A note on the words: Hachijojima is an island south of Tokyo, and several dishes here carry island names. Budo is a set, jellied dish made from seaweed; kusaya is fish cured in a long-used brine and dried, known for its powerful smell; shima-takuan is the island’s version of takuan, the yellow pickled daikon radish; and shima-zushi is the island’s style of sushi, whose fish is marinated in soy sauce before being pressed onto the rice. Shimanagashi is the name of a shochu, the distilled spirit made in Japan from barley, sweet potato or rice. Hachijo Jersey milk comes from Jersey cattle raised on the island. Ashitaba is a leafy green grown there. Otoshi is a small appetizer you are charged for — it is not a scam, it is the cover charge; shutou is a salty preserve of fish innards; izakaya means a Japanese pub. Sashimi is raw fish sliced for eating as it is, tempura is food fried in a light batter, and suppon is the softshell turtle.
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Ryosanpaku on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. So, for dinner on Hachijojima, off to “Ryosanpaku,” a place I had wanted to go to for ages! It is a hugely popular izakaya (perhaps the most popular on the island, you could say), you cannot get in without a reservation, and I had been told the reservation itself is very hard to get, so I phoned the moment my dates were fixed. I have been to Hachijojima four or five times now but this is my first visit here, so I am looking forward to it!
The food is full of good-looking things you only get on Hachijojima! I plan to work my way through while drinking the island’s shochu
Something like a potato salad with ashitaba, the island’s specialty green, mixed in. You eat it together with the vinegared miso.
And to start with — beeeer!
Today’s fish, from the bottom right, is kimeji, next to it sawara, and at the top aodai.
All of them caught around the island! Aodai in particular seems to be eaten a lot in these parts, but it is a fish you rarely see in Tokyo proper. Every one of them fresh, glistening and delicious!!!
What on earth is budo? I asked what it actually was after ordering, and apparently it is a seaweed called kagi-ibaranori that is simmered until it dissolves, then set firm with shellfish, flaked fish and other things added in. The feel of it is something like a savory aspic. The seaweed flavor comes drifting up softly and it is very good.
A shochu made from both barley and sweet potato: it is fairly close to a barley one, but with a little of the sweet potato flavor coming through, so I expect even someone who finds sweet potato on its own a bit much would be satisfied by this. It is an island shochu, so it is a bottle you often see in the souvenir shops.
Actually, the thing I most wanted to eat on this island trip was ashitaba tempura. It has a bitterness quite different from shiso or shungiku, and it is very good!! The shiitake were called Umikaze shiitake, I think? Another island brand of shiitake, it seems. Fried up crisp, and beyond the quality of the island ingredients, the cooking here is at a seriously high level. Incidentally, there was also something called neri tempura on the menu — it turned out to be okra!
The smell is fierce, so plenty of people may not take to it, but this really does go with a drink. Once you start eating, you find yourself getting rather hooked, smell and all, which is a strange thing. Picking it up by hand leaves the smell on your fingers, so they hand you plastic gloves along with it. You put those on first, tear the fish apart, and then pick at the pieces. Delicious.
Beef offal simmered in red miso! It rather looks like beef stew, does it not. I assumed the baguette stuck in it was there for looks, but eating it, there really is a slightly Western air about it! Like an offal stew. It goes tremendously well with the baguette!!!
And here is shochu cut with ashitaba! Since the ashitaba is doing the work, I went with a plain, orthodox shochu.
Not basil but ashitaba sauce. The glistening tomato and the rich cheese are delicious!
This is the island’s takuan. Fermented on the long side, they said, so it is a strongly sour takuan. Combined with the seaweed flavor, it is very good.
And this is shima-zushi.
You cannot have it unless you ask when you book, so I had ordered all the varieties, just to be safe. It is sushi made essentially in the marinated style, and the fish, steeped in a sweetish soy sauce, takes on a dense, silky quality that is delicious!! Just the thing to close on.
Turtle!!!! So this must be the thing behind all those sea turtle soup riddles, ha.
I never expected to eat the real thing. Being turtle, I braced myself a little, but the meat is springy and packed with collagen. There are quite a few bony bits, but it is rather like suppon. Or rather, suppon is about the only turtle I have eaten, but perhaps every turtle is loaded with collagen one way or another. The broth was delicious in much the way a miso soup is!
So there we are: on Hachijojima I got to eat food of a very high standard, covered from every angle, and I was thoroughly satisfied!! The prices do run a bit high, but even so, you cannot claim to have seen the island without coming here — that is how it felt: so many good things, in a relaxed and pleasant room. No wonder it is this popular. Next time I come to the island, this is the one place I want to be sure to book ahead.
Hachijojima Regional Cuisine Ryosanpaku (Izakaya / Hachijojima)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.7
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
