Soiryori Akihitan @ Shinagawa

My izakaya tour continued to a really small tavern that was always packed. The decor was spartan, and the ryori did not seem very impressive. But the laughters that came through the veil attracted me into it.

All izakaya gave a small starter as part of the “levy”. It was a surprising delicious scallop with sesame yuzu sauce and broccolini.

Oden (おでん) is a Japanese one-pot dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon, konjac, and processed fishcakes stewed in a light, soy-flavored dashi broth. Oden is often sold from food carts, some izakayas also serve it, and dedicated oden restaurants exist.

The dish was introduced to Taiwanese cuisine during Japanese rule and is referred to in Taiwanese Hokkien as 黑輪. More recently, oden is offered in convenience stores where it is sold as 関東煮.

I picked the usual 大根 daikon (my favourite oden ingredient), ゆで玉子 boiled egg, 竹輪（ちくわ) Chikuwa fishcake, 豆腐 tofu and もちきんちゃくMochi kinchaku (rice cake in tofu skin). They had been sweetly infused by the umami-filled dashi stock.

The yaki ika (grilled squid) was quite bland. I have tasted better.

Stewed cow intestine 牛の煮込み腸 may sound like a disgusting dish, but the intense flavour that came from the stew was so good with beer.

Every bit of the stew was delicious and tender. The flavour was thoroughly infused into the ingredients.

Grilled mackerel 焼きサバ was quite common.

Grilled onigiri 焼きおにぎり was really good. Good seasoning with hint of shiso.

The place was managed by two lovely ladies that took orders as well as cook for all of us. If you speak Japanese, they will also engage you in friendly banter. That’s where all the laughters were coming from.

From the stack of sochu, you can see that the place was frequented by regulars.

Not really a place to go if you cannot understand any Japanese. And the food wasn’t fantastic. And can be pricey for that quality.

Soiryori Akihitan 創意料理 赤北ん
〒108-0074 東京都港区高輪3-26-33 京急第10ビルB1