu... wow.

You can have a look at the website (location + menu + prices in the link below)

But just a rough gauge, this is the 19440yen DINNER menu.

Rice and dessert not pictured.

Maybe be over the budget for some travellers, but the lunch price is considerably cheaper than dinner. 

Imahan 

Kojun Building 5F Ginza

11.30am -10pm

Menu

TOKYO: Ginza Kyubey 銀座久兵衛

Kyubey holds a special place in my heart because it was the FIRST SUSHI restaurant I've ever been to in Japan/Tokyo.

I remember I was so unadulterated, so new to the world of sushi and social media, it didn't cross my mind to take a picture of all the items that was served. So I apologise that the pictures here is not all I had for dinner.

(yup, you can guess how long ago this pictures were lol. sorry, am just clearing out storage space in iphone for make more space for the upcoming 1 month Japan trip)

But nonetheless, I believe that the menu and what they serve is going to be similar. 

Kyubey is renowned throughout the world, it's frequently featured on Japanese television and listed in almost all guidebooks. 

We visited Kyubey during dinner time. 

There's alot of raw things I eat - fish, beef, chicken ( lol only in Japan), but I could never imagine eating prawns raw. I don't know why, I just don't like the idea of it. However, one of Kyubey's item was raw prawn....

OH.MY.GOD

I have to eat the raw prawn yes? Because it's Kyubey that's offering and if they're offering it to me, it's gonna be good. Plus, it's super rude to turn down something when you didn't voice your objections earlier when they ask if there's dietary requirements. Sigh.

This was my prawn, just before it was shelled alive.

Everybody else's prawns was still, but my prawn was full of vitality, even after it was dead, its muscles kept twitching

If there's anything I can't eat, it would be a moving thing. Which is why, I will never ever eat those raw octopus in Korea.

I JUST CAN'T.

It's like wth, can you imagine that thing just spasming inside your mouth. Or for that raw octopus, those tentacles suctioned strongly to the surface of the inside of your mouth. what the heck.

So I waited and waited for the muscle spasms of my prawn to stop, BUT IT DIDN'T. I had no choice but to swap my prawn with somebody else's prawn.

Uni is always good 

I definitely would recommend Kyubey if you were looking for a good quality and world renowned sushi restaurant in Ginza.

Reservations recommended for dinner.

Walk in will suffice for lunch but be prepared to queue.

Kyubey Honten

Ginza 8-7-6

Closed on Sundays

open 11.30-2pm, 5-10pm