A note on the words: shima rakkyo is Okinawan scallion, a small pungent bulb served here neatly trimmed to its edible white portion. Awamori is Okinawa’s distilled spirit made from long-grain rice, enjoyed here on the rocks, and shikuwasa is a small sour green Okinawan citrus used in cocktails. Aosa is tender sea lettuce seaweed fried crisp as tempura. Shima soba is Okinawan wheat-noodle soup, ordered here with curly noodles and spiced at the table with koregusu, fiery island chilies steeped in awamori.
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taachi on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. Wondering where to go in the evening, I asked ChatGPT and this shop came up: “taachi”.
Thinking to myself that I had no idea there was an Okinawan restaurant in Azabu-juban, I walked down the Azabu-juban shopping street toward Azabu-juban Station, and there it was! It is on the 3rd floor, so up the elevator I went! Inside, there is a counter and a scattering of tables. It isn’t particularly big, but it is a clean shop with an Okinawan atmosphere!
It is a little scary that some recommended items and dishes on the menu occasionally have no price written, ha.
Judging from the prices of the surrounding menu items, it didn’t seem likely to be that expensive.
Looking over the varied menu, I went ahead and ordered a la carte!
Apparently the herbal medicinal hot pot is recommended, but this time I skipped it!
First, a beer!
Carefully prepared shima rakkyo (Okinawan scallions), ha. They plated only the edible parts for me.
The pungency isn’t harsh, and it is delicious! With ordinary shima rakkyo, there are some where the smell lingers for about two days, so my heart races when I eat it, but the shima rakkyo here is refined and delicious!
And then the three-variety sashimi platter.
The tuna was fresh and juicy, and delicious.
Since I came all the way to an Okinawan restaurant… I ordered awamori! On the rocks is definitely the way to go!
When it was brought out, I wondered what on earth it could be. Could it be pork loin topped with black sesame and steamed?
The sweetness of the black sesame and the pork go together amazingly well! This was a whole new eating experience, and delicious.
This stir-fry also had a subtle touch of nam pla (fish sauce) that worked wonderfully. What is it with this place? Every single dish is delicious.
Aosa seaweed tempura often tends to be soggy, but this was crisp and crunchy. Delicious!!!
This might be kakuni, simmered pork belly, deep-fried and served in dashi broth. The tender, soft pork was delicious! Standard kakuni is good too, but I didn’t know you could eat it like this.
From the moment I looked at the menu, I had decided this would be the finale!
Shima soba. I asked for curly noodles. The clean, refreshing soup paired with the distinctive curly noodles was delicious. Okinawan soba really is great. And drizzling a few drops of koregusu (chili peppers steeped in awamori) added a spicy accent that made it even better.
Man, I was completely full. Delicious!
ChatGPT is something else… To my surprise,
Every single dish on the menu was delicious
— it turned out to be a hit of a restaurant. Compared to the Okinawan restaurants around here that I have been to, it felt on an entirely different level of delicious. It felt like such a waste that I didn’t know about this place until now! Highly recommended. I will definitely go back.
taachi (Okinawa cuisine / Azabu-juban Station, Roppongi Station, Akabanebashi Station)
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?
