[Japan] Dinner @ Asou (大衆割烹 あそう)

Location Review:
Tokyo Shinjuku Kabukicho 1-22-4
東京都新宿区歌舞伎町1-22-4

Another day in Tokyo, means another dinner! After a long day at Tokyo Bay, we treked all the way back to Shinjuku where we stayed. In the same area as where we had ramen the first night, we found a nice little restaurant.


I was really attracted to this particular restaurant because of the display of live seafood outside, and there was also a guy outside the restaurant grilling shrimp on a barbeque looking grill. The combination of the two sealed the deal for me!

Entrance of the restaurant

Seafood outside the restaurant

Chef grilling seafood

The inside of the restaurant was very homely feeling. Dim lighting, dark wooden decor, and tons of ink written signs of menu items. It's exactly how I imagined it would be from watching Jap dramas.

When they knew we couldn't speak Japanese, they gave us another menu that resembled a photo album. Inside there were pictures and English translations of each dish.

"Una Don" (980 Yen, or $13 CAD)

A solid eel rice set dinner, which is equally tasty and filling. They give you more rice than you have eel to eat with it, but the eel is nicely cooked and well marinated with a sweet glaze. This is also the first time I've had parsley in my miso soup. I'm not a big fan of parsley, so I didn't enjoy that part too much.

Mixed Sashimi (2,980 Yen or $40 CAD)

Left: Hamachi and Squid Sashimi, Right: Scallop Sashimi 

 Left: Seared and Regular Tuna Sashimi,  Right: Octopus Sashimi

Rob and I really enjoyed this. While $40 CAD may be a bit steep, I thought it was worth it. The quality was fresh, and I really appreciated the presentation with all the flowers. I wonder if they were edible? My favorite was the scallop. Straight out of the shell, with a hint of lemon --yums!

Grilled Ninshin (880 Yen or $12 CAD )

We wanted to order something that came off that grill from outside after seeing a lot of other tables order grilled clams, prawns, and mantis shrimp.  After a tough decision making process we opted for the fish.

The meat on this is very dense, and I'm not sure if its due to being overcooked of if it's just the nature of the fish. The natural flavours of the fish were very fresh, but I found the cook slightly ruined this by oversalting the outside when grilling. Natural flavours are best when it comes to eating fish!

Look at these bones! They were so thin and hairlike, that it really made eating the fish an annoying experience.  Would definitely think twice before ordering this again.

This meal ended up being around $65 CAD which after going to the Tsukiji Market, felt expensive. However, the food was quite good. After coming here, I offer one tip for anyone going to Japan is not to order too much. It's pretty easy to get caught up wanting to try everything on the menu. I think Rob and I often overestimate how much we can eat, and underestimate how filling sashimi and sushi can be. On paper 30 peices doesn't seem like a lot, but  we were definitely proven wrong. The 3 items ended up being a lot of food, and we probably could have done without the fish, my least preferred of the three.

Asou business card

Before leaving I got a business card from their counter, and with my limited Japanese-101 knowledge from University, I recognized the characters "Fugu". It really made me wish that I saw this business card before ordering. Reason being is that "Fuga" actually means blowfish, and it was something I wanted to try Japan! I wonder why it wasn't on the foreigner's menu? I would've definitely tried it if I knew. Anyone want to share their experience?