Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Yoshihashi

We had heard about Yoshihashi Sukiyaki (One Michelin Star) a while ago and it was on our to-eat list. We were worried about there possibly being a long queue of eager patrons but thankfully it was an hour or so before closing time (lunch session) and we were pretty much the only people there at the time. It soon filled up with some wealthier Japanese though. Talk about good timing.

Please note that for some reason, unfortunately this is one of the few places where foreigners are not really welcome. We felt a little uneasy when we were greeted at the entrance and are not sure if it is a new policy because of some incident involving foreigners, but we were shown a laminated card that said you must be accompanied by someone who is fluent in Japanese if you wish to dine there. Maybe too many questions were asked about the Japanese-only menu or people were too boisterous/loud or it could even be the usage of phones as there was also a no-mobile phone policy in place.

We suppose we managed to get in and be served as we were not rude in any way and were quick to point out that we were there for only one thing (showed her photo of sukiyaki set on phone). The waitress was most polite and even though she spoke to us in Japanese, helped us out in the end. The service was definitely top notch but the earlier incident at the entrance did put us off a little. We had:

Sukiyaki beef lunch set - You are served a small serving of pickles, a small bowl with a raw egg in which to use as a dipping sauce, steamed rice, miso soup and a copper pot filled with thin slices of beef, chrysanthemum greens, tofu, mushrooms and onion. It was very generous, extremely tasty and very good value for such a wonderful upmarket establishment. The beef was succulent, meltingly tender and full of flavour. Everything was prepared and cooked beautifully. However, if you don't speak/read Japanese, it will be most difficult for you to order anything else. Time to learn Japanese?

Service: :star :star :star :star ½
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star 

Type of venue: Sukiyaki,  Japanese

English menu: No.

Worth a return visit? Yes (If we can master Japanese by then.)

Address: 1-5-25 Motoakasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

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