Whenever I go to Tokyo there’s someone who always looks after me. On his recommendation I visited an izakaya in Morishita, a shitamachi (old downtown) neighborhood on the east side of Tokyo. It’s called Yamariki, and it was so popular the line was really long. The main building looks to be about three stories, yet it was packed, and the new annex right across the street wasn’t much different. In the shitamachi, an izakaya overflowing with people usually means cheap prices and tasty food to go with your drinks. The wait was long, but I was really looking forward to it.
You can find the full menu and shop details on their website http://www.yamariki.com/. The sign looked kind of cheap, so at first I assumed it was a chain, but it turns out there’s just the main building and the annex. An izakaya this popular could easily go the chain route, so I’m a little curious to see what they do next.
The moment we sit down, we order drinks first.
Pouring it right up to the brim so it’s almost spilling over is one of the virtues of a Japanese izakaya. This place uses a unique kind of tokkuri I’d never seen before. It looks nice, but the sake kept spilling…
I ordered a sake called Nanbu Bijin. With “bijin” (beauty) in the name I expected something soft, but it was surprisingly karakuchi (dry). Maybe because it’s not just any beauty but a Nanbu beauty -_- For the second glass I ordered a premium sake called Juyondai (“14th generation”), and that one was both higher in quality and smoother.
Otoshi
What we’d call gibon anju (the default side dish) in Korean…
Raw vegetables and grilled miso
More than the vegetables, it was the miso, grilled with iwashi (sardine) mixed in, that had a unique flavor. I think our Korean ssamjang is every bit as tasty, but there’s a lot to learn from this distinctive Japanese take too.
Nikomi with an added boiled egg
It comes in a dish like a ttukbaegi (earthenware pot). It’s said to be one of Tokyo’s three great nikomi, but hmm… it tasted a bit bland, so I sprinkled on some shichimi and it got better.
Today’s white fish
I think it was sea bream, but I don’t really remember…
Fried oyster skewer
This is something I’d been craving like crazy lately. I do like Korean oyster jeon too, but in winter it’s got to be kaki fry. You get the juicy oyster and the crispy batter together. We’ve had a whole range of dishes so far and not a single one has really missed. This is a skilled izakaya. But we’re only in the opening round ^_^
Smoked platter
Cheese, ham and so on, but it was over-smoked and the smoky aroma was too strong. A bit of a letdown..
Maguro akami (lean tuna)
People who love tuna tend to enjoy akami. Toro and chutoro are so rich that you can’t really eat them all the time. The akami here was very fresh too, especially for an izakaya famous for its miso nikomi.
Grilled pork skewers
I thought I’d eaten my share of skewers, but I had no idea pork skewers could be this good. The grilling skill is top-notch, but the kashira, pork head meat, is tender and melts in your mouth beyond anything I imagined. Sourcing ingredients of this level while running an izakaya this busy can’t be easy. What a great place.
Baguette
It’s bread for dipping into the nikomi. You get about three slices, but I only have this one photo.. I’d had a superb baguette at lunch, so it didn’t wow me that much, but dipped into the miso nikomi sauce it takes on a special flavor.
Glass of wine
A Bordeaux. They seemed to have a pretty well-stocked wine list, but since we weren’t a big group, we just ordered by the glass. Wine really is hard to enjoy with just one or two people.
House-made chicken liver terrine
Liver dishes really are the best thing to go with a drink ^_^ It’s not a French restaurant, and I ordered it without expecting much, but it was sooo good. I love that everything you order here is at least solid. On top of that, the prices aren’t all that high, so no wonder it’s popular.
Horseradish
This was the first real horseradish I’ve tasted in my life. All I’d ever thought of horseradish was as a knockoff wasabi, but tasting fresh horseradish showed me that’s not necessarily so. Of course wasabi goes well with anything, fish, meat or soba, but for meat dishes at least, I couldn’t think of a better match than fresh horseradish. In Japan wasabi is everywhere, so you end up dipping even steak and grilled skewers in wasabi, and I was moved once again by the thoughtfulness of having horseradish ready like this.
Around here we wrapped up round one lightly and headed to Tsukishima for a quick round two.
The Tsukishima streetscape
It’s out of focus and taken at a different time of day, but this is Tsukishima, one of the shitamachi neighborhoods that represent Tokyo. The mix of modern buildings and old shops is so very Tokyo.