A note on the words: an izakaya is a Japanese pub, where you drink and order small dishes as you go. Otoshi is a small appetizer you’re charged for — it’s the cover charge, not a scam. Nomihodai means all-you-can-drink for a set time, usually sold as part of a set course. Shiogama-yaki is a whole fish buried in salt bound with egg white, baked inside that hard white shell and cracked open at the table. Kamameshi is rice cooked and served in its own iron pot, and okoge is the crisp scorched rice at the bottom of it. Shirasu are tiny whitebait; sumiso is a dressing of miso loosened with vinegar; and shochu is a Japanese distilled spirit, usually drunk cut with soda or hot water.
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Shimbashi Hatsufuji on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hey, this is Hangover Meshi. This time it was a proper drinking party at a place in Shimbashi with all-you-can-drink sake. The spot is on the 2nd floor of the “New Shimbashi Building” next to SL Plaza in Shimbashi — a building that is not remotely new. Once you put “New” or “Neo” in a name, there’s nothing you can do about it when the place gets old, lol. You have to think about the future when you name things! Anyway, come in from the SL Plaza side, take the elevator right by the entrance, and the shop is straight ahead when you step out.
◇ Chef’s Choice Banquet Steamed Pork Shabu Course ◇ with 2 hours of nomihodai (all-you-can-drink): 5,000 yen
◇ Chef’s Choice Banquet Whole-Fish Salt-Crust Course ◇ with 2 hours of nomihodai: 5,000 yen
◇ Chef’s Choice Banquet Whole Grilled Chicken Course ◇ with 2 hours of nomihodai: 5,000 yen
◇ Simmered Fish Course ◇ 7 dishes, with 2 hours of nomihodai: 5,300 yen
This time we went with the whole-fish salt-crust course. And for another 1,500 yen you can upgrade to the premium all-you-can-drink, which brings in the nicer sake and shochu, so we asked to switch to that! 6,500 yen for all of it is cheap!
I wondered what it was — turns out it’s fish paste pressed into a round cake. You eat it with sumiso, a dressing of miso and vinegar.
Tuna, and the red one might be kinmedai (splendid alfonsino). Sea bream, something that looked like amberjack, and so on. Quite a lot of different kinds on there.
Shochu was included in the premium all-you-can-drink, so it was decent shochu with soda, forever, lol.
Fish baked in an aluminum foil parcel. The tartness of the lemon works nicely.
What is it, I wonder — a simmered dish, lol. Shrimp, and the yellow thing that may or may not have been pumpkin, lol.
Something coated in sesame and fried until crisp.
And here’s the main event, the shiogama-yaki.
One person at the table takes a wooden mallet and cracks it open with a good whack, lol. It’s set hard with egg white and salt, if I remember right.
I’m not sure what’s inside, but white flesh that size feels like sea bass to me.
For something that had been packed into all that salt, the saltiness is gentle and soft. Delicious.
Kamameshi — rice cooked in an iron pot — with shirasu, tiny whitebait, mixed through.
The little bit of okoge, the crisp scorched rice at the bottom, is a nice touch.
So, more than a place for a meal, this is a place for drinking — and the real pull is that the all-you-can-drink includes decent sake. Everything else is there to go with it. They bring your refills pretty quickly too, so as a venue for a drinking party this was a very satisfying place. A strong ally for the salarymen of Shimbashi! I envy the people who work around here for having a place like this!
Shimbashi Hatsufuji (Izakaya / Shimbashi Station, Uchisaiwaicho Station, Shiodome Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.3
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
