illi Haku Asakusa

Asakusa is a second hometown for the chef, who has lived here since his apprenticeship. He inherited both spirit and skill, along with tools and serving ware, from his mentor. He reveres the old teachings of the sushi world but does add a few twists of his own. He adds sweet potato shochu to rich soy syrup; to rolled omelette, he adds soy milk. The character for the chef’s surname of ‘Oku’ developed from a combination of the characters for ‘house’, ‘rice’ and ‘palm of hand’; a sign, he contends, that he was destined to run a place where he would fashion rice meals with his hands.

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.

Beloved in Asakusa for three generations, this yoshoku restaurant treats demi-glace sauce as the soul of its kitchen. The most popular dish here is beef stew. Omurice is served with a choice of demi-glace or ketchup, a nod to the legacy shared between the former chef and his guests. The restaurant’s logo, a medieval-style shield adorned with the French tricolour, was inspired by a gift from a regular — a gesture that speaks to the warmth and goodwill of Tokyo’s traditional neighbourhoods.

The name means ‘behind’, as in ‘behind the MICHELIN two-star restaurant out front’. In contrast to HOMMAGE, the purveyor of creative cuisine, noura is a homelike bistro that sticks to the basics. French onion soup, fish quenelle and duck confit are some of the French regional dishes on offer. Steak frîtes, a French comfort food, are a crowd-pleaser. This is French food culture for everyday life.

‘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.

This family has been serving onigiri in Asakusa for three generations. Ingredients are arrayed inside a glass case, as at a sushi shop, to be formed into onigiri on the spot. Offerings range from salmon and dried plum to rarer items such as herring roe pickled in sake lees and opossum shrimp preserved and simmered in sweetened soy sauce. Offering a wide range of ingredients allows customers to choose based on their physical condition; the area was once home to numerous bars and pubs, so customers would drop in for morsels to soothe constitutions punished by a night on the town.

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.