Home-Cooked Style Japanese Dinner @ Sho-Yosuke, Sumida , Tokyo.

Often when asked who is your favourite chef, Mum would be the first choice for most. Although I was not able to find a Japanese housewife to help me in the pursuit, we were able to find a place that has a tagline that says "Taste of Mum's". After a great dipping session in a public bath (called a "sento" in Japanese, more on that in another time), a hearty meal is in order. And in line with our frenetic but yet somewhat controlled style to our catering, we found a place that sparked out curiousity.

Front of the house. You cannot miss it

Sho-Yosuke (庄や押上店) is a restaurant located in the high street of Sumida and walking distance from the Tokyo Skytree. Its located in a more quaint and residential area of the metropolis. A nice change to the chaotic frenzy that is Tokyo. As expected, there were no English menu for this joint, but fortunately there were pictures, so ordering is much easier this time.

The bar, where the action is.

The interior of the restaurant is wooden all over, similar to an izakaya, but minus the frenzy environment. However, there are some tables where you can hear salarymen chatting about their work and smoking away. We opted for a non-smoking place, so we were stationed at the counter.  Definitely a smaller place to eat, but we were able to peek into the kitchen from our vantage point.

First dish of the day

An appetizer similar to our izakaya experience was served. It was braised taro balls. The miso flavour of the taro balls was light and a little sweet. A good start to the meal. The first dish I ordered was pork tripe for about ¥350. Its simple boiled tripe with ground ginger. Its a bit tasteless on its own but dipping it in soy sauce makes it a great entree to start the meal.

Epic just cannot describe how amazing this is

What came next was a crab hot pot, which was the seasonal specialty for the restaurant. Served in a metal hot pot with a wooden lid, the rice and crab were cooked together with some vegetables. The most noticeable ones were carrot and mushrooms.

A generous amount of crab. 

The perfume of the dish was very significant after you open the lid. The sweetness of the crab definitely mixed well with the rice and it was not over cooked at all, a possible outcome if you cook crab with other ingredients with various cooking times. The rice is the classic Japanese short grain rice, so it is more starchy that the regular short grain ones. The stickiness of the rice really complimented the crab. A real treat and a great follow up to the sento session we had. And it was a real bargain as it was just ¥580.

Sardines done right

Mid way through, we ordered some grilled sardines. Just lightly seasoned with salt, it went down very easily. The smokiness of the grilling process worked well with the oily texture of the sardines. The fish was fresh and the bones were easy to pick off. Dipping it in soy would be a necessity to some, but it was so good that just having on its own would suffice and if other flavour profiles are included, it may counter the subtle yet significant flavour of the sardines.  This was an amazing steal as well, as it was just ¥350. Although sardines are generally seen as a cheap ingredient, this dish was nothing short of great. It was simple but done very well.

A bottle of merry potion. A real pleasure drinking it. 

A Japanese meal would not be complete without it being accompanied with shochu. We got ourselves a whole bottle of 720 ml for about ¥2300. Sweet yet strong, the Black Kirishima was a joy to have. The tartness works well with all the seafood that we had, and would be a great associate act with sushi or sashimi. Probably would not work as well for beef dishes though.

A lantern in front of the restaurant, another sign that you cannot miss.

Leaving the establishment a satisfied gastronaut, I cannot recommend this place enough, if you are willing to take the language barrier challenge. It was worth the challenge and it was a meal, like many others in Tokyo, a very enjoyable one. If you are interested in checking this place out if you are ever in Sumida , the address is as follows:

〒130-0002 Tokyo, Sumida, Narihira, 4 Chome−17−16, 岡田ビル

Leaving a very satisfied customer.