Banya 番屋 @ Akasaka

My favourite way to end a busy day in Tokyo, with a cold drink and wonderful small bites.

Banya 番屋 is a mid-market izakaya chain that features only private rooms for that after-office gathering. This location near Akasaka is near to my office and a perfect spot for sharing a meal and a drink with colleagues after a hard day at the office.

Izakaya serves small plates for sharing and some large nabe (hotpot) just like Spanish tapas and paellas. A good izakaya like Banya would have something for everyone.

After we ordered our drinks and food (from a tablet), the mandatory otoshi was served. A small piece of homemade tofu (about the size of a mahjong tile) with sansho wasabi, not quite a wow starter.

鮮魚鬼盛り Deluxe Platter

Eight different types of the freshest fishes – honmaguro 本まぐろ bluefin tuna, kanpachi かんばち greater amberjack, aji 鯵 horse mackerel, salmon サーモン salmon, Aori ika あおりいか bigfin reef squid, hokkikai 北寄貝 surf clam, kinmedai 金目鯛 splendid alfonso, madai 真鯛 sea bream – were presented in this deluxe platter. The fish selection was based on the daily shipment from Toyosu market, and only the best were selected for sashimi. Freshest of the fresh, you cannot get it fresher outside of Japan.

炭火串焼き Charcoal Grilled Skewer

Next up, five different yakitori skewers – bonjiri (chicken rear), hatsu (heart), negima (thighs with leeks), tsukune (meatball) and liba (liver). Everyone’s favourite tsukune was carefully skewered and grilled over binchotan charcoal fire. Have to eat them hot, but these were not the best ones I have tasted in Tokyo, not even close.

若竹煮 Boiled Kelp and Bamboo Shoots

Wakatakeni 若竹煮 is a classic nimono (simmered foods) from Kyoto that celebrates the Kyoto bamboo shoots that become available in spring. Bamboo shoots and seaweed freshly harvested in spring are called ‘a perfect match in the early spring’ 春先の出会い物, so they are often used together in nimono. Lovely, and eat them while they last.

ホタルイカ 酢味噌 Firefly Squid with Vinegar Miso

My favourite appetiser, firefly squid packs a lot of flavours and texture in one small package. A signal for springtime, Hotaru Ika ホタルイカ Firefly Squid from Toyama 富山 is sought after throughout Japan for its seasonality. The bioluminescent creature will make its appearance for a brief period before disappearing against to wait for the next spring. 

山菜 天ぷら Wild Vegetable Tempura

The tempura consisted of yamaimo 山芋 (mountain yam), yomogi よもぎ(mugwort) and warabe ワラビ (bracken fern). Delicious.

厚切り長崎雲仙ハムカツ Thick-Sliced Nagasaki Unzen Ham Cutlet

ハムカツ Ham cutlet made a resurgence in Japan in recent times due to the popular TV series, “Midnight Diners”. Although it was considered a “poor man’s dish” compared to トンカツ (pork cutlet) in the early 昭和 Showa days, it’s been a staple menu in 食堂 (Japanese diners), and for many it is still a favourite tsumami つまみ (side dish to go with a drink) alongside a ハイボール highball or a cold glass of beer. 厚切りハムカツ Thick-Sliced Ham Cutlet made with 長崎雲仙ハム (Unzen Ham from Nagasaki) was served with mayo, pickled gerkhins and capers instead of the usual Worcestershire sauce. A good and satisfying eat.

鶏の唐揚げ Deep-Fried Chicken Thigh

Only fresh drumstick meat of locally raised chickens is used for their karaage 唐揚げ. There are two flavours you can choose – soy sauce and salt – and we settled the lesser known soy sauce. After being fried speedily in low heat, the chicken pieces were fried once more time in 200 degrees high temperature oil to produce the crispy coating and the juicy core.

焼鳥 Yakitori

Directly translated to mean ‘grilled bird’, yakitori has humble beginnings on the streets where morsels of chicken were skewered and cooked over charcoal. Bunya used chickens delivered daily from Toyosu market from specialist vendors of Japanese breed of chicken. Not the best ones in Tokyo I have tried, but they were good enough.

番屋特製もつ鍋 Banya Special Motsunabe

It was a pot with a lot of ingredients that included cabbage, burdock, chicken, and tofu. But it was the plump texture of the small intestines is sought after by many Japanese diners, but the motsunabe もつ鍋 (offal stew) often leaves the diners smelling like garlic after the meal. The special thing about Banya’s motsunabe was the use of “odourless” garlic that gave the stew the flavours but not the breathe. We added mentaiko 明太子 (spicy cod roe) and it gave the soup another dimension.

Banya does not use any ready-made soup stock. The dashi stock 出汁 (だし) is painstakingly extracted from ingredients that provided the umami that cannot be chemically reproduced and it can be tasted in the broth of the nabe.

We liked the fact that all the dining areas are private, from 2 seaters to 56 seaters. Food menu changes with the season, and most of the items were quite good. Overall a good place for a drink and a meal.

Koshitsu Izakaya Banya Akasaka 個室居酒屋 番屋 赤坂店
Parosville 1F, 2-14-34 Akasaka Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052 Tokyo
〒107-0052 東京都港区赤坂2-14-34 パロスビル1F
Tel : +81 03-3585-8781

Visited Apr 2024