Tofu kaiseki under the shadow of the Tokyo Tower

For lunch today, I decided to book a room at Shiba Tofu-ya Ukai, a quaint Japanese restaurant with a magnificent traditional Japanese garden in the middle. As this week was still early winter, the Japanese maple trees in the garden were still bright red and golden, and the fall colors were still on display throughout the garden grounds and around the pond. 

We passed the gift shop selling all things tofu, and walked into the main entrance of the restaurant. The main lobby was beautiful, an old structure with dark wooden beams across the ceiling and dark wood floors. To one side were three rooms for tea ceremonies, one even had a pot boiling over the charcoal stove.

Our waitress, clad in kimono and speaking fluent English, led us down the winding corridors into a different wing of the restaurant, past small garden displays and to our private dining room. The room was large enough for four patrons, with a full view of the garden. In the summer time, the glass door could be kept open to allow the patrons to enjoy the fresh air and take in the serene landscape before their eyes.

Not feeling to hungry, we ordered the lighter of the two set meals, the Take course, at 5500yen per person.
Our waitress returned shortly with copies of the menu in English, and then set the table for our lunch. And so our gastronomic adventure began.

The lunch menu consisted of tofu prepared in different ways, each course a tasty delight in itself. The standout was the cooked silken tofu in seasoned tofu milk. The tofu milk broth was full of flavor and tasted as good as some of the best pork tonkatsu ramen broth I've had the pleasure of trying. Simply amazing. 

So, now I've found two very good tofu restaurants in Tokyo, Goemon for a cold winter's night feasting over a hot pot, and Tofu-ya Ukai for some extravagant kaiseki dining in the midst of one of the most beautiful traditional gardens in the city. And just hidden away under the Tokyo Tower, no less.

Tokyo's finest tofu temptation

I found this little known gem of a Kyoto-style tofu restaurant over 8 years ago while traveling through Tokyo. It's off the beaten path and not very easy to find since it doesn't have an English signboard, and has an unlikely entrance that you would miss if you didn't pay attention to the Japanese signage out in front. The restaurant is called Goemon, and is hidden away along a row of low rise buildings along a quiet neighborhood in Hakusan. The facade of building had been demolished, and replaced by a fluorescent-lit signage in Japanese that stood where the original front entrance used to be. And that's exactly the charm of Goemon, as you walk through the archway and further along the stone path leading to the small restaurant at the end, the sounds of the busy street trail off behind you and you are magically transported to a entirely different place instantly. Here you find cherry blossom trees, a koi pond and running stream, rock gardens and traditional Japanese huts and a gazebo. A truly picture-perfect setting for an evening dining experience if you were ever looking for one in Tokyo.

The restaurant is divided into two areas, the main dining hall with several communal tables, and the garden area where the huts and the gazebo are located. The traditional huts are perfect for the warmer evenings, and in the winter months the wooden paper screen doors provide some warmth as you dine inside.

Goemon is well known among the locals for superb tofu, all are freshly hand made daily by the proprietors ever since the restaurant opened years ago. For summer, the main highlight is cold tofu, and for winter it is tofu hotpot or yudofu.

We started dinner with chilled sesame tofu that was a little sticky yet full of sesame flavor. This was accompanied by a seasonal cold appetizer presentation comprising of various cold items that were paired with various types of tofu - salmon roe, pickled ginko, salmon sashimi and egg. The plate was beautifully decorated, and it looked almost too pretty to be eaten.

The next course was grilled tofu on skewers. I remember this was my favorite appetizer from my last visit four years ago, and this time it did not disappoint again. Three skewers, each with a brown, yellow and green sauce on top, were presented on a long sushi plate, each a distinct contrast from the other. The tofu was of a harder variety, very much akin to Chinese hard tofu.

Then we had a small macha (green tea) flavored tofu ball, deep fried. I guess this was their karaage version of tofu. The main course was the tofu hotpot, which came in a large claypot filled to the brim with fresh mushrooms, vegetables, seafood, chicken and chunks of the fresh homemade tofu simmering in a dashi broth. The contents of the hotpot could have easily fed 4 persons, and by this time, both of us were almost half full. And yet we persevered, sampling all the different types of ingredients that were simmering slowly over the charcoal fire. We ordered a bottle of Asahi beer as well. The waitress came back to the hut a few minutes later with bowls for our hotpot broth, which, by this time, had turned into a very flavorful broth.

Just as we thought we couldn't eat another mouthful, the final course of karaage chicken arrived. Unfortunately, we could only manage a couple of mouthfuls before calling it quits. We laid on the tatami floor and opened the screen door to let some cool night air into the little hut. The owners did not appear to be in a rush to make us pay up, so we took our time sipping tea and enjoying the cool weather.

Goemon, apparently, is well known among the local community, but few tourists ever venture this far away from the hotel districts. So it's probably one of the best kept secrets in Tokyo dining. This would be the perfect place for a truly traditional Japanese dining experience complete with the Japanese garden setting.

Goemon is located at:

1-1-26 Hon-Komagome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo.

Tel: 03-3811-2015