A note on the words: karasumi is salted, dried mullet roe, pressed into a firm block and grated or sliced thin; soba are buckwheat noodles. Mozuku is a fine, slippery brown seaweed usually served in a vinegar dressing. Shumai are small steamed pork dumplings. Ponzu is a citrus-and-soy dipping sauce. A sour, in a Japanese bar, is shochu topped with soda and a flavoring. Shochu is a distilled Japanese spirit, made here from barley. Ginjo is a grade of sake brewed from highly polished rice. Basashi, translated here as horse sashimi, is raw horse meat sliced thin and eaten with soy sauce — a long-standing Japanese delicacy. Nomihodai, translated here as all-you-can-drink, is a fixed-price arrangement that includes unlimited drinks for a set stretch of time.
Table of Contents hide
honda Akasaka on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. Someone told me there is a good place in Azabu-juban called “honda.” I searched for it, and it turns out there is one in Akasaka too. And what is more, ha, the Azabu-juban branch starts at 13,500 yen for a course, while the Akasaka one is 7,800 yen including all-you-can-drink, ha. What on earth is going on here, and is it really the same restaurant? My curiosity got the better of me, so off I went!
It is down a back alley in Akasaka, and a deep one at that, ha. I have been around Akasaka for years and I am not sure I had ever walked this particular lane. ^^
4,800-yen course
7,800-yen course with all-you-can-drink
6,800-yen course
Reasonable across the board, ha. Prices at this level do make a place easier to use, and this time we went with the astonishingly cheap 7,800-yen course that includes all-you-can-drink.
For the first glass off the all-you-can-drink list I ordered the ginger sour, because it had “house-made” in the name. It is a sour with a strong ginger presence and a proper bite of heat. That prickle of heat against the carbonation works so well. Delicious.
Scallop, salmon roe and spinach under a savory jelly. Chrysanthemum petals are scattered over it, so it is lovely to look at as well.
Around here I switched to barley shochu with soda!
Flounder, sea bream and yellowtail, I think it was? Even a modest little serving like this is plenty satisfying.
Snow crab on top of mozuku seaweed in vinegar. There is sake on the all-you-can-drink list, you see. The moment crab shows up I start wanting sake! So I picked the Hakuren. The label says extra-dry ginjo, so dry it is. ^^
This is honda’s specialty, or rather its signature dish: karasumi soba.
Karasumi and soba go so well together! The aroma is irresistible. It is soba, and yet it works as something to drink sake alongside.
Shumai bursting with juice. The tart, ponzu-like sauce and the mustard suit it well! Tender and delicious.
And last, a bite of sushi rice with simmered abalone in a liver sauce.
Abalone really is better cooked — it comes out tender and the savory depth stands out. The liver sauce is superb too.
That is the end of the course, but we still had nearly an hour left on the all-you-can-drink, ha.
So we ordered a few extras.
Horse sashimi! It goes beautifully with the soy-marinated garlic! Normally horse sashimi comes with grated garlic, but this is better! Tender and delicious!
So then: rather than cutting quality, the 4,800-yen course gets to that price by keeping the portions down. Or rather, a course meal at about this scale is exactly right. It is more like a 4,800-yen set of drinking snacks. Everything showed careful, proper work and tasted good, and I am starting to think this may actually be an easier place for everyday use than the Azabu-juban one. I might come again.
honda Akasaka (Japanese Cuisine / Akasaka Station, Nogizaka Station, Roppongi Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
