A note on the words: teishoku is a traditional Japanese set meal built around rice, miso soup and a main dish. Zuke maguro is raw tuna marinated in soy sauce, and hayashi rice is a Japanese-Western dish of beef in a brown sauce over rice.
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Sandaime Arita on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. While strolling around Akasaka-mitsuke looking for lunch, I stumbled upon “Sandaime Arita”. A yellow noren curtain marks the entrance, with stairs leading down into the basement. Looking at the menu posted outside, I wondered if this might be a spot serving teishoku set meals. Since I had never been in before, I decided to give it a try this time.
Stepping inside, there are two or three small tables, with the rest being counter seating in a compact space.
The owner and what seemed to be regular customers were chatting away merrily.
Stamina ginger pork teishoku — 1,000 yen
Grilled fish and soy-marinated tuna teishoku — 1,000 yen
Hayashi rice — 1,000 yen
Everything is 1,000 yen. Simple and straightforward, which is nice.
After debating what to get, I figured that since this is ostensibly a Japanese restaurant I should probably go with seafood, so I chose the grilled fish!
After a short wait, the set meal arrived!
Grilled dried mackerel, alongside a modest helping of zuke maguro, served with rice and miso soup.
Taking a bite of the grilled mackerel: yes, that is good.
Though I wondered if the salt was a bit strong, and while they poured soy sauce over the grated daikon radish, I would have preferred it without.
Also, it might have been nice if they were a bit more generous with the grated daikon.
There are only about four pieces of marinated tuna, so they do not have much presence on the plate, ha.
The miso soup seems to be made with a sweeter koji miso; it has chunky ingredients in it and tastes good.
The bowl of rice is quite generous right off the bat. Eating it the usual way, you will probably end up with a bit of rice left over. The generous volume is a plus.
So, it felt very much like quintessential Japanese izakaya pub lunch. Everything is 1,000 yen, so I thought it was easy to drop into. Also, the owner talks non-stop, ha! He was chatting with regulars the whole time, so you might find yourself catching bits of their conversation whether you want to or not, ha ha. Recommended if you enjoy a lively atmosphere! It might not be the best fit if you want to eat in quiet contemplation, perhaps?
Sandaime Arita (Izakaya / Akasaka Mitsuke Station, Nagatacho Station, Akasaka Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★☆☆☆ 2.9
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
