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Imaiya (Ebisu So-Hon-ten)


torakris

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why is that no one got a really clear shot of that foie gras? :blink:

Were we all too busy drooling over it, too eager to eat? :biggrin:

Pretty much...

I took three shots of it while hearing other people breath such phrases as "this is fantastic" and "this alone is worth the price of the meal." I had a feeling that my pictures were blurry, but at that point, I just wanted to eat.

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Alex

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You know, it's times like this I wish eGullet had an option to view a thread without pictures. I've seen the pictures I took about 500 times at this point, and I still have to load every single one of them when I want to read the latest reply to the thread.

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Alex

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You know, it's times like this I wish eGullet had an option to view a thread without pictures. I've seen the pictures I took about 500 times at this point, and I still have to load every single one of them when I want to read the latest reply to the thread.

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Alex

Yeah, I never really thought about it until now. That would be a nice function.

Everytime I post I keep hoping I will push it into a second page! :biggrin:

maybe

this

will

help

!

:biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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Wow, thanks for the pictures and descriptions everybody! I'll really have to join you all for the next get-together.

...Speaking of which, any ideas for the next one? Wa-gyu, shojin-ryori, a tour of Tsukiji with a sushi breakfast?

since you and Helen couldn't make it, why don't you guys decide! :biggrin: I am game for anything.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm dissapointed I was not able to make it out with you folks, but I got around to going to Imaiya on my very last day in Japan; I had some yen to blow and absolutely wanted to take the bragging rights back to Canada. I was astounded by the quality and freshness of the ingredients and the service. My favourite dish was the giant meat ball, mostly because of the awesome looking yolk it came to dip with.

On a seperate note, maybe 90% of the so called Japanese restaurants in Vancouver are even more of a dissapointment in my eyes now, because they fail to recreate the Japan dining experience... and they make bad rice in comparison.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had some friends in from HK last week and took themout to dinner. They were complaining about several things they had not yet gotten a chance to try...curry rice, yaki tori... Well, I wasn't about to take them for curry rice (!) so we went to Imaiya (and took along two Japanese friends as well, making a 6-top in total). This time we sat downstairs in the public area, as we went on short notice and couldn't get a 3rd floor room.

The menu is slightly different, as are the set courses. We each had the 6,300 yen course, which was more food than we could eat, as was the big course when the eGullet group went upstairs. No chicken brains this time, though.

When I asked about foie gras, they said it didn't come with the set. I told them we had been able to substitute it for shiro-riba upstairs and, after a little hesitation and thoughtful sucking of air through teeth, they agreed to do it for us. Wow! It was, again, the highlight of the evening. That giant tsukune was also a highlight. There was so much food that, when the bonjiri came, we had to leave half of it on the table. All in all, I would say the set menus downstairs focus more on yakitori and less on sashimi. Nonetheless, it is the best yakitori I've ever had and probably the best chicken, bar none.

I also had to work hard to get the to serve us the amazing natto we had the prior time. Turns out it is only a feature of the 3rd floor. However, with appropriate exclamations over how it was the best natto I had ever had, they did agree to go off the board and finish our meal with two different types of hosumaki -- nattomaki and umeshisomaki. I had forgotten how good the ume paste was as well.

I was reminded that this place isn't cheap (especially with one guest drinking very good sake and another drinking more beer than I could have handled in two nights), but the incredible quality makes it worth an occasional splurge. This is definitely a place at the head of "must take out-of-town guests to" list.

Jim

Jim Jones

London, England

Never teach a pig to sing. It only wastes your time and frustrates the pig.

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Wow, thanks for the pictures and descriptions everybody! I'll really have to join you all for the next get-together.

...Speaking of which, any ideas for the next one? Wa-gyu, shojin-ryori, a tour of Tsukiji with a sushi breakfast?

since you and Helen couldn't make it, why don't you guys decide! :biggrin: I am game for anything.

Like Kristin, I think you guys should get to decide, but (if I may be so presumptuous) I would definitely vote for a Tsukiji visit followed by breakfast. I've eaten sushi in the neighborhood a few times for lunch, but never made the morning trek. And, yes, I am appropriately shamed. To think I used to give tours of the Seoul fish market (Noryangjin) to Koreans!

Jim

Edited: Spelink danmit!

Edited by jrufusj (log)

Jim Jones

London, England

Never teach a pig to sing. It only wastes your time and frustrates the pig.

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Jim,

I am glad you got to go again!

I am going to check out the Azamino area one when I get back to Japan.

my husband is addicted to that natto! :biggrin: When I talked to him on the phone the other morning he said he just ordered 10 more packs, he seems to be living on this while we are gone. My friend who is from Yamagata is going home for a trip in August and has promised to bring him back some more.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I ate in the downstairs section at the bar and ordered the 6000 yen tasting menu. It came with all their standard yakitori skewers (partially rare breast, liver, skin, cartillage etc...). The tasting menu also came with chicken kim chi and livers for an appetizer, chicken sushi, a rice soup with pickled plums (I was given a couple of choices for a topping with the rice), and ice cream and a slice of cantalopue for dessert. On top of all that I ordered the raw brains with four dipping sauces and the rare chicken breast with golden sesame seeds. It's over a month now since I was there so I can't remember the details that well (I should have taken more pictures but was too busy eating :) ) I wish I had the cash to try all the odd bits and pieces of the chicken listed on the menu, because the chance of trying hearts and brains in Canada is slim.

I think the downstairs section is more geared towards men who come to drink after work. I say this because the menu seemed to be missing some of the non-skewered dishes you folks enjoyed earlier, although if I could speak Japanese I might have been able to ask for them.

It was a great meal and I have an urge to visit Tokyo again just for the purpose of eating there.

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  • 5 months later...
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