Birthday dinner (and other meals) for non-fish-eater in Tokyo
June 27, 2019 1:37 PM Subscribe
Check my history and you'll see I'm off to Japan next month. I'm bringing my 21-year-old niece, which is fantastic. But here's the rub: She doesn't eat fish or shellfish. So I need some good advice on excellent places to eat with her. Bonus difficulty: I'm a food writer and still want to eat well.
Also, by "eating well," I do not mean expensively. Nor do I mean collecting Michelin stars.
I'm certainly not opposed to fancier meals (or Michelin stars), but they're not necessary for me/her/us. Except that we'd like something nice-ish for her birthday, even if that's just a casual-moderate, but high-quality meal.
More details:
*I'd prefer to stick to Japanese food as much as possible. I know there are good French, Italian, and Chinese restaurants around, and we'll probably visit at least one. But I'm interested in mostly Japanese.
*She eats pretty much everything but fish/shellfish, and she's actually willing to try some (i.e. she is not allergic). We'll push the envelope on that as much as possible.
*Dashi shouldn't count. It's in everything, but she won't know that.
*No yoshoku, please.
So far, I've got Nakasei Uchi, Ponchi-ken, Kanda Matsuya on the list. Where else should we try?
**Also, please feel free to offer other places she/we might enjoy for lunch or other, less-special dinners.**
Also, by "eating well," I do not mean expensively. Nor do I mean collecting Michelin stars.
I'm certainly not opposed to fancier meals (or Michelin stars), but they're not necessary for me/her/us. Except that we'd like something nice-ish for her birthday, even if that's just a casual-moderate, but high-quality meal.
More details:
*I'd prefer to stick to Japanese food as much as possible. I know there are good French, Italian, and Chinese restaurants around, and we'll probably visit at least one. But I'm interested in mostly Japanese.
*She eats pretty much everything but fish/shellfish, and she's actually willing to try some (i.e. she is not allergic). We'll push the envelope on that as much as possible.
*Dashi shouldn't count. It's in everything, but she won't know that.
*No yoshoku, please.
So far, I've got Nakasei Uchi, Ponchi-ken, Kanda Matsuya on the list. Where else should we try?
**Also, please feel free to offer other places she/we might enjoy for lunch or other, less-special dinners.**
Response by poster: Ripley, with Ponchi-ken on my own list, the "no yoshoku" restriction isn't hard and fast. It's really more about not wanting burgers, pizzas, etc.
So definitely share tonkatsu recommendations!
posted by yellowcandy at 2:16 PM on June 27, 2019
So definitely share tonkatsu recommendations!
posted by yellowcandy at 2:16 PM on June 27, 2019
Best answer: For tonkatsu:
Tonki in Meguro is an institution. Personally I think they fry their cutlets too long, but it's an intentional choice and some people prefer the extra crunch. It's really neat watching the open kitchen.
Hasegawa is excellent, near the worth-a-visit Edo-Tokyo museum, and very reasonably priced.
When in Tokyo I usually use Tabelog to search for high-rated restaurants in whatever neighbourhood I happen to be in. Their English interface has improved since I last used it, it's worth a try.
posted by ripley_ at 2:27 PM on June 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
Tonki in Meguro is an institution. Personally I think they fry their cutlets too long, but it's an intentional choice and some people prefer the extra crunch. It's really neat watching the open kitchen.
Hasegawa is excellent, near the worth-a-visit Edo-Tokyo museum, and very reasonably priced.
When in Tokyo I usually use Tabelog to search for high-rated restaurants in whatever neighbourhood I happen to be in. Their English interface has improved since I last used it, it's worth a try.
posted by ripley_ at 2:27 PM on June 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
What about some really cool izakayas? Off the top of my head, some other main event non-fish Japanese food are: shabu-shabu and sukiyaki. You might find some places that do those well? Have fun.
posted by Geameade at 3:17 PM on June 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Geameade at 3:17 PM on June 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
I am not the person to make specific recommendations, but I do know that vegan food has become a (maybe hipstery) cool thing in Japan and I understand there's some really phenomenal young-hip-energy sort of places popping up especially in Tokyo. This would be a great reason to check some out, and probably also interesting to you as a food writer.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:18 PM on June 27, 2019
posted by Lyn Never at 3:18 PM on June 27, 2019
I can't answer your question but I can give you a little hope. We hosted our niece for a few days a couple years ago, and she similarly didn't eat fish but was willing to try. One night we asked what she wanted for dinner and she said she really wanted to try fusion cuisine. After some discussion of what sort of fusion (didn't matter) and trying and failing to get a table at any of a half dozen different fusion places nearby, we ended up at a Japanese/French place near our house. Almost the entire menu that night was seafood. She'd picked the cuisine and agreed to the restaurant even though we said it was probably going to be a lot of seafood, though, so she was game.
She loved everything. At the end of the night she said, "well, I guess I eat seafood now."
Also I guess my own journey from "no seafood" to eating nearly everything started with sushi, so you could start with that. At least it's a small investment if she doesn't like it. Maybe try a Kaiten-Sushi place. It should be fun even if she doesn't find anything she likes. I would try to figure out where I went eighteen years ago, but (A) eighteen years is a long time, and (2) you could probably find something on your own easily enough.
posted by fedward at 3:39 PM on June 27, 2019
She loved everything. At the end of the night she said, "well, I guess I eat seafood now."
Also I guess my own journey from "no seafood" to eating nearly everything started with sushi, so you could start with that. At least it's a small investment if she doesn't like it. Maybe try a Kaiten-Sushi place. It should be fun even if she doesn't find anything she likes. I would try to figure out where I went eighteen years ago, but (A) eighteen years is a long time, and (2) you could probably find something on your own easily enough.
posted by fedward at 3:39 PM on June 27, 2019
When I lived in Japan temporarily as a vegetarian teenager, I don't remember ever going to a restaurant where I couldn't find something on the menu (I did and do eat fish broth, etc, in things like ramen, but was able to avoid things that visibly looked like seafood). I loved okonomiyaki. More recently I went to Kyourakutei, a great soba place.
posted by pinochiette at 3:48 PM on June 27, 2019
posted by pinochiette at 3:48 PM on June 27, 2019
You might want to check out Bento.com, a continually updated food and restaurant blog run by Mefite umamidearest. They visit a ton of restaurants, and have some pretty good reviews as well. Worth a look.
posted by Ghidorah at 11:14 PM on June 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Ghidorah at 11:14 PM on June 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yakiniku would definitely be a fun celebration meal, both because it's entertaining to cook your own food, and because you can choose the quality and adventurousness of the food. Also maybe an okonomiyaki place? It's not a fancy night out, but it is delicious and again, fun to do it yourself.
If you go to a kaitenzushi place, Genki Sushi was a big hit with my seafood-avoiding spouse. Little shuttles bring out food you order on iPads, so it helps to know exactly what you're ordering, and they had plenty of non-fish things if she'd prefer to have cheeseburger sushi or something.
And, like, don't write off a couple of fast food lunches. Coco Curry is tasty, as is Yoshinoya.
And now I want to go back to Japan to eat. Again.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 12:24 PM on June 28, 2019
If you go to a kaitenzushi place, Genki Sushi was a big hit with my seafood-avoiding spouse. Little shuttles bring out food you order on iPads, so it helps to know exactly what you're ordering, and they had plenty of non-fish things if she'd prefer to have cheeseburger sushi or something.
And, like, don't write off a couple of fast food lunches. Coco Curry is tasty, as is Yoshinoya.
And now I want to go back to Japan to eat. Again.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 12:24 PM on June 28, 2019
Best answer: The Ninja Restaurant in Tokyo is a wonderful experience, and they'll have entrees you'll both enjoy.
posted by blahtsk at 4:57 PM on June 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by blahtsk at 4:57 PM on June 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: My friend in Tokyo passes this along: Buta-Daigaku (pork university). Its main dish is buta-don (grilled pork rice bowl) and the medium (中) size bowl is just ¥650. You can get larger sizes, or sets with miso soup, etc., but you really just need the medium bowl. Just buy a ticket at the entrance and wait for a seat at the counter to open up.
posted by veggieboy at 12:59 PM on June 29, 2019
posted by veggieboy at 12:59 PM on June 29, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
Aging Beef ($$$) for incredible yakiniku. If you want to try many different cuts of excellent wagyu beef, one of their set menus will be a meal to remember.
Hashi to Renge ($) in Asagaya for excellent+unique ramen. Their signature dish is a budo sansho pepper mapo tofu ramen, it's fantastic.
The "no yoshoku" restriction is a little sad, because that rules out great tonkatsu...
posted by ripley_ at 2:11 PM on June 27, 2019 [2 favorites]