料理： うなぎ 店名： 鰻家 The softest Unagi ever, but not the best

生きている鰻！

 Living Eel!!!

 Eel bones

 味噌汁とお新香

Miso Soup and Pickles

 うな重

Unagi on Rice

 お土産

Chocolates as a parting gift

 

Very cool little restaurant. The hostess was very kind and I talked a lot to her. She even showed me and allowed me to touch living eel!!! Quite an experience! She also gave me chocolates and Unagi bones as a free bonus!

A couple of things she talked about were how the man who started the auto company called Honda used to come to their restaurant before he passed away and how the 2nd in command in the current Japanese government visits every now and then. She also told me how a while ago 2 man came to the restaurant and were acting a little strange. Afterwards the men told her they worked for the Michelin Guide and that they would hear the result later that year.

I'm not sure they're quite worth a michelin star, but they're definitely very close. The Unagi was hands down the softest I've ever eaten! SUPER smooth! It was not the best tasting Unagi ever though and the pickles were very disappointing compared to the amazing pickles I usually get at Unagi restaurants.

Overall a great place to eat Unagi, but not the best. For now Ichinoya in Shibuya still stands as king. I expect this to change this summer though, because I plan to check out the absolute best of the best when it comes to Unagi. I'll just have to wait a few more months, because summer is when Unagi is the fattest and thus generally the best. I definitely can't wait for Unagi season!

Rating: 4/5

Price：
The price for their Unagi starts at about 2500 JPY for the smallest size, but you can spend well upwards of 5000JPY if you order a big portion and many side dishes.

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1321/A132101/13012445/

料理： 付け面 店名： めん徳 二代目 つじ田 飯田橋店 Very good Tsukemen thanks to a royal portion of great quality pork

チャーシューが非常に美味しくて、特に良い付け面屋である。

The pork is extremely good, this Tsukemen shop is definitely worth a visit.


Rating: 4/5

Price： 1000 JPY.

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1309/A130905/13058429/

料理： うなぎ 店名： まんまる Good value for money Unagi, but only if you're okay with second hand smoking

かなり良いんだが、禁煙席がないので、帰らない。

It's quite good, especailly for the price, but because they don't have any non-smoking seats, I won't be back.

Rating: 4-/5

Price：
About 2000-3000 JPY.

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1305/A130501/13003891/

料理： 寿司 店名： 築地寿司清 築地新館 Tsukiji Sushi isn't always the best Sushi

 中トロ、？？？、大トロ

Chuu-toro, ???, O-toro

Middle Fatty Tuna, ???, Fatty Tuna

いか、ほたて、あじ

Ika, Hotate, Aji

Squid, ???, Horse Mackerel

 海老

Ebi

Prawn

 いくら、うに

Ikura, Uni

Salmon Roe, Sea Urchin

 かんぱち

Kanpachi

 

卵焼き

Tamago Yaki

Omelette

築地である事にも関わらずまあまあ。

Even though it's Tsukiji, it's so-so.

Rating: 3/5

Price：
About 2000-4000 JPY.

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1313/A131301/13019414/ 

料理： うなぎ 店名： いちのや 神泉店 New best Unagi I've ever eaten

鰻を調べている所で、最近なるべくよく鰻を食べて来た。先週渋谷の近くにのいちのやに行った。

I'm currently learning everything I can about Unagi. Recently I've been eating it as much as I can. Last week I went to Ichinoya, which is a restaurant close to Shibuya.

お新香をお味噌汁とお米は全て美味しいんだが、いちのやの専門は必ず鰻ということである。お新香もお味噌汁もお米も私を驚かせなかったんだけど、鰻にとっても感動した。非常に軟らかった上、味が物凄かった！この鰻を作るのは５０分掛かったんだが、待ちに値する！
鰻の美味しさの上にもレストランの中を述べたい。 本当に素敵で、良い感じである。

The pickles, miso soup and rice were all delicious, but Ichinoya's speciality is clearly their Unagi. Neither the pickles, miso soup nor rice were able to surprise me, but I was extremely moved by the Unagi. It was extremely soft and tender and it tasted simply fantastic! It took 50 minutes to make this Unagi, but it is definitely worth waiting for!
On top of the Unagi's deliciousness I really want to mention the inside of the restaurant. It looks great and the atmosphere is really wonderful.

必ず行って見てください！

Definitely go and take a look!

Rating: 5/5

Price：
About 5000 JPY.

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1303/A130301/13004659/

料理： うなぎ 店名： 石ばし 1 Michelin Star Unagi

悪い写真を撮ってすみませんでした。うな重とお新香の写真を失敗したそうで、味噌汁の写真もまあまあですね。とにかく食べ物がどうであったか覚えています！

Sorry for the bad pictures I took. For some reason it seems like the Una Juu picture failed and the miso soup picture is mediocre at best as well. Anyhow, I remember the thing that counts, which is what the food tasted like!

食べ物が出て来るのはかなり時間が掛かったんだが、出て来たのは圧倒的に美味しかったから、全然大丈夫であると思う。 まずはお新香。今まで食べたお新香の中で石ばしのお新香が最高であった。味は強くて凄かった。うな重よりお新香の方が美味しかった訳ではないんだけれども、うな重よりお新香に驚いた。
鰻について話す前に是非米を述べなければならない。お新香の様にこの美味しい米を食べるのは初めてであった。大抵米がそんなに特別じゃないと思うんだが、今回特に楽しんだ！
では、遂に鰻に着いた。私を誤解しないでください。鰻も誠に美味しかったんだけれど、私にとってこの食事のハイライトがお新香とお米であった。

It took a while before the food came out, but what was served was so overwhelmingly delicious that I'm completely fine with it. First were the pickles. Out of all the pictures I've eaten so far in my life, these were the very best. The flavor was very rich and just simply amazing. I don't mean to say the pickles were better than the actual Unagi, but I was definitely more surprised by the pickles.
Before talking about the Unagi I have to mention the rice. Just like the pickles the rice really surprised me and it was the first time I ever ate such delicious rice. Usually I don't think rice is that special, but this time I enjoyed it a lot!
And so we finally arrive at the Unagi. Don't get me wrong, the Unagi was extremely delicious, but for me the highlights of this meal were the pickles and the rice.

鰻が好きではなくてもであっても、訪問する事をお勧めです！

Whether you like or dislike Unagi, I definitely recommend visiting this restaurant!


Rating: 4.5/5

Price：
4800JPY for the big one.

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1309/A130905/13003531/

料理： ふぐ 店名： つきじ 店竹 My first Fugu experience

この間初めてふぐをたべた。海外でふぐを食べる事がかなり危ないと思われたんだけど、俺が非常に安全だを知ってたから、全然怖くなかった。

The other day I ate Fugu for the first time. In other countries people think that eating Fugu is quite dangerous, but I knew that it's is extremely safe, so I wasn't scared.

ふぐを食べ方は三つもあるを友達に教えられた。まずは刺身で味見した。

I was told by my friends that there are 3 main ways to eat Fugu. First up was was Sashimi.

刺身でふぐがまあまあと思う。山葵と醤油の代わりにネギとかを使って食べるし、味をあんまり持ってないし、ふぐの刺身より普通の刺身の方が美味しいと思う。
その上、ちょっと変な事を経験したんだけど、食べている所に舌がちょっと痛かった。たいてい毒がちょっと残ってて、ちょっと舌を麻痺するそうなんだ！

As sashimi I think Fugu is not great. Because it is eaten with spring onions, peppers and such instead of wasabi and soy sauce and because it doesn't have much taste, I think normal sashimi is better than Fugu sashimi.
On top of that I experienced something rather strange. While I was eating my tongue hurt. Apparently there's usually some poison left and it paralyses your tongue a little bit!

次は空揚げで。三つの中で空揚げ最低だったと思う。

Next was Kara-age(fried). Out of all 3 I thought the Kara-age was the worst.

 最終は鍋で。鍋は本当に良かったが、ふぐのおかげじゃなかったと思う。野菜はとても新鮮で、新玉と混ぜた米スープも美味しかったんだ。

Lastly we ate it as nabe(hotpot). The nabe was actually very nice, but I don't think it was thanks to the Fugu. The vedgetables were really fresh and the rice soup mixed with raw egg was delicious.

ふぐはねー。かなり高くて、味がほとんどなくて、残ってる毒の為が健康的だと考えられないので、また食べないんだけど、一回食べて見られて、生き残れば、非常に超良かった！

So... the Fugu verdict. It's really expensive, doesn't taste like much and I can't imagine the left-over poison is good for you, so I doubt I will eat Fugu again. However, I'm REALLY happy I got to try it once and that I survived of course!

Price：
~6000JPY, for a medium amount of food. It included the plate with Sashimi, 3 plates Kara-age and the hotpot, which we shared with 6. So it was 36000JPY for these 3 courses!

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1313/A131301/13031305/