A note on the words: taimeshi is sea bream rice, and Uwajima taimeshi is a regional style from Uwajima in Ehime Prefecture where fresh sea bream sashimi is arranged over rice rather than cooked into it. Cha-soba is buckwheat noodles flavored with green tea, gindara is sablefish, saikyo-yaki is fish marinated in sweet white Kyoto-style miso before grilling, gozen is a set meal, and karaage is bite-sized pieces coated in starch and deep-fried. Sugidama is a trimmed cedar ball traditionally hung under the eaves of sake breweries and sake-focused shops.
Table of Contents hide
Washoku Biyori Osaketo Akasaka 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 what to do for lunch in Akasaka, I was heading toward TBS when a sign for Uwajima taimeshi (sea bream rice from Uwajima in Ehime) caught my eye. Ah, come to think of it, there was an izakaya (Japanese pub) here called “Osaketo”. It seems they serve Uwajima taimeshi for lunch. Realizing I had never been in before, I decided to pay them a visit this time.
Hmm, there is a sugidama (a cedar ball hung outside sake breweries and shops) decorating the entrance. Heading down to the basement, there are lots of private rooms! Each private room is quite spacious, giving off the feeling that you could really relax and enjoy yourself even if you came for drinks at night! Very nice.
The taimeshi set — 1,600 yen
Shizuoka cha-soba (green-tea soba) with nine sides — 2,200 yen
Hakko (fermented) karaage gozen — 1,300 yen
Five kinds of fresh fish — 2,000 yen
The saikyo-yaki gindara (sablefish grilled with sweet saikyo miso) set — 1,800 yen
Oh, they have quite a lot more on the menu than I expected. Everything looks so good! Still, I really wanted to eat Uwajima taimeshi, so I chose that. It is great how attentive the menu is to the details — you can choose regular size, large rice, 1.5 times the sea bream, or increase the number of pieces of karaage! By the way, I went with the regular size for the Uwajima taimeshi.
After a short wait, the taimeshi arrived!
They asked if I knew how to eat it, but having eaten it once before, I was sure I would be fine!
Oh! There might be quite a lot of dishes here.
The one on the right is apparently a non-alcoholic amazake (sweet fermented rice drink) cocktail from Hozan Shuzo, I see. I wonder if they had the sugidama hanging outside because of a connection to the brewery? Starting with the amazake cocktail first: it really is non-alcoholic. Sweet, yet clean and delicious!
Beautiful sea bream slices! I arrange them over the rice, pour the sauce over, crack the egg, and dig in!
Delicious. It had been a while, but taimeshi really is wonderful! Underneath the slices of sea bream is a bed of seaweed, and placing that on top of the rice along with everything else is delicious too.
The salad with a mini korokke (croquette) is delicious too! Really nice.
I can certainly understand feeling like getting extra rice here. Every single side dish is genuinely good.
Finishing off with a comforting bowl of nameko mushroom miso soup, and that was that!
Honestly, the set meals here are delicious. Next time I feel like ordering seven pieces of karaage with a large bowl of rice! In fact, if lunch is this good, I get the feeling you cannot go wrong at night either. If I ever need to organize a drinking party somewhere, I think I will consider this spot. Highly recommended!
Washoku Biyori Osaketo Akasaka (Japanese Cuisine / Akasaka Station, Tameike-sanno Station, Akasaka-mitsuke 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?
