A note on the words: an izakaya is a Japanese pub, and otoshi is the small appetizer you’re charged for on sitting down — it’s the cover charge, not a scam. An ikesu is a live tank of seawater in the restaurant, so the fish is killed to order. Usuzukuri is sashimi sliced thin enough to see the plate through it; shioyaki means salted and grilled over heat, head and all. Nukazuke are vegetables fermented in a bed of rice bran, sharp and a little sour. Basashi is raw horse, eaten sliced like sashimi with ginger and garlic. Sasami is the chicken tender, the lean strip along the breastbone. And a junmai daiginjo is sake made from rice milled far down — the smaller the polishing number, the more of each grain has been ground away.
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Sasano on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hey, this is Hangover Meshi. When someone tells me they love sake, this is the place I end up recommending — “Sasano” in Nogizaka. I’ve been a few times now (in Japanese), and it’s a favorite of mine — a place that prides itself on fish dishes and sake, which is a very good combination! I was sure my companion would like it. So, booking made, off we go! Standing in front of the shop, though, something felt slightly off. Huh? It looks a bit cleaner than I remember. Maybe the building has had repair work done.
The interior doesn’t seem to have changed much. Step inside and there’s a big ikesu, a live tank for the fish.
Having a live tank inside a building like this is a really fun touch.
I came with someone who loves sake, so we ordered a la carte more or less at random, following whatever sake they picked!
First, something light to drink with. Daikon, carrot, turnip, cucumber. Well, hearing 750 yen does make you pause a bit, but that’s roughly the going rate everywhere these days, which is frightening, lol. I’d miss it if it weren’t on the table, so I want it anyway!
Once the snacks were all out, the first thing we ordered was Suigei, a summer sake. The label is lovely, isn’t it. Being the summer Suigei, it was very clean and easy to drink. Delicious!
Chicken tender dried overnight, then shredded and served. Like pulled chicken ^^. Quite salty.
A junmai daiginjo with the rice polished down to 45 percent. Another summer sake, this time Hatsumago.
Since we were here, we thought we’d have a fish from the tank… and so we ordered the shima-aji, a striped jack. I wondered how big it would be, and it turned out to be a fairly small one, not large at all. They let you choose between usuzukuri — paper-thin sashimi — and shioyaki, salt-grilled, so we asked for half the fish as usuzukuri and half salt-grilled. The usuzukuri is sliced thin enough to see the pattern of the plate through it, but this is a tank fish, after all: killed moments before, with real bite to it. Delicious.
And this is the other half, salt-grilled. It’s good this way too.
And to finish, of course, Zaku, lol.
So, we drank a fair bit more sake than we ate food, and I may have overdone it a little, lol. Great fun. This place brings you water as a chaser without your having to ask, so you can drink water alongside, which is exactly how you end up going through one more bottle than planned. If I find another sake lover, I’ll bring them here too.
Sasano (Izakaya / Nogizaka Station, Roppongi Station, Aoyama-itchome Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
