We decided to take advantage of a weaken Japanese yen to try Japanese cuisines that would usually cost an arm and a leg back home, things like sushi, wagyu sukiyaki, and robatayaki.

Located at Nishishinjuku (West Shinjuku) is a very good robatayaki restaurant called Hibachi. Located on the second floor of a very narrow building, you would never believe it’s there until you really arrived.

Origins of Robatayaki 炉端焼き

Robatayaki 炉端焼き roughly translates to ‘fireside cooking.’ It is the authentic Japanese technique of slow-grilling food items over hot charcoal. It originated centuries ago in Hokkaido. It is usually done in an open hearth called an irori or on charcoal grills. So I was surprised by the tight space that they have.

Hibachi 火鉢

The hibachi (火鉢, fire bowl) is a traditional Japanese heating device. It is a brazier which is a round, cylindrical, or box-shaped, open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning charcoal. It is filled with incombustible ash, and charcoal sits in the center of the ash. Hibachi were used for heating, not for cooking. Sometimes, people placed a tetsubin (鉄瓶, iron kettle) over the hibachi to boil water for tea. Later, by the 1900s, some cooking was also done over the hibachi.

Irori 囲炉裏

 The irori 囲炉裏 (いろり) a traditional Japanese sunken hearth fired with charcoal and is used for cooking food. it is essentially a square, stone-lined pit in the floor, equipped with an adjustable pothook – called a jizaikagi (自在鉤) and generally consisting of an iron rod within a bamboo tube – used for raising or lowering a suspended pot or kettle by means of an attached lever which is often decoratively designed in the shape of a fish. These days, they are adopted in the robatayaki restaurant as a cooking top.

ノドグロ 原始焼 Nodoguro Genshiyaki Course

If you like nodoguro like I do, this premium omakase set is for you. Formally called akamutsu 赤鯥 in Japan, the blackthroat seaperch is a white fish with sweet fatty flesh that is sought after for grilling. It is also called nodoguro ノドグロ because of its black throat.

八寸 Hassun (Appetisers)

The Hassun 八寸 (はっすん) course is actually the second course of a traditional kaiseki to showcase the seasonality and the technique of the chef and the team. Since this was not really a proper kaiseki, it was presented as the appetiser course with seven little treats and a shokuzen sake 食前酒.

食前酒 Shokuzen sake – This aperitif was a sweet cold sake that was served before the kaiseki proper and used for a pre-dinner toast.

炭火焼 野菜 Charcoal-grilled Vegetables

The first of the three items that were grilled with charcoal fire was a beautiful shiitake mushroom with parmigiano reggiano shaving. Great idea for my next BBQ.

するめ烏賊の肝わた味噌焼き Grilled Squid’s Liver With Miso

Usually when I ordered this in an izakaya to go with my beer, the ika no shiokara イカの塩辛 salted fermented squid gut came straight out of the refrigerator on a small saucer. Here, it was placed in a small earthen pot and heated on a small shichirin 七輪 charcoal grill. I was so afraid that it would be overcooked and turned chewy so I was constantly watching the doneness. But the lightly grilled squid was delicious.

鮮魚の箸休め Sashimi “Chopstick Rest”

The next course acts as the palate cleanser as well as the sashimi course. Served under the ponzu jelly was several slices of hamachi (yellowtail) sashimi, topped with chopped myoga (torch ginger), chaibu (chives) and shallots.

The taste of the ponzu covered everything. The combination of the aromatics worked very well together.

原始焼 金沢産 ノドグロ Grilled Kanazawa Blackthroat Perch

The chef tried to achieve “grilled fish tasted at the old dock”. With the expert sprinkling of salt and charcoal grilling skills of the chef, the outside was crispy and fragrant, and the inside was tender and juicy. Excellent eat, very fresh that you do not need the kabosu (calamansi). If you really like this fish (like I do), there’s also a nodoguro kaiseki course ノドグロ懐石 available.

本日の逸品 Special of the Day

The soup course was the special of the day with a clear stock made from fish bones sprinkled with coloured rice sprinkles ぶぶあられ (bubu arare); the broth tasted rich, sweet, and comforting. In the soup was some soba and a piece of deep fried something that I cannot remember.

原始焼 鴨肉 Grilled Duck

The premium set came with grilled duck 原始焼 鴨肉. The duck breast was grilled to perfection, with a crispy skin comparable to Peking duck and yet the meat was just right, tender and juicy.

ずわい蟹といくら土鍋ご飯 Snow Crab & Salmon Roe Claypot Rice

The rice course is this claypot cooked rice 土鍋ご飯 (donabe gohan) with shredded snow crab ずわい蟹 (zuwaikani) and marinated salmon roe いくら (ikura). I was shown the whole pot for photo taking, but you only get one portion (one bowl). But you can ask for more if you really like it.

You don’t get this in their standard kaiskei course – either pay an upgrade or go straight to the premium course. But if you have tasted this before, there’s nothing to shout about. There’s none of the smoky claypot flavour or sweetness (amami) from the snow crab. It was a nice pot of rice but all the flavours came from the ikura. I would love to try their seasonal claypot cooked rice 季節の土鍋ご飯 next time.

甘味 Dessert

This wasn’t much of a dessert than something to signify the end of the omakase. The sweet green tea jelly with the warm matcha 抹茶 ceremonial green tea were spot on to cleanse the palate for the next appointment.

Although this was the first time I came here but I was blown away by the CP value. You can taste the true Japan and try robatayaki dishes cooked in front of you with super honest prices. Not 100% english friendly but they’ll do 200% to let you enjoy the dinner trying to explain the traditional dishes in a simple but effective way. Click on the link to reserve.

Genshiyaki Hibachi 原始焼 火鉢
7-9-13 Ishikawa Bldg. 2F, Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku 160-0021 Tokyo Prefecture
〒160-0023 東京都新宿区西新宿7-9-13 石川ビル 2F
Tel :  +81 50-5447-0805 / 03-6380-2238

Visited Nov 2023

#tokyo #東京 #도쿄 #Токио #tokyorestaurant #shinjuku #新宿 #신주쿠 #shinjukurestaurant #izakaya #이자카야 #酒馆 #酒館 #таверна #tavern