Isemoto: Lunch or Dinner, It’s a Winner!
Published: February 8, 2019
You can’t beat a good izakaya (Japanese-style pub) and Isemoto is a very good izakaya indeed. Tucked away just off Meiji Street and a brisk ten-minute walk from Minami-sunamachi station, it started life as a sake shop before being reborn as a restaurant in 1971. The original building was completely refurbished four years ago. On a recent early spring day, I had the pleasure of dropping in for lunch.
The surprisingly smart facade somehow whetted an appetite and was enhanced by the sunny walk from the station.
Yet, it didn’t prepare one for the sparkling and brilliantly spotless interior, which is cunningly designed, with one large open room and several smaller rooms separated by curtains. Ideal for those wishing to enjoy more privacy.
These comfortable and airy rooms make Isemoto a perfect location for a year-end party, an after-work drink, or any kind of social get-together.
The lunch menu is short but sweet: fresh seafood and sushi rice bowl (kaisendon), beef tendon curry (gyu-suji), stewed beef intestines (gyu-motsu nikomi), pork and ginger sauté, deep fried chicken with sweet and sour sauce and fish of the day, either grilled or simmered.
I plumped for the seafood bowl set lunch for 1350 yen, as did nearly all the other lunchtime diners. The bowl contained both fatty tuna and red akami tuna, chubby sweet shrimp, salmon, gizzard shad (a type of herring), egg and a scattering of salmon roe. The fish, served on a mound of sushi rice, was delicious, fresh, and extremely tasty. It came with miso soup, pickled cabbage, hijiki salad, and a green salad. Not only was the lunch hugely enjoyable, it was also both very healthy and filling.
“It’s our number one best seller,” said the friendly and attentive staff member who served me. “The contents may vary slightly depending on the season. The beef intestines stew, tuna bowl, and deep-fried chicken are the next most popular.”
While the lunch menu at Isemoto may be short, the dinner menu is anything but. It’s enormous and covers all the usual izakaya favourites and more, from deep-fried fish, seafood, meat and vegetables, to yakitori (grilled meat) skewers, grilled fish, salads, tempura and the like. You can even have rice balls (onigiri) onigiri and miso soup if you so wish. The beef intestine is a popular item for both lunch and dinner.
There’s a wide choice of seasonal sashimi at very reasonable prices.
As befits a former sake shop, the selection is both wide and interesting. Akita, Saga and Niigata breweries are represented here as is the Tokyo-made Sawanoi Daikarakuchi from Okutama, noted for its extreme dryness. There’s also a fine selection of shochu, wine, sparkling wine, beer and soft drinks for those who prefer them.
The customers at Isemoto are mainly local residents and business people at lunchtime, with more of the latter in the early evening. It’s a busy place; the tables filled up quickly even before noon.
That’s no surprise though: a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere, great food, pleasant interior and appealing prices will always attract customers. Lunch or dinner, alone or in a crowd, you can’t go wrong at Isemoto.
Story and Photos by Stephen Spencer
