I love the shitamachi area, old part of Tokyo, in particular Nihonbashi and Ningyocho. There are many historic shops – including many food shops that go back many generations. Uokyu in Ningyocho specializes in kasuzuke – fish filets marinated in sake lees and then charcoal grilled. There was already a queue before the store opened…
Category: Food Sake Tokyo
Izakaya Hiro
Hiro in Nakameguro is a fun evening with chef Satoshi. Just say omakase (it’s not only for sushi) and leave it up to Satoshi san to create a menu of small plates paired with sake. So much to love here. The relaxed environment, good music, and mix of dishes and sake. Spring represented in fresh…
Travel + Leisure Asia
Excited to have been tapped by Travel + Leisure Asia to pen a piece on eating in Japan. Great working with my editor, Veronica Inveen, to share with readers insider tips, having worked at both the Park Hyatt Tokyo and Takashimaya, and as the author of Food Sake Tokyo on dining out in Nippon. I hope you can…
Yoshinozushi Honten
No When working at Nihonbashi Takashimaya I sometimes would have lunch at Yoshinozushi Honten. The sushiya dates back 140 years. Yoshinozushi is famous for being the restaurant where fatty tuna was first called toro. It is a fifth-generation restaurant. When I was going about 20 years ago there was a young apprentice, Takuya, who was…
Mandegan
Mandegan is cool and casual sake/wine bar in Shibuya. It is by the brilliant Kotaro Hayashi san of the eponymous izakaya Kotaro, which just celebrated its 13th-anniversary. Mandegan opens at 4 p.m. and is a great spot to stop by for a few small bites and glasses of sake or wine. The menu includes some…
Yoku Moku
My go-to omiyage gift for friends is Yoku Moku cigares packed in its signature tin boxes. Starting today through June 14th Yoku Moku has a limited edition matcha cigare with matcha chocolate inside. The sweets are sold in every department store and I believe at both Haneda and Narita airports (last time I checked). The…
Koko Head Cafe
Chef Lee Anne Wong has brought her Hawaii Koko Head Cafe to Tokyo. In Hawaii it is a popular brunch café. What’s unique about Koko Head Cafe Tokyo is that it’s also open for dinner. In Hawaii it’s a brunch restaurant so closes in the afternoon. So stop by later in the day for a…
Vegetable Bentō
Met a girlfriend for lunch after eight years. We picked up noriben, nori bentō, from the basement of the Ginza Six department store and headed to the roof. I was so excited to try the vegetable version. Maitaké (hen of the wood mushrooms) tempura, yamaimo (mountain potato) and renkon (lotus root) is grated to a…
Kaoriya Soba
Had a fantastic soba meal at Ebisu Kaoriya. Started with a flight of saké. Included a half-order of dashimaki tamago savory omelet, soba yaki miso, and tsukemono pickles. All very good. My favorite is always the miso with buckwheat groats. This one included julienned ginger. These three dishes are lovely with the nihonshu. The otameshi…
Amanoya Tamago Sando
Aiste Miseviciute of Luxeat introduced me to Amanoya tamago sando in Azabu Jūban. I visited the shop with her and she placed orders for their saké cake to bring back home as omiyage gifts. https://www.luxeat.com/ The egg sandwich is not the Tokyo style of boiled eggs with mayonnaise but the Kansai style of dashimaki tamago,…
Odamusubi Breakfast in Shinjuku Station
新宿駅のおにぎりモーニング。 Onigiri breakfast at Shinjuku station. Odamusubi is part of Odakyu department store. Diners have a selection of onigiri filled with tart umeboshi, pickled takana greens, spicy mentaiko cod roe, and more. The breakfast is rounded out with three small dishes and miso soup. I love that some of the onigiri is made with rice…
Salmon and Ikura Rice at Tsukiji
Delicious start to the day at Tsukiji Tadokoro Shokuhin, a fish roe specialty shop. The eat-in counter has rice and pasta dishes with ikura (salmon roe), tarako and mentaiko (both from pollack roe). There is also onigiri or omusubi rice balls stuffed with roe for take-away. This is rice sauteed in butter and soy sauce…
Matsumoto Kissa Senzu Wagashi
Kissa Senzu serves modern and traditional wagashi sweets inside of the historic Kaiundo confectionary shop, opened in 1884 in Matsumoto. Monaka, a crispy wafer is served with a flight of three types of red beans (smooth, chunky, and whole). A fun way to compare the textures. Dorayaki of two small pancakes stuffed with sweet anko…
Salmon Ikura Pasta
Starting the day with #salmon and #ikura #pasta at #Tsukiji Market Tadokoro Shokuhin. Buttered noodles makes this lip-smacking good. They have the same dish with buttered rice! https://www.tsukiji.or.jp/english/shoplist/cat-a/cat-3/086/
Mikado Kissaten Hot Dog Breakfast
The morning hot dog set at Mikado kissaten in Nihonbashi. Mikado has been roasting coffee beans and serving coffee since 1948. The shop is also famous for its mocha soft serve. Service here is very kind. Tokyo-to, Chūō-ku, Nihonbashi Muromachi 1-6-7 https://mikado-coffee.com
Kyobashi Isehiro Yakitori
Not far from Tokyo Station is one of my go-to yakitori shops. Isehiro has been grilling chicken skewers for over one hundred years (est. 1921). The tsukune chicken balls, my favorite in the city, have a meaty texture. Isehiro calls these dango on their menu. When I worked at Takashimaya depachika down the street I…
Food Sake Tokyo
Three years ago today I had the pleasure of taking Alton Brown on a tour in Tokyo. We did a book exchange at the end, he gave me a copy of this newest cookbook and I gave him Food Sake Tokyo. It was such a pleasure to meet him and help him find knives at…
Food Sake Tokyo Update
It is the middle of the rainy season. We have been enjoying katsuo (skipjack tuna or bonito) as sashimi, much fatter than usual this time of year as the fish are swimming up north. In the fall when they return south is when they will be really rich in fat. As ume (Japanese apricots, Prunus mume) are in…
Ginza New Castle Curry
New Castle Curry in Ginza was a great little spot for a bowl of spicy curry topped with an over-easy egg. When I last went, while researching my book, Food Sake Tokyo, it was a second-generation shop in an old, wooden building in the glamorous Ginza district. While shiny new buildings were built up around…
Tokyo Food Guide
photo by Olen Peterson We can demystify Tsukiji Market, the world’s largest seafood market, and introduce you to a new sushi neta, like kinmedai (splendid alfonsino) that is pink, slightly sweet, and is succulent. Introduce you to a wide variety of Japanese pickles. Lead you to a special bar where cocktails are made with seasonal fruit and…
Food Sake Tokyo – All Updates
The Hiroshima antenna shop in Shinjuku has moved to Ginza. Attached is a PDF with all known updates to my book, Food Sake Tokyo. Food Sake Tokyo Updates 20130316
MetPod
Kamasami Kong, Tommy Aoki, and Yukari Sakamoto I had the great pleasure of doing a MetPod with Kamasami Kong to share information about our new company, Food Sake Tokyo. Click on the link below http://metropolis.co.jp/podcast/2013/02/24/talking-about-japanese-food/ Here is Tommy Aoki’s MetPod. He talks about the United Tastes of America competition. http://metropolis.co.jp/podcast/2013/03/03/asia-wide-chef-competition/ Suji’s pastrami sandwich….
Food Sake Tokyo Tours
Food Sake Tokyo conducts private guided field trips to Tokyo’s popular food destinations that is led by food professionals. Yukari Sakamoto is a chef, sommelier, shōchū advisor, and author of Food Sake Tokyo. Shinji Sakamoto is a fishmonger and former buyer at Tsukiji Market. Popular topics include market visits, saké or shōchū tastings, or shopping at local supermarkets. The customized tours are…
Tsukiji Tour
Tsukiji Market is the world’s largest seafood market. This tour explores the outer market and the many different food, knives, kitchenware, tableware, and more at the market. Above is my favorite tamagoyaki shop, Shouro. While Tsukiji is famous for its seafood, the outer market has many stalls with produce, pickles, kombu, katsuobushi, nori, and much more….
Ningyocho Tour
Ningyocho is a lovely district of Tokyo that is filled with many shops, some with artisans at work like this sembei shop. You’ll also discover a popular taiyaki stall as well as several sweets shops with azuki stuffed ningyoyaki cakes and much more. There are always surprising delights in the area, including these crackers with…
Kappabashi Tour
Kappabashi is where chefs and restaurateurs come to get everything they need to set up shop. I will be guiding a group through Kappabashi with Elizabeth Andoh’s Taste of Culture on Friday, November 16th. Colorful hashioki for resting your chopsticks. Plastic food samples is perhaps what Kappabashi is most famous for. These frosty mugs of…
Food Sake Tokyo Tours with Taste of Culture
Tsukiji Market, Ningyocho, depachika, and Kappabashi are four of my favorite places in Tokyo to explore the food culture of Japan. I have the honor of conducting tours with Elizabeth Andoh’s Taste of Culture this November. The tour includes a copy of my book, Food Sake Tokyo, part of The Terroir Guides published by The…
Food Sake Tokyo reviewed by the ACCJ
If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, a glimpse into a city’s soul is no doubt through her cuisine. Chef, sommelier and Japan-certified shochu advisor Yukari Sakamoto’s book, “Food·Sake·Tokyo,” offers a tasteful insight into Tokyo’s gastronomic galaxy that is sometimes hard to navigate even for locals. Released last month and written…
Chef Seiji Yamamoto of Nihonryori Ryugin 日本料理龍吟の山本征治
Avant-gardist Seiji Yamamoto of Nihonryori Ryugin once silk-screened bar codes onto plates with squid ink. His latest shocker: He’s embracing Japanese classics, as in his rice steamed with shamo (chicken). Ryugin Minato-ku, Roppongi 7-17-24, Side Roppongi Bldg, 1st Floor 03-3423-8006 http://www.nihonryori-ryugin.com/ (English) Food & Wine 2010 Tokyo Go List Here’s a piece I wrote on chef Yamamoto for The Japan Times.
Food Sake Tokyo Reviewed in The Japan Times
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fg20101231f3.html If ever a city cried out for a specialist guide to the way it eats, it is Tokyo. It has countless thousands of restaurants, traditional food stores and gourmet boutiques, not to mention the fish market by which all others are measured. Accessing them, though, is another matter — especially for those short on…
Food Sake Tokyo in Lufthansa Inflight Magazine
Lufthansa Inflight Magazine, January 2010Lufthansa Food Sake Tokyo and the other guidebooks in the Terroir Series by The Little Bookroom is mentioned in the January 2010 Lufthansa inflight magazine. Un wo den besten sake in Tokio?
Food Sake Tokyo 