I had heard for a long time that there was a wonderful kappo restaurant in Monzen-Nakacho called Fukuden. Their sea urchin wrapped in beef in particular was said to be excellent, so there was no way I could skip it.

The front entrance

Monzen-Nakacho has bars lined up all around the station, and quite a few of them had queues out front. This place, though, is tucked away further in, so you have to walk around a while to find it.

Otoshi

Clean and tasty. Compared with an ordinary izakaya the prices are a bit higher, but there is real care in the cooking, so I would say it is the right kind of place for people who love good food.

Close-up of the sushi

It holds its own against a decent sushi restaurant.

Suimono

The broth is clean.

Yamazaki highball

Next to it is a candied apricot. The highball itself was impressively good, and dropping the apricot in makes it even better. Who knew there was a trick like this.

Assorted sashimi

I ordered a plate when I made the reservation. The squid wrapped around sea urchin in the middle was the best, and the rest were of considerable quality too.

Hamo with mentaiko

Summer has arrived.

Shrimp

I ordered this in place of a salad, and it really brought out the flavor of the ingredients.

Uni-maki

Honestly, this is what I came to this place to eat.

Close-up

The sea urchin just melts. The taste is top-notch, but it was a shame they are a bit smaller than the ones at Kanemasu.

Gyusuji nikomi

Rather than a typical nikomi, it felt more like Korean doganitang, the ox knee cartilage soup.

Ankimo

If ankimo is on the menu, you have to order it. It is a real booze thief.

Beer

The beer here is out of this world. If you want to know what truly delicious Japanese beer tastes like, you have to come here.

Grilled ayu innards

The slightly bitter innards are brushed with miso and grilled. A grown-up flavor, you could say.. This is where sake would normally fit, but it was a hot day, so I kept ordering highballs one after another.

Hibiki highball

This one was good too, but to my palate the Yamazaki tasted better.

Tsukune and sasagaki

Similar to the suimono that came out first, but the burdock in it was incredibly good.

Simmered sea bream head

The owner of Polpo told me that at this place you have to order the simmered fish, so I did, but it turned out he meant an ordinary fish, not the head. This was all they had that day, but I still enjoyed it a lot. Eating this astonishingly well for 8,000 yen a head has to count as a very good deal, right? It is about double the usual izakaya budget of 3,000 to 4,000 yen, but it is well worth making the trip for.

It felt a little sad to just head home, so we had a second round at a small wine bar near Monzen-Nakacho station.

Wine list

Italian wines I have seen many times before.

Jamon

I had eaten until I was about to burst, so we only ordered the basic snacks.

Nuts

We drank a 3,000 yen bottle of wine and called it a night early. The next day’s schedule was packed too, so that was enough for today~

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