The task was to book a restaurant for a group of five during the holiday season in Tokyo.

Given that it was the first Christmas holiday Japan re-opened to international visitors, it was bound to be a tough task. Restaurants were booked full months in advance and finding a table for any group size larger than two people would require some skill. An insider tip would be to try your luck on Google Maps, where select restaurants have made online reservations available for instant booking. Previously, booking a traditional meal required a call in advance using my limited Japanese skills.

I stumbled upon this restaurant on Google Maps, and luckily, it offered online Google Reservations. I was surprised to discover that the restaurant was founded by a Kabuki actor of international acclaim—Ennosuke Ichikawa.

Umaya is a restaurant serving traditional Japanese cuisine in the upscale Akasaka neighbourhood, with Kyushu cuisine as one of its specialties. The restaurant is just off a bustling street, and when you turn off the main street, suddenly, all is quiet, and you’re walking down a stone path to the entrance. It’s hard to imagine that a tranquil setting like this exists in the heart of the city. Paper lanterns illuminate the gates with the Hiragana characters for ‘Umaya.’ You’ll feel as if you wandered into someone’s secret garden until you come upon the sliding wooden door to the restaurant. As you slide it open, lively chatter and laughter escape from the main dining room into the reception area, and waiters politely greet you behind a wooden desk.

You could reserve a private room or sit in the dining room with other tables. It seems that most visitors come with larger parties, so we were surrounded by other tables of six or more. A group of Japanese businessmen sat at the table behind us while a group of elderly friends were happily chatting away over a course meal at our adjacent table.

You can order Kyushu cuisine a la carte or course meals for everyone at the table. We ordered the Kurobuta pork shabu shabu course, with appetizers, noodles and dessert. If you’re hungry from a day of exploring, you could supplement the course with hearty skewers or top up your course meal with the sashimi selection of the day.

The course meal started off with a block of cold tofu from the Karatsu Kawashima Tofu Store. This is followed by two different kinds of appetizers, sashimi gomae (sesame sauce mix), two skewers prepared with different flavours, and the main course—Kurobuta Shabu Shabu.

The server will bring a large pot and boil the water at the table. You can put in the fresh vegetables and pork slices when the water boils. The meat portions are provided depending on the number of people at the table. We were provided with four adult portions (6 slices of meat). As you finish your meat and vegetables, the server will bring a platter of noodles and individual soup bowls. After you boil the noodles, you can put them into the soup and enjoy. A housemade almond tofu wraps up the course meal as a delicately sweet end note.

Since our other meals were in the busy districts of Shinjuku and Shibuya, it was pleasant to take the short train ride out to Akasaka, where it is quieter. Although we came for dinner, it’s said that the restaurant serves Kabuki catering lunch boxes in the afternoon, so you can enjoy a different experience if you visit during the day. A lunch box ranges from 1,300 to 1,750 yen, while a course meal starts from 4,500 per person.

If you’re looking for a brief hideaway from the fast-paced city, Umaya is a great spot to do just that. We hope you enjoy your visit!

VISIT

Umaya Akasaka

4 Chome-2-32 Akasaka, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0052, Japan

+81 3-6229-1661

Photography by Florence Leung