Asakusa Ichimon honten is housed in a 70 year old Japanese traditional wooden house located in Asakusa (north East of Tokyo) close to our hotel and from walking distance, that specialized in Japanese dishes during the Edo period (1603-1806). The menu also include Tokyo local cuisine and 200 years old traditional dishes such as Edo Negima Nabe (leek and tuna hot pot), iron pan-grilled with specially selected domestic beef, homemade tofu, etc...
This restaurant is almost impossible to find as it
is located on the side on the main street and not a word of English can be
found. Good thing people are so nice in Japan, they will go out of their
way to direct you to the restaurant.
The entrance of the restaurant |
close look at one the lantern hanging outside the restaurant. |
Inside the restaurant is supposed to re-create the atmosphere of old Japan, very rustic, and complete with dirt floor.
They put a few mat of the floor to cover part of the dirt floor.
Hay ceiling, dark wood beam, create a very rustic atmosphere giving you the feeling you are entering old world Japan.
The waiters and waitresses are dressed in traditional Peasant Japanese outfit.
Traditional Japanese Floor seating. You have to cross your legs while eating, shoes are removed as you can see. |
Specialty of the house is the Hot pot |
Thank god we got a table vs. a traditional Japanese table. I don't see myself eating on the floor for a few hours.
Table setting, very simple.
Hoa and I
Mai and Thierry
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Cold beer and sake
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Sake is served in rustic bamboo container.. Very interesting.
The sake here is outstanding according to Hoa and Thierry.
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Starting our meal with a salad. |
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Thinly sliced cooked octopus salad
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Teppan-yaki cooked on a griddle, Wagyu beef, Japanese leek, Sesame, Onion
The waitress is doing all the cooking and serving us.
This is their signature dish: Edo Negima Nabe, a rich hot pot with fatty tuna and leek.
Toro (fatty Bluefin tuna) Japanese leek, Shiitake, Chinese cabbage, Tofu, Enoki mushroom
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Broth is made with dashi, soy sauce, and Mirin |
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Adding leek and vegetable to the broth until it is boiling.
The vegetable are added on top on the boiling broth |
Tuna are added at the end. |
Soba noodle
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Soba noodle is added at the end with an egg.
Asakusa Ichimon Honten is a really unique restaurant that we probably does not exist in the U.S. As soon as you walked in you feel like you are going back in time and it feels like you are eating at an old working Japanese farmhouse serving traditional rustic food.
We feasted on a variety of food and we really enjoyed their signature dish (hot pot). We polished the whole pot and in the end I think there isn't even a single drop left in the
hot pot.
They have a very selection of sake, reasonably priced, with excellent service. The staff barely speaps English but somehow we managed to get everything we needed.
We were the only tourist in the whole restaurant so it is probaly catered to mostly local folks which is a good thing to keep the food authentic.
Next...Breakfast, snacks, coffee shop, Last morning in Tokyo
Filed under: Restaurants