Tanetsu
It's a kaiseki restaurant - they specialize in small dishes of traditional Japanese food. The restaurant has mostly counter seating that allows you to watch the chefs prepare the plates. For lunch, they offer 4 different sets: Vegetable course for 2500 JPY, Otemai course for 3000, Sushi course for 4000 and Omakase course for 7000. All the courses include homemade yuba (tofu skin), miso soup, dessert and coffee. The rest of the course depends on what is in season. The Vegetable and Otemai main dish will be a large tray with many small pre-made cold/warm dishes (pickles, vegetables, tofu, etc) and will usually include at least one hot item. The Sushi and Omakase course are made fresh when ordered. The sushi course is generally 7 pieces of sushi and one roll. The Omakase course is generally 7 dishes that the chef chooses. When I ordered it, I received a very tasty aubergine with miso paste, homemade tofu done in 2 styles, sashimi, unagi (grilled eel), tempura, corn and rice in a clay pot with pickles.
Tanetsu's Omakase course was excellent from start to finish. Other restaurants might specialize in one or two dishes but Tanetsu excels at making a variety of tasty Japanese dishes extremely well.
They have a menu in English and some of the waiters do speak English but not all. Like most Japanese restaurants, payment is made at the cashier by the entrance. The restaurant is often completely booked for lunch so a reservation is recommended (it can be done online in English using Ikyu or Tablecheck).
Suzunami Tokyo Midtown
Suzunami specializes in saikyoyaki which is grilled fish that has been marinated in miso paste. The price ranges from 1650 - 2530 JPY - each set comes with a piece of saikyoyaki and the price differences depend on the type of fish or small side dishes. I recommend the basic set for 1650 JPY or the Katsuo set for 1800 JPY which includes 3 pieces of katsuo with a citrus soy dipping sauce You can upgrade the plain rice to a 16-grains rice bowl for an extra 50 JPY.
Note: There is usually a queue at noon during the weekend but it generally clears up quickly.
After you receive your food order, the staff will give you the bill. When you finish eating, take the bill with you to the cashier which is just outside the restaurant door. This cashier serves both the restaurant customers and the shoppers buying takeout items from the display counter.
For my list of restaurants, check out my new map.
