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sanji
Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:15 am

Re: Roppongi - Japanese food
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Inakaya

Addresses -
West : 4-10-11 Roppongi Minato-ku, Tokyo
East : 5-3-4 Roppongi Minato-ku,Tokyo.
Opening hours - 5:00pm to 11:00pm
Phones -
West : 03-5775-1012
East : 03-3408-5040
Menu - No real menu available & prices are not displayed.
Credit cards - OK

This place is "highly recommended" but most tourist guide books, which usually mention that it is "a favorite among foreigners". What those books often forget to mention is that those foreigners are usually giving back the bill to accounting in their company! In my opinion, it is just a very fancy, ludicrously expensive place to have dinner.
This robatayaki (grilled seafood and vegetables) is a traditional restaurant where guests sit around a large irori (hearth), where the food is grilled – directly in front of the customers – by the chefs. Once the dish is prepared, it is delivered using a long wooden paddle. Of course, the place is very noisy as all orders are shouted by the staff. Sure seeing the food being prepared like just this a couple of meters of your seat is an interesting experience. But what you get in your plate, whether it is fish, shrimps, mushrooms or vegetables, has the same taste as a normal izakaya. There is no price list on display.

I went there, rather reluctantly, at the request of friends from abroad who read about this place in the Lonely Planet. We had a rather pleasant evening, until the bill arrived. Without drinking and eating too much, the bill toped 15'000 yens per person – 4 times what I would pay for similar food in most izakaya.
No need to mention I probably will not go back there...

web - www.roppongiinakaya.jp