The chef at this unassuming restaurant in a basement toward the Yamate Dori end of the Meguro River in Nakameguro creates some delicious and beautifully presented food at very reasonable prices. Today we're here for the ¥ 1,500 lunch set which, if you're looking for a delicious light meal, and like soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles) it's a perfect choice. That's not to say this is exclusively a soba restaurant, far from it; there is a wide selection of imaginative and delicious dishes available at dinner, but that's another story.
Be warned... there is no English menu here, so if you can neither read nor speak Japanese, dinner here will be a challenge to say the least, but if you can smile sweetly and say "runchie setto onegaishimasu" then you'll be all set for lunch.
After crossing the miniature rock garden, you enter and see a blond wood counter on the right which seats six, and is my favourite spot to sit; from here you can see the chef at work, and drool like one of Pavlov's dogs as he prepares the tantalising morsels you are about to taste. In addition to the counter there are a couple of semi-private spaces with tables and upright chairs, and a much larger area with low-slung seating and low tables which I personally do not find conducive to enjoyable dining.
As you sit, you'll be brought a hand towel and a cup of buckwheat tea. What follows varies slightly each visit, but is always delicious. Today we are served a small dish of salad containing warm aubergine, myoga ginger, salad leaves and a vinaigrette dressing with ume sour plum and grated radish (7/10); this is very tasty, but... next to this is another small dish containing a deliciously creamy pale green avocado tofu with a mayonnaise and white miso sauce sprinkled with crunchy soba wheat grains; it's hard to describe how good the tofu tastes or how perfectly judged the sauce is; you just have to come and try it for yourself (8/10).
The next part of the meal includes chilled soba and tempura served together. As you wait for your food to arrive, a myriad of small bowls will appear with salts - coarse for the tempura and smooth for the soba - grated wasabi root, thinly sliced green table onions and a dipping broth for the soba.
Earlier we were asked whether we wanted our soba to be normal or coarse milled (arabiki). We've chosen the coarse milled as it has a superb texture and bite. It's served cold and perfectly cooked; I could easily eat double the serving (8/10).
The soba-yu (cooking water) in a lacquered tea-pot is brought to the table toward the end to pad out the dipping sauce.
At the same time as the soba comes a selection of vegetable tempura which includes lotus root, burdock, lady's finger and baby corn, all covered in the finest, crunchiest batter. It's not the least bit oily; tastes fresh with the vegetables retaining just the right amount of crunch. Seriously well prepared and seriously healthy (8/10).
If you want dessert it's extra. Today we didn't choose to eat it.
I'll be making a dinner visit here soon and writing about the wonderful food this gifted chef serves up in the evenings. Find a Japanese friend and bring them along to translate, you won't regret it. In this reviewers opinion, the cooking at this restaurant is easily worthy of a Michelin star.
3-19-8 Aobadai
Meguro-ku
Tokyo
More information at www.dosanjin.co.jp
Be warned... there is no English menu here, so if you can neither read nor speak Japanese, dinner here will be a challenge to say the least, but if you can smile sweetly and say "runchie setto onegaishimasu" then you'll be all set for lunch.
After crossing the miniature rock garden, you enter and see a blond wood counter on the right which seats six, and is my favourite spot to sit; from here you can see the chef at work, and drool like one of Pavlov's dogs as he prepares the tantalising morsels you are about to taste. In addition to the counter there are a couple of semi-private spaces with tables and upright chairs, and a much larger area with low-slung seating and low tables which I personally do not find conducive to enjoyable dining.
As you sit, you'll be brought a hand towel and a cup of buckwheat tea. What follows varies slightly each visit, but is always delicious. Today we are served a small dish of salad containing warm aubergine, myoga ginger, salad leaves and a vinaigrette dressing with ume sour plum and grated radish (7/10); this is very tasty, but... next to this is another small dish containing a deliciously creamy pale green avocado tofu with a mayonnaise and white miso sauce sprinkled with crunchy soba wheat grains; it's hard to describe how good the tofu tastes or how perfectly judged the sauce is; you just have to come and try it for yourself (8/10).
The next part of the meal includes chilled soba and tempura served together. As you wait for your food to arrive, a myriad of small bowls will appear with salts - coarse for the tempura and smooth for the soba - grated wasabi root, thinly sliced green table onions and a dipping broth for the soba.
Earlier we were asked whether we wanted our soba to be normal or coarse milled (arabiki). We've chosen the coarse milled as it has a superb texture and bite. It's served cold and perfectly cooked; I could easily eat double the serving (8/10).
The soba-yu (cooking water) in a lacquered tea-pot is brought to the table toward the end to pad out the dipping sauce.
At the same time as the soba comes a selection of vegetable tempura which includes lotus root, burdock, lady's finger and baby corn, all covered in the finest, crunchiest batter. It's not the least bit oily; tastes fresh with the vegetables retaining just the right amount of crunch. Seriously well prepared and seriously healthy (8/10).
If you want dessert it's extra. Today we didn't choose to eat it.
I'll be making a dinner visit here soon and writing about the wonderful food this gifted chef serves up in the evenings. Find a Japanese friend and bring them along to translate, you won't regret it. In this reviewers opinion, the cooking at this restaurant is easily worthy of a Michelin star.
3-19-8 Aobadai
Meguro-ku
Tokyo
More information at www.dosanjin.co.jp
