A note on the words: Hachijojima is an island south of Tokyo. Jizakana-dokoro, part of this shop’s name, means roughly “a place for local fish” — jizakana being fish caught in the waters right there. A teishoku is a set meal built around a main dish with rice, miso soup and small side dishes. Onigiri are rice balls, and shima-zushi is the island’s style of sushi, whose fish is marinated in soy sauce before being pressed onto the rice. Aodai is a white-fleshed fish eaten commonly around these islands, and shima-togarashi is the small chili grown there. Sashimi is raw fish sliced for eating as it is; wasabi is the sharp green horseradish paste served alongside it. Izakaya means a Japanese pub.
Uohachitei Hachijojima main branch on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. So then, what are you supposed to do when you want breakfast on Hachijojima? Ha. Even in central Tokyo (Hachijojima is Tokyo too, mind you, ha) there are not many places open in the morning, so on an island there ought to be hardly any. There are no convenience stores either, I thought — and then I looked it up and there was a place doing breakfast!! Its name: “Uohachitei.” I went, and sure enough there was room! What a splendid establishment!! And they open at 8:30 in the morning! For people who have come to the island to fish, mornings start early, so a place open from that hour is a real help!
Onigiri set — 600 yen
Shima-zushi set — 1,000 yen
Curry rice set — 800 yen
Local-fish fry set — 900 yen
Sashimi set — 900 yen
And the menu is huge, ha!
Being able to eat fried chicken, deep-fried things and curry rice from the morning is splendid!
And on top of that there are ordinary set meals of grilled fish and sashimi, which is lovely. Since I was on the island, I chose the sashimi set.
If you are hunting for breakfast on Hachijojima, the first thing you want to know is what is on offer and what it costs. Here was the morning menu at the time of my visit.
Jizakana-dokoro Uohachiya Hachijojima main branch (formerly Uohachitei) menu
Morning sets
For the mornings when you want the lightest thing going
The luxury of curry in the morning
Island fish, fried
What I ate: tuna and aodai, with miso soup and pickles
A plate that could only be Hachijojima, first thing in the morning
* Prices are as they were at the time of my visit. Please check with the shop for the current ones.
From the morning you can pick fried chicken, deep-fried dishes, even curry rice, and there are also ordinary set meals of grilled fish and sashimi. If you have come to the island, the right answer is a set with local fish in it, no hesitation — that is what I think.
Well then, after a short wait, here it came!
Oooh — now that is something.
The sashimi is tuna and aodai. When you ask for local fish, it seems aodai is basically always in there.
Along with that, a salad and miso soup. The rice is a pretty generous helping, and with the pickles there you are never short of something to go with it. Starting with the sashimi!
Mmm, as good as ever.
There is wasabi as well, but crushing this shima-togarashi and dissolving it into the soy sauce is also a fine way to go. It is a different kind of kick from the sharp rush of wasabi, and very good indeed. It goes with the rice too, and I think it is a refreshing way of eating sashimi!
The miso soup is made from the fish trimmings. There is a touch of fishiness to it, but if you can eat this in the morning, no complaints.
First, the important part. This shop is now called “Jizakana-dokoro Uohachiya Hachijojima main branch” (the former name was “Uohachitei”). If you go looking for “Uohachitei” on Hachijojima and cannot find it, try searching under this name.
On Hachijojima almost nothing is open in the morning, and there are no convenience stores. In the middle of that, this place serves its morning-and-lunch teishoku from 8:30 in the morning, and is open year-round with no regular closing day. As an option for breakfast on the island, it is a distinctly reassuring one.
Jizakana-dokoro Uohachiya Hachijojima main branch (formerly Uohachitei) menu
About the shop
* Information as of the time of writing. Please check the shop’s Tabelog page for the current details.
It is only five minutes from the airport by car, so you can use it either to land on a morning flight and go straight to breakfast, or for one last island meal before your flight home. It is a stone’s throw from Hachijo Store, so it is also easy to stop by while you are out shopping.
So there you have it: a rare Hachijojima shop where you can get a meal in the morning. Are there others open that early, I wonder? I have a faint feeling that if you searched you might find some, but I suspect that when you want to eat in the morning there is next to nothing besides this place, so if you have a trip to Hachijojima planned, do give it a look, ha! They seem to run as an ordinary izakaya in the evening too, so going for that might be good as well!?
Uohachitei Hachijojima main branch (Izakaya / Hachijojima)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.4
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
