Enjoyed “Hananoka Ouka” at “Sakura” in Asakusa

Good evening.
Thank you very much for reading this blog.

I managed to update it here for 2 days in a row. It’s an achievement after a long time.
My regular business has been very busy for last 1 month, and my body didn’t work on holidays.
I hear that there is something called “seasonal depression” coming from decrease of intake of sunshine. In Tokyo, it’s been cloudy or rainy for last 1 month (at least in weekends), and probably it’s been making my body dull as well……. That’s why I had been missing updating this blog for a while.
Today it was a happy sunny day, so I had power to write another article!

Today I introduce you a restaurant “Kushiyaki Shunsai Sumibi Yakitori Sakura” in Asakusa.

To reach this restaurant, you go out from Tawaramachi Station, and walk straight along Asakusa Dori to Komagatabashi’s direction (or to Sumidagawa River). It’s on the left side after walking for a while.
There are many apartments around the restaurant, so it’s dark in night time compared to the town. But as you can see in the photo above, it’s very bright only in front of this restaurant.

On that day, I was wandering around to find a good place for dinner; and I walked through Senzoku Dori, Hisago Dori, and Kokusai Dori……. I finally reached Asakusa, and I chose a street which I thought I hadn’t been. That’s when I found this radiant place. By the way, the time was half passed ten in the evening.
After I entered, a staff guided me to a counter seat just near the entrance.

It was a comfortable seat because other customers were in the back rooms which I couldn’t see from my seat even though I could hear their voices a little.
It was the middle of July.
It was hot on that day and I was thirsty, and the price of beer was only 290 yen, so I ordered a beer first. It came very soon after I ordered it.

Awwwww…… Beer in summer is soooooo good!
By the way, this restaurant’s beer is “Asahi Super Dry”. I don’t know if that’s because there is Asahi’s head office is close to there.
This is the menu.

This menu was the special of the day, and they had another normal menu. However, I only saw this special menu because a pretty lady staff explained these specials very kindly.
I have a personal rule for myself to follow staffs’ recommends unless I have problems of money. In this case, according to my rule, I ordered their famous specials.
The first one was a salad which was normal menu, not a famous one.

The next one was one of their famous menus, “Fuwatoro Liver”.

I have a bad habit that I only remember the conclusion of people’s talkis, and I forget the middle parts. I don’t remember exactly why this one was their famous menu. I think that the liver was from the local branded chicken “Sakurahime”. When I ate it, I thought that it was cooked by soaking in hot water or something. The outside of the liver was well cooked, and the inside was rare.

Maybe because the liver was fresh, it didn’t have bad smell or flavor. The texture of the inside was something between “creamy” and “sticky”. It was very interesting and nice texture.
The next famous menu was Yakitori (grilled chicken on sticks) of “Sakurahime”.

These chickens were less fat at the first impression, but the deep flavor came after and it was delicious.
The third one was “Namero”.

“Namero” is a Japanese dish of minced raw fish mixed with Japanese seasonings.
It was delicious with rich fat of the fish.
The sake to go with it was,

“Junmai Daiginjo Hananoka Ouka”.
In the normal menu, it was introduced like this.

“The brew master of the maker who had training at a famous brewer in Yamaguchi Prefecture, ‘Dassai’, created this sake staking the brewer’s future on it. Classed in Junmai Daiginjo. The flavor blooms in your mouth like a flower, and the taste is smooth and clear.”

…Well, I can’t miss it, then! I ordered it after beer.
The taste of this sake was dry, but I could also feel slight sweetness, or some other kind of flavor in the dry taste. It didn’t disturb foods like Namero or Yakitori even when I had them together.

I’ve been on diet, and I started feel full at this point which is the result of my daily training. Meanwhile, I liked the staffs’ kind and polite service with smiles so much. They were always nice at taking my orders, and serving drinks and foods.
In such situation, I feel like ordering more, and I usually do…. This is one of the reasons I can’t lose my weight easily.
Well, what I ordered next was,

Kara-age (Japanese deep fried chicken).
I usually order Kara-age when I come to restaurants which are famous for chicken menus like this “Sakura”.
Their Kara-age had unique texture which is not like normal chicken leg and breast. The meat was very soft, but sometimes I could feel crunchy parts.
When I had it in my mouth, flavor of ginger spread. It was a kind of Kara-age which I had never had.

This one above is deep fried bones of mackerel which were used for Namero.
When Namero was served, the staff asked me if I liked to have the remaining bones deep fried, and I took their offer.
I see this kind of service at restaurants of higher class, but I don’t see it often at reasonable Izakaya restaurants.
This restaurant had other detailed services. For example,

They showed the details of the meat and seasonings they serve,

and introduced the chefs (It was their personal information, so I edited the photo). They were trying to show much about themselves and their services.
We can know about the restaurants, and also we feel familiar with them more.
Lastly, I ordered

Shio (=salt) ramen (ramen noodles with white soup flavored by salt) to finish up my meal.
This “Sakura” was a wonderful restaurant with bright comfortable place, nice foods, inexpensive drinks, the staffs’ brilliant service, and positive attitude toward the visitors.
I left the restaurant thinking that I would come more often if it was closer to Asakusa Station.