AX-Ojima House-KT0175

Black, white and orange are the tricolore of ‘Watanabe-ism.’ Black represents faith that cannot be tainted; white, the freedom to become any colour; and orange, the flame manipulated by the chef. On offer here is a fusion of French and Edo food cultures. Sobagaki is emulsified using French techniques; local Japanese elements include kaminari-okoshi, a roasted and flavoured mochi cracker; and monaka, a sweet of azuki bean paste sandwiched between crisp wafers. Watanabe-ism has deep roots in Asakusa-Komagata.

An old-school soba shop founded by a Katsushika-born chef. With ‘good food requires good ingredients’ as his credo, he scours Japan end-to-end to find the highest-quality buckwheat, vegetables and seafood. Among his à la carte offerings, he takes pride in temptations such as conger eel, either fried as tempura or simmered. Juwari soba, handmade from raw buckwheat flour, is fine and silky smooth. Everything here, from the crockery to the food to the interior, oozes old-time soba-shop charm. Amidst the old Edo ambience of Ryogoku, a food culture of deep roots and subtle traditions lives on.

‘Tonkatsu is food for the masses’, explains the second-generation chef, as he aims to serve up fare that is familiar and comforting. Copper pots polished till gleaming and plain wooden counters display a craftsman’s spirit. Two pots are used: one containing hot oil and the other cooler oil. Pork loin is shorn of extra fat and thinly battered. Tonkatsu is the star attraction, so no meat is added to the pork miso soup. As the chef works, a photo of his father in chef’s whites watches over him.

‘A backstreet Italian eatery’ is how this trattoria bills itself. The chef professes his love of Tuscany through his cooking, which includes crostini of chicken-liver paste; beef tripe simmered in the Florentine style; Pici, akin to a thick spaghetti, in tomato ragú is a Sienese primo piatto. The meat elegantly grilled over charcoal flame is best enjoyed with a bottle of red wine.

The name ‘Sobakappo’ encapsulates the chef’s career. He draws on his experience in Japanese cuisine to patiently craft stews and salads of cooked vegetables. Combination platters feature an impressive variety of small dishes designed to complement sake, including simmered herring in sweet soy sauce and marinated grilled shrimp. Soba comes in two varieties: seiro soba served on a wickerwork tray or coarse-ground soba. Noodles are made differently according to terroir, accentuating differences in flavour. A soba apprenticeship: laughing, struggling and loving with soba.

The chef loves the culture of soba-mae, which refers to enjoying sake and snacks before the soba arrives. A full range of drinking snacks are available to tempt you, including baked devil’s tongue coated with miso, and simmered beef sinew. Tempura varies with the seasons, ranging from shrimp and conger eel to edible wild plants, young sweetfish, mushroom and oyster. Soba is 100% buckwheat noodles, cut thin. Dipping sauces are varied as well, including sesame, grated yam and curry. Meoto, meaning ‘married couple’ is a popular dish combining soba with udon.

A veteran eel shop loved by Asakusa locals since the early years of the 20th century. The restaurant is named after the previous proprietor, Hatsutaro; by happy coincidence, ‘ogawa’ means ‘little river’, the favoured habitat of eels. The current proprietor’s wife runs the restaurant with her family, preparing kabayaki with a sauce recipe handed down from the founder. It is a pleasure to wait, enjoying appetizers with sake, while the chef grills your eel. The many ‘senjafuda’, slips of paper posted on shrine pillars by worshippers, attest to the shop’s many loyal customers.