Izakaya

    An izakaya is a Japanese bar, and one of my favorite places to eat. Not that I like all izakayas, for they are as varied as bars and pubs are anywhere else. Some izakayas cater to younger people, some to office workers, and others to a more diverse clientele. Some have really great food while others have food that you would only want to put inside your body after an adequate number of drinks. I obviously like the ones that serve great food. 

    In Japan, it's typical for restaurants to specialize. Just as you would go to a ramen shop for only ramen, you would do the same for soba (buckwheat noodles) or yakitori (grilled chicken). The same for grilled eel, sushi, pork cutlets, udon, tempura, etc. These restaurants will all do one thing but do them well. You won't see many Japanese places with eclectic menus. The izakaya is unique in this aspect and usually serves many different types of dishes in small portions. Their varied menu gives them more creative latitude too, so it's fun to discover Japanese flavors presented in novel and modern ways. This is one of the main reasons I like izakayas. 

    The downside of izakayas is that they can be really smoky inside. They are not places you would want to go with little kids. Anyways, they are places where you would want to sit, talk, and eat slowly - things that are difficult to do with toddlers. Because of this, and because izakayas are part of the nightlife establishment, we haven't been to even one since moving to Japan. So it was really very exciting when we handed the kids over to the grandparents on Saturday and headed to our neighborhood izakaya, Kogane. 

    Kogane is a small izakaya that uses variety meats in its menu, which includes many other things such as seafood, vegetables, and noodles. They have a good selection of sake, which pairs nicely with the food. Kogane is also a non-smoking establishment, which is great even if you don't have kids. There are several options for seating: floor, bar, or table. We chose the bar. 

    The food is some of the most delicious and interesting I've ever had. Even the ordinary items like onigiri and truffle fries are really well made. One particularly memorable dish was thinly sliced tripe and vegetables, chilled, mixed with pesto, topped with walnuts and served as a salad. No photo of that one, unfortunately, but here are other things we ate: 

Onigiri with ume (pickled plum).

Bonito sashimi in the front and braised beef tendon and daikon soup in the back. 

Truffle fries.

Japanese horse mackerel, fried and served with Japanese tartar sauce.

Grilled duck with negi. 

    As for drink, I had an organic lemon sour and a shared flask of sake. We chose a sake based on their recommendation. I know nothing about sake and rarely drink it, so there is not much basis for comparison. The only thing I can say about it is that it was light and sweet and paired beautifully with the food. 

    Given that I had an organic lemon sour, you can likely guess that this particular izakaya belongs to a newer breed of izakayas. Kogane's food and atmosphere reflects modern sentiments for fine-casual dining while retaining the essence of izakaya culture. Like Tokyo itself, it is a flattering mix of the new and old. 

    Izakaya food is rarely pretentious. It's first and foremost about flavor and enjoyment (and in some cases, simply putting something in your stomach to absorb the alcohol). In the case of this izakaya, I love that it could transform a humble ingredient like tripe into a great dish that most people would enjoy. Here's to a nice night out and many more to come.