Plenty of places sell tofu, but only a handful serve tofu that is genuinely delicious. In fact, lots of people go through life without ever knowing that truly delicious tofu exists. On this Tokyo trip, a friend requested some really good tofu, so we went to Tokyo Shiba Tofuya Ukai, which is highly rated both for its Japanese garden and as a tofu specialist.
Ukai sits right at the foot of Tokyo Tower. It’s old-fashioned and pricey, so it’s mostly used for business entertaining. It’s a 5-minute walk from Akabanebashi Station, so it’s easy to find.
Walk deep into the Japanese garden and you reach the front desk; I gave the name on the reservation and they showed us to a private room on the 2nd floor. The garden view was full of summer atmosphere.
Sake served in a bamboo tube
We ordered drinks first. They said it was a house specialty so I had high hopes, but the taste was ordinary. The very Asian bamboo presentation would probably appeal to Western visitors, though.
Hand-pulled somen
The menu has a summery feel. The somen felt cool and refreshing. It was pretty great right from the first dish, which surprised me.
The hanging scroll in our room
They pay attention to the smallest details. Considering the price, I guess you can expect that much.
Chopped green onion
You put it on top of the next dish.
Age-dengaku
Fried tofu brushed with a sauce similar to eel sauce. On its own it’s a bit strongly seasoned, but with the green onion on top, the fluffy-and-crunchy texture is amazing. Somehow it even tastes a bit like eel.
Seasonal sashimi
Since it’s summer, we got tuna and squid.
Chilled baby taro and herring
Nishin means herring. It makes sense as a seasonal dish, but on its own it was just so-so.
Eggplant topped with sesame, corn, and white wood ear harihari
This time an assortment of fried things. The eggplant was delicious.
Inside the Chinese lantern (hozuki) is a mountain peach (yamamomo, Japanese bayberry).
It tastes sweet and sour. Again, the presentation is fun. I can’t think of a better place for business entertaining.
Junsai tofu, a summer menu item
If you add 1,000 yen to the year-round menu, they serve a summer-only tofu course. I wanted to try their signature tofu dish too, but the words “seasonal limited” tempted me into ordering this. Junsai is a plant that grows in ponds, soft, wobbly and chewy, a bit like agar jelly. The stuff on the lotus leaf is the junsai.
You scoop it into a bowl like this.
If you’re curious what really delicious tofu is like, give this a try. It’s tofu, but so rich that it almost felt like spooning up cheesecake. Put cold junsai on top and the texture is bursting with the season. I wondered how a lunch this luxurious could even exist.
The tofu here was so good that I asked about it later: the soybeans come from Hokkaido, the nigari from Izu, it’s made in Hachioji where the water is clean, and fresh tofu is delivered to the restaurant twice a day. Made like that, there’s no way it could taste bad.
Salt-grilled takabe
Toward the end, the grilled course comes out.
Rice with ginger and fried tofu
Miso soup and rice come along with it. Maybe because the earlier dishes were so impressive, the rice felt a bit overshadowed.
Green plum kuzukiri
Dessert. Kuzukiri is something like konjac, the kind of snack kids would love. Maybe thanks to the plum, it was sweet yet refreshing.
The 2nd-floor interior.
Totally a business-entertaining atmosphere.
The inner garden
The garden inside the restaurant is beautifully done.
Fish swimming around.
It was so well done that I asked whether it had always been a garden, and apparently it used to be a bowling alley. It took 2 years to tear down the bowling alley and build the restaurant, then 2 more to make the garden, 4 years in total until opening. Pretty impressive.
Where they grill the age-dengaku
Ice decoration in the lobby
It’s pricey, but it’s a fun place. Sorting through the photos, I realized I never took one of the huge brewing barrel from Akita Prefecture near the entrance. It was big enough to make 3,000 bottles at once.
The main gate
Just how close is this place to Tokyo Tower?
This close.
Right by the exit there’s a souvenir shop.
This is roughly what they sell.
Buying some aotake tofu.
As a souvenir I bought one tofu in a bamboo tube. Around 630 yen for a generous amount, so it’s definitely not expensive. Honestly, just buying the tofu and eating it at home might be a jackpot too. Tofu this good isn’t easy to come by.
The main gate, taken on the way out
Overall, it felt like a space made for VIPs. It’s a bit much to go back on my own dime, but if I ever have someone to entertain, I’d like to use it again.