Hosakaya ほさかや

Hosakaya gained a little popularity after Anthony Bourdain visited on one his show No Reservations. It’s tucked away in a not so popular area amongst foreigners, Jiyugaoka Station.

Hosakaya is known for serving freshwater eel, unagi everything! There’s only one chef standing by the little charcoal grill making these unagi skewers. Oh and by the way, there’s no English menus. So we got up and walked over to the chef and just pointed at some skewers we wanted to try.

They only serve unagi, so other than the typical unagi meat, they serve every part of an unagi like liver, fin, skin and more. So if you’re feeling adventurous and want some local vibes, could swing by at night for a few skewers and bottles of beer! Or if you just want to stick to the typical unagi meat, they serve unagi bowl at lunch for ￥1300! Jiyugaoka is a really local area and there’s a lot of izakayas around the neighbourhood so it’s a great place to explore!

Address \\ 1-11-5 Jiyugaoka Meguro Tokyo
Phone Number \\   03-3717-6538 (Cannot make reservations)
Hours \\   Monday – Saturday: 11:30am – 2pm, 4:30pm – 9pm
Average price \\   Lunch:￥1,000 -￥1,999;     Dinner: ￥2,000～￥2,999
Payment Method \\   Cash Only
Rating \\   3.58/5
Website \\   Hosakaya (Japanese Only)

Uogashi Nihon-Ichi 魚がし日本一 池袋東口店

Uogashi Nihon-Ichi is a local standing style sushi chain in Tokyo. Since there’s no seating available, there isn’t much of a line up usually; people just goes in and out. It’s a pretty unique experience when you order and eat while standing around the sushi bar.

This standing style sushi chain offers cheap prices and decent quality of nigiri sushi. The basic selection like maguro, hamachi, aji, scallops, anago, salmon and tamago range between ￥75 – ￥150; you can request either just 1 or 2 pieces. The premium nigiri sushi like o-toro and uni would cost a little more. And if you can read Kanji, there’s a lot of different selection written on the wall.

Uogashi Nihon-Ichi has multiple locations usually near the major rail stations. So if you have spare time before catching the next train, you can certainly fill up on sushi before hitting the road!

Address \\  1-22-4 Minamiikebukuro Toshima Tokyo
Phone Number \\   03-5956-6284 (Cannot make reservations)
Hours \\   Monday – Sunday: 11am – 11:20pm (Last order)
Average Price \\   Lunch:￥999;     Dinner: ￥1,000～￥1,999
Payment Method \\   Credit Card Accepted
Rating \\   3.30/5
Website \\   Uogashi Nihon-Ichi (English Available; Store location list)

Motenashi Kuroki 饗 くろ喜

Motenashi Kuroki is known for their clear chicken broth and the best flavour is shio (salt). They use 6 different types of salt for their broth! I was never a fan of clear broth because I thought it’s bland but this was honestly one of the best ramen I’ve had. (Order from the top row).

The flat style noodles are made in house with some sort of powder from Hokkaido. The toppings isn’t your typical chashu, it’s actually chicken chashu, slices of slow roasted pork and some has shrimp wontons too.

On Fridays only, Motenashi Kuroki turns into Murasaki Kuroki 紫 くろ喜. They only serve a duck shoyu ramen  so it makes you go back to try both their styles. I still haven’t had a chance to go back on Fridays to try the duck shoyu but it looks epic. So if you have a geeky boyfriend that spend days at Akihabara, you can certainly walk over to this ramen shop! Expect a line up since it’s popular amongst locals and they only have 13 counter seats.

Address \\ 2-15 Kanda Izumicho Chiyoda Tokyo
Phone Number \\   03-3863-7117 (Cannot make reservations)
Hours \\   Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday: 11:30am – 3pm, 6pm – 9pm
Wednesday: 11:30am – 3pm
Friday: 11am – 2:30pm, 6pm – 8:30pm
Average Price \\   ￥1,000 ～￥1,999
Payment Method \\   Cash Only
Rating \\   3.93/5
Website \\   Motenashi Kuroki (Japanese only)

Shinbusakiya 真武咲弥 渋谷店

Shinbusakiya is a small ramen chain with only a few locations in Tokyo, Hokkaido and Nagano. They’re known for their spicy miso ramen but they also have non spicy option.
I can really take spicy but I can still feel a bit of heat from the broth. I’ve been looking for spicy ramen so my local Japanese friend brought us here after a long night of partying in Shibuya. It really hits the spot!

If you’re staying or partying in Shibuya and you’re craving for a bowl of ramen late at night, this is the spot to hit up!

Address \\ 2-10-3 Dogenzaka Shibuya Tokyo
Phone Number \\   03-6416-3778 (Cannot make reservations)
Hours \\   Monday – Thursday: 11am – 5am
Friday & Saturday: 11am – 7am
Sunday: 11am – 2am
Average Price \\   ￥999 ～￥1,000
Payment Method \\   Cash Only
Rating \\   3.56/5
Website \\  Shinbusakiya  (Japanese only)

1 Michelin Star Nodaiwa 野田岩 銀座店

Nodaiwa is a 1 Michelin Star restaurant so it already speaks for itself. The owner is now the 5th generation and definitely kept the tradition and quality. We made a reservation but we were late because we kept missing the entrance! If you reference to the first picture, their sign was actually on the top right hand corner (Japanese sign only) but we thought that was the Ginza Station entrance. So if you do go, make sure you find that entrance!

They had a few set lunches to choose from so we picked a set that was around  ￥5,000. It comes with tea, a soup, 2 side dishes and the unagi rice box. The unagi was light and delicate, the sauce was absolutely amazing. We were trying to savor every bite!

As we left, we then realize the restaurant was right beside Jiro and we saw him counting cash! This is probably the closest we’ll get to Jiro. =P

**Quick Tip** For most fine dining restaurants in Japan, I highly recommend to go for lunch because it’s normally half the price of dinner, if not more.

Address \\  B1 F 4-2-15 Ginza Chuo Tokyo
Phone Number \\   03-5524-3125 (Takes reservations)
Hours \\   Monday – Saturday: 11:30am – 2pm,  5pm – 8pm
Average Price \\   Lunch: ￥5,000 – ￥5,999,  Dinner: ￥10,000 – ￥14,999
Payment Method \\   Credit Card Accepted
Rating \\ 3.67/5
Website \\   Nodaiwa Menu (Mainly Japanese)