A note on the words: a gozen is a full set meal laid out on a tray — a main dish with rice, soup, pickles and small side bowls. Kasu-zuke means the fish has been buried for days in sake lees, the soft mash left after sake is pressed; here the lees are sweetened with mirin, the syrupy rice wine used for cooking, which is what gives the flesh its gloss and gentle sweetness. Tororo is grated yam, whipped to a pale sticky puree and poured over rice. An ohitsu is the lidded wooden or lacquer tub that cooked rice is transferred into, brought to the table so you can refill your own bowl. Gari is the sheets of pink pickled ginger you get with sushi, eaten between bites to reset the palate. Katsuo tataki is bonito seared on the outside and left raw within. Sablefish, sold in Japan as gindara, is the rich white-fleshed deep-water fish English menus often call black cod.
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Suzunami Tokyo Midtown on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hey, this is Hangover Meshi. So, I thought I’d get something to eat at Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi, but every single place was packed. On a weekday, no less — so I headed for the shops around in front of Precce, the sort of corner most people overlook. Looking around, Suzunami, a fish set-meal place, had room, so I decided to have a set-meal lunch there!
Nagoya Gozen — 2,530 yen
Suzunami Gozen (with wakaimo tororo) — 2,200 yen
Suzunami Gozen (with katsuo tataki) — 1,980 yen
Basically, the Suzunami Gozen is built around the grilled fish of the day (sablefish, I think?) marinated in mirin lees, and there are several patterns where one extra item gets added on — katsuo tataki, a chicken wing, wakaimo tororo, that sort of thing. I dithered right up to the end over which to have, but I went with the tororo one, and then added a single chicken wing on top (I think it was around 200 yen)!
Even saying it had room, the inside was reasonably full. Have more people started coming to Midtown, I wonder.
After a bit of a wait, this is the set meal that came out!
What a healthy-looking set meal this is. Looks good!
Not much rice? I thought — but then they bring an ohitsu along as well, so it might actually be a huge amount! The portions are seriously generous!
This is the wakaimo tororo. It looks a little yellow, so I have a feeling there’s egg in it! There’s a gentle dashi flavor running through it and it’s good. Pour it over the rice and that on its own is a feast.
The chicken wing I added on. Simmered until tender, and good!!
And now, the main event: the sablefish marinated in mirin lees!
Flesh that flakes apart while still being plump and soft, and a deep flavor — sooooo good.
It goes brilliantly with rice. Kasu-zuke really is delicious. The measured sweetness and the clean, light fat are excellent. Eating the fillet along with the gari served beside it is the best. At this level, 2,000 yen feels entirely justified. And on top of that, this shop sells the fillets over the counter as a matter of course, so you can have this taste at home — amazing!
Finished off after the meal with something light and refreshing, like a sweet-vinegar drink!
Tokyo Midtown has a supermarket in the basement, and the places in front of it — Hirata Bokujo (in Japanese), Suzunami here, Sugimoto (in Japanese) — are really the sort of places people overlook. They look like prepared-food shops, but they have proper space to eat inside, so they’re good for lunch. If you’re on the verge of becoming a refugee at Midtown, I’d say it’s well worth checking that side out too!
Suzunami Tokyo Midtown (Japanese Cuisine / Roppongi Station, Nogizaka Station, Roppongi-itchome Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
