{ izakaya }
Although I like pretty much all Japanese food, my absolute favorite type of restaurant is the izakaya. This is typically where Japanese salary men (and now women) go after work for a drink or ten (the name izakaya actually means “house where you stay and drink”).
Since my visit coincided with my friend Dru’s birthday, I was lucky enough to visit one of his favorite izakaya places on my first weekend in Tokyo. Tsugumi（ つぐみ）in Azabujuban is known for its kushiyaki (grilled skewers similar to yakitori). I think I meant to take a picture of the store front, but this lady at the next door okonomiyaki place distracted me:
So the great thing about many izakaya places is that you don’t even have to order your own food! You can just sit down and order your drinks, and then the chef will start bringing out whatever’s on today’s menu.
And they will come out all nicely placed on cute little Japanese plates.
Occasionally you will encounter something unexpected. Like this very lively abalone that’s about to be roasted on a fire right in front of you. (I have a video of the actual roast accompanied by girls screaming for those who are curious.)
After the initial shock and maybe some screaming, you’ll probably just eat the whole thing until the shell’s shining and exclaim oishii (which means delicious)!
Oh, I think I failed to mention two great features of the izakaya: tabehodai (食べ放題）and nomihodai（飲み放題）. The first is well known and understood by Americans, it’s your typical all you can eat buffet, except with much better food. The latter is less common (except at weddings), which is all you can drink! At 1500 yen in addition to your meal, it’s really quite a deal.
{ izakaya – again }
So I don’t think I took enough pictures at the first izakaya, so here’s a few more. I met up with a friend after work and she took me to a place she frequents often. I think the name is Totoya (魚魚屋）near Ginza but I could be wrong! There was no menu to be looked at, since she knew the chef, as soon as we sat down the food just kept coming!
Let me see if I can count all the courses:
- Boiled and slightly salted gingko (I’ll take these over edamame any day!)
- Wine marinated snail < this was the one that was unexpected and cautiously eaten for me
- Sweet egg omelet
- Grilled fish (mackerel?) with seasoned plum
- Sweet potato tempura
- Some kind of sushi
- Giant plate of sashimi!
- Deep fried little fishies < yes, this shows the extent of my fish knowledge
- Big bowl of nabeyaki
We were just a bit full after that. And the accompanying plum wine (umeshu/梅酒) was also delicious. The bill came out to a whooping 7000 yen for two. So if you want to try some not so typical (as in not served in American Japanese restaurants) food for a decent price, ask your Japanese friends to guide you to their favorite neighborhood izakaya 🙂
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