On Tuesday a friend suddenly asked if I wanted to grab dinner together on Wednesday evening. He said it was his treat, so if there was somewhere I wanted to go, now was the time — and I really agonised over where to pick. The decent sushi and yakiniku places are either expensive, badly located, or have a rough atmosphere -_-, I had just been to a famous yakitori place not long ago, and Japanese restaurants like Suetomi or Sanpi Ryoron are hopeless unless you book well in advance. Sukiyaki was a bit over budget too. Of course, if you asked me to name the one place I really want to go, it would be Pierre Gagnaire in Aoyama without a second thought -_-, but I can hardly ask him to shell out 30,000 yen a head, 60,000 yen in total. So after a lot of thinking I settled on Waka, a chanko nabe specialist near Roppongi that has a reputation for great value for money.
The entrance
It is in a basement. You head from Roppongi towards Akasaka — so, the exact opposite direction from Nishi-Azabu — so it is not hard to find. It is about 10 minutes from Midtown. That said, it is arguably closer to Akasaka than to Roppongi, so along the way you might find yourself thinking, “this isn’t Roppongi anymore.” When it opened it was rumoured to be a place where you just couldn’t get a booking, but maybe because of the season — nabe really is best eaten in winter — or because the opening buzz has cooled off, about half the seats were empty. I booked the day before and they gave us a private room. Nice~ The place has a very stylish feel too, which I liked.
First, a draft beer~
These days I have been drinking a fair bit of Suntory. Each place has its own set beer, so I don’t get much of a choice anyway.. Among Japanese beers Asahi is the most popular — and for cheap happoshu, Kirin is number one — but it doesn’t really suit me. Not that I especially love Suntory either; I just drink a bit of everything. Ever since I got into wine, no beer really moves me much, whatever I drink.
Complimentary edamame
Great with beer. It is the default snack that comes out, like squid peanuts back in Korea
Cobb salad
The taste is ordinary. Clean, but nothing special either.. A plate like this comes out as four portions. That is a huge amount. We ordered three dishes plus two portions of chanko nabe, and what came out would easily have fed three people. For light eaters, even four would have been fine. When I asked the staff whether that would be the right amount, they said it would be plenty, so I went ahead and ordered three dishes -_- — looks like the staff training isn’t quite there. Sigh.. Our mistake was coming as a pair. To eat here properly you need three or four people.
I think this was pork BBQ ribs.
I am extremely picky about meat and rarely call anything delicious, and this place is just at the “rarely” level. If this is what they boast of as a signature dish, there seems to be no need to fuss over the à la carte dishes here.
Potato somen topped with shrimp and vegetables
The white somen is apparently made from potato. It looked like a cool, summery dish, so I gave it a try.. but it was just so-so. Small portion and an ordinary taste. Whelk somen back home would be better.
The house signature, shio chanko nabe
They cook it on the side and serve it out into bowls for you. As you would expect from a specialist, the chanko nabe was satisfying. It is pricey at 2,600 yen per person, but I didn’t feel it lacked anything in either quantity or taste. It is summer, so seasonally it isn’t the best fit, but nothing builds up your stamina like chanko nabe, so you can’t lose by eating it. We ordered two portions, and it was enough for three or four people. Add ramen to it and you would be stuffed, right? We only ordered two portions for the two of us because the minimum order is two, but honestly one portion would have been enough.
For a pair it is a place without a clear use in many ways. For three or four people, though, you can spend a quiet time in a nice private room near Roppongi for about 4,000 yen each, so I think that is a big plus. Booking a room in winter and enjoying it with about four people would be just right. That said, the à la carte dishes are pretty weak, so I would recommend it to ordinary diners rather than foodies who need to work through the whole menu to be satisfied.