Where to Dine - Tokyo - page 170

170

eel, I can think of no finer place to first try it. Expect to spend a minimum of ¥7,500 per
person, including drinks, appetizers, and service. No one here speaks English, so it's best
to have a Japanese-speaking person make your reservation, at which time you must order
the dishes you'd like to be served.
2-5-11 Soto-Kanda. & 03/3251-5031. Reservations required. Main dishes ¥2,600-¥4,100. MC, V. Mon-
Sat 11:30am-2pm and 5-8pm. Closed holidays and 2nd Sat of the month Sept-May. Station: Akihabara
(5 min.). On Shohei Bashi Dori (Hwy. 17).

INEXPENSIVE
Ginzo SUSHI With a long counter from which to watch the sushi chefs in
action and with the rumbling of trains overhead, this neighborhood restaurant offers
reasonably priced meals from an English-language menu. The ¥980 set meal, for exam-
ple, comes with six maki-zushi, nine sushi, soup, and chawamushi (egg custard). Because
this is a very popular restaurant with local workers, avoid the weekday lunchtime rush.
1-8-6 Kanda-Hanaoka-cho. & 03/5298-5161. Sushi ¥137 per piece; set meals ¥780-¥1,500. No credit
cards. Mon-Thurs 11:30am-11pm; Fri-Sun and holidays 11:30am-10pm. Station: Akihabara (1 min.).
Underneath the train tracks btw. Chuo and Showa Dori; look for the fake bamboo and a banner showing
the various set meals outside its front door.
E Kanda Yabusoba NOODLES This is one of Tokyo's most famous
soba (noodle) shops, established in 1880 and rebuilt after the 1923 Great Kanto Earth-
quake. The house, which is surrounded by a wooden gate with an entryway through a
small grove of bamboo, features shoji screens and a dining area with tatami mats and
tables. It's often filled with middle-age businessmen and housewives, so you'll probably
have to wait on the bench at the entrance if you come during lunchtime. There's an
English-language menu. The specialties are hot and cold wheat noodles, which you can
order with grated yam, grilled eel, duck, or crispy shrimp tempura. Listen to the woman
sitting at a small counter by the kitchen—she sings out orders to the chef, as well as hel-
los and goodbyes to customers.
2-10 Awajicho, Kanda. & 03/3251-0287. Main dishes ¥630-¥1,785. No credit cards. Daily 11:30am-
7:30pm (last order). Closed 1 week in mid-Aug. Station: Awajicho or Ogawamachi (exit A3, 3 min.) or
Akihabara (10 min.). Northeast of the Sotobori Dori and Yasukuni Dori intersection; from Sotobori Dori,
take the side street that runs btw. the Tokyo Green Hotel and the Hotel Mystays and look toward the left.

6