A note on the words: an izakaya is a Japanese pub, and otoshi is the small appetizer that arrives unasked and shows up on the bill — it’s the cover charge, not a scam. Shiro Honoka is a brand name; here it is the beer. Rakkyo are small pickled shallots, eaten a couple at a time as a palate-sharpener. Chamame is a variety of soybean picked green as edamame, sweeter and more fragrant than the usual kind. Shinjo is a light, springy dumpling of pounded fish or shellfish, here made with shrimp and fried. Ohitashi means a green vegetable blanched and dressed in dashi, served cool; Malabar spinach is a slightly slippery green leaf. Iburigakko is daikon radish smoked over a fire and then pickled, so it eats like a savory, crunchy cured thing. Dried squid is torn into strips and eaten as a drinking snack. And a night out in Tokyo runs in stages: a first party, then a second stop afterward.
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Koma on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hey, this is Hangover Meshi. I can already hear someone saying “how many times are you going to go there!” — but it’s Koma again ^^ Well, it’s easy to get to and easy to just wander into, so I keep ending up here. This time I thought I’d order with an eye to picking dishes a bit different from last time. Tonight we’re at a table right by the entrance. Squeeze up and it seats three or even four.
The rakkyo pickled in soy sauce was crunchy and good. We pickle them at home too, and they really are delicious.
Beer! Cold and delicious!
Edamame. The one dish you want to get in first, whatever else you order.
Raw oysters. No prickle or sharpness to them at all — they went down beautifully.
There were three of us, so they divided it up into a bowl for each of us.
Scallop, sea urchin, horse mackerel, bonito and red sea bream — that’s the lineup!
Malabar spinach has that slippery, slightly viscous quality, and it’s lovely, isn’t it. Delicious.
It comes with mashed potato. They split this three ways for us too, so it arrived in bite-sized pieces.
Divided between three people it turned into the tiniest little pile, haha.
Two slices, ha.
Meltingly soft!
So there you go, another place I just wandered into. If you come here as the first stop of the night, when it’s busy the food does start to come out slowly, so the second stop of the night might be exactly the right time for it. Coming here at the point where you’ve already drunk plenty and you’re wondering whether you’ve had enough — that’s when the satisfaction is highest, portions being a little on the small side and all. That’s what I thought, anyway.
Koma (Izakaya / Azabu-juban Station, Roppongi Station, Akabanebashi 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?
