A note on the words: an izakaya is a Japanese pub. Sake is served at several temperatures, and the names matter here: reishu is chilled, nurukan is warmed to a gentle, skin-warm temperature, and atsukan is served hot. Kaiseki is a multi-course Japanese meal served dish by dish. Chawanmushi is a savory steamed egg custard eaten with a spoon, and crab miso is the rich paste from inside a crab’s shell. Kuikiri describes appetizers plated one at a time to be finished in a bite or two. Fugu is blowfish, and karaage is Japanese-style deep frying in a light starch coating. Ohitashi is a chilled dish of greens briefly boiled and steeped in dashi broth. Kakiage is a tempura fritter of mixed shredded ingredients, and a donabe is an earthenware pot rice is cooked and served in. “Barley soda” is the author’s tongue-in-cheek name for a fizzy barley drink.
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Nurukan Sato Roppongi on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
So, this is Hangover Meshi. The cold days go on and on, and on days like that you want warm sake, do you not! So this time I booked the famous sake restaurant in Roppongi, “Nurukan Sato Roppongi, main branch.” It has been famous for quite a while and I have used it a few times, but this is actually the first time I have written it up. The corridor leading to the entrance is drawn out long, which works rather nicely as staging for a step into somewhere out of the everyday. Once inside there is a counter and the kitchen right away, and private rooms in the back.
The Nagomi kaiseki course, with all-you-can-drink: 8,000 yen
The Rakumi kaiseki course, with all-you-can-drink: 10,000 yen
The Kiwami kaiseki course, with all-you-can-drink: 12,000 yen
Three course patterns, differing in the number of dishes and what is in them.
All of them come with all-you-can-drink covering some 30 kinds of sake and other drinks, which is irresistible if you love a drink!
The sake side is nice and easy to navigate too: the all-you-can-drink covers bottles suited to reishu, to nurukan and to atsukan.
This time I went with the 8,000-yen Nagomi course.
To start, something light: a barley soda.
A chawanmushi with the aroma of crab drifting softly up.
Crab-miso sauce is spooned over the top so you cannot see beneath it, but scoop in and there is proper chawanmushi.
The decoratively cut daikon looks great. Simmered until tender, daikon is perfect with a drink.
And this is karaage-fried fugu.
About here, some sake. There are all kinds, so it is hard to choose,
but each person picks their own, so with a big group you could compare them side by side, which might be fun.
Ohitashi of rape blossoms, and sea bream sashimi.
Being able to nibble a little at a time through all sorts of snacks that suit sake is lovely.
Tuna and yellowtail. Cut in thick slabs, the sashimi has real substance and is delicious! The sake goes down fast.
Spanish mackerel. Fish grilled plump and juicy, and it pairs superbly with grated daikon and soy sauce. Delicious!
An assortment of tempura.
Maitake mushroom, shishito peppers, a mini kakiage, and more.
Bamboo shoots, and plenty of them. Fluffy and sweet, and perfect with rice!
A course with this many dishes plus all-you-can-drink across 30 kinds of sake, for 10,000 yen — that is rather good value, is it not. A relaxed private room, and a run of snacks that suit the drinking. I thought it was a place to recommend when sake lovers get together to drink. It makes sense that it has been loved in Roppongi for so long. I think it works very easily for a business dinner!
Nurukan Sato Roppongi, main branch (Izakaya / Roppongi Station, Nogizaka Station, Roppongi-itchome Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.4
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
