Wawa 和輪 @ Tokyo

After participating in the annual Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival 隅田川花火大会, I found myself stuck in the waves of people wanting to get onto the public transport. I then decided to go look for supper, and many had the same idea. Then I found this izakaya in the shadows of the Skytree.

When I walked into Wawa Izakaya 和輪居酒屋, everyone was glued to the live telecast of highlights of the Fireworks Festival. The 2.5hr fireworks bonanza had worked up a hunger. But the boss explained that they did not do dinner service and there’s a cover charge. I just said I needed a drink and some snacks. He still seemed worried.

With my limited Japanese, I managed to order a beer and settled myself at the corner of the counter. Started with my usual ice cold beer and then looked at the menu in more details. Mainly sashimi and cooked items. They also had a daily special list on the wall, and an appetiser selection which was ¥500 for 3 items.

There’s always nothing wrong with ordering sashimi in these intimate izakayas. It’s a little tricky to describe the difference between izakaya, bars and restaurants. You could say that the purpose of an izakaya is to drink alcohol with food, whereas you don’t necessarily need to drink at a restaurant, and you may not find full meals at a bar. While you do not technically have to drink alcohol at an izakaya, you may receive a stern look if you don’t order a drink, or let you glass goes empty.

Here’s the three appetisers that I could recognised from the Japanese words. Potato salad, eggplant and okra.

Here’s another izakaya favourite of mine, but I don’t know how to order a bowl of rice when they did not have onigiri (rice ball) to go with these salted squid guts.

Among the today’s special was 舞茸 maitake. I heard the word tempura when I asked for maitake, I immediate said yes. It was delicious.

This is where my limited Japanese got myself into trouble. I wanted to order grilled fish and got myself the grilled garlic instead. On the menu, it was written 魚焼きグリルでにんにくのホイル焼 which I saw the first two words, and thought it was grilled fish.

It turned out to be whole bulb of garlic grilled with salt on a fish grill. Well, that’s all part of the fun. An old gentleman sitting next to me tried to start a conversation, and when he realised I could not speak more than what the menu had, he switched to limited English and we had a good laugh.

Overall the food was not bad, the atmosphere was good, and the people were friendly in the cosy izakaya. And by the time I finished my food and drinks, I went on my way back to Shinagawa. And here’s the video of the crowd at Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival 隅田川花火大会 and my own video montage of the fireworks.

和輪
1 Chome-13-10 Oshiage, Sumida City, Tokyo 131-0045, Japan
Tel : +81 90-8011-4331

Visited Jul 2023

#押上 #居酒屋 #一人呑み #日本酒 #海鮮 #スカイツリータウン #ランチ #生本鮪 #刺身 @wawaoyagi