9 days in Japan- 6/23- 7/1/2024

Day 8-Dinner at Uoshin Nogizaka, Tokyo -6/30/2024

We are heading to Uoshin Nogizaka for dinner, a small but very well-known seafood restaurant famous for the freshness of its fish. From across the street, the restaurant almost disappears. It is tiny, tucked modestly between two huge modern office buildings. Compared to the towering glass and steel around it, Uoshin looks like a hidden secret, the kind of place you would walk past unless you knew exactly what you were looking for.

The owner is deeply connected to the Tokyo wholesale fish market (formerly Tsukiji, now Toyosu) and operates seafood businesses there, giving the restaurant direct access to top-quality daily catches. Many locals say the fish here rivals what you would find at high-end sushi counters, but in a more relaxed, neighborhood setting

Sake and beer to start the meal.

We ordered several of Uoshin Nogizaka’s specialties, and it quickly became clear why this tiny restaurant has such a devoted following.

First came their famous cucumber roll, but this was no ordinary roll. A cool, crisp cylinder of cucumber replaced the rice, topped generously with salmon roe, finely chopped tuna, sweet crab meat, and a crown of creamy sea urchin.

Each bite was fresh, briny, and luxurious at the same time, light and refreshing, yet deeply rich from the uni and roe.

We also shared a plate of chicken karaage, golden and crackly on the outside, juicy inside, a comforting contrast to all the delicate seafood.

Hoa loves chicken Karaage and this one is really delicious.

Then arrived a beautiful sashimi rice bowl, a mound of warm rice completely covered with glistening slices of raw fish, more uni on top, and a scattering of cucumber and sesame seeds. The combination of cool fish and warm rice, creamy sea urchin and crunchy cucumber, was simple but unforgettable.

Our seafood feast continued with hamachi kama (grilled yellowtail collar), one of those insider dishes loved in Japan, tender, fatty, and deeply flavorful, with crisped skin and melting meat near the bone.

The steamed clams followed, fragrant and sweet, floating in their clear, savory broth, tasting purely of the sea.

Simple dish but the clams were so fresh that you can smell the sea.

All the dishes we ordered.

Finally, we were served a plate of seven kinds of sashimi, each slice thick, glossy, and impeccably fresh, a quiet statement of the restaurant’s connection to the fish market and its pride in quality.

We had Tuna, hamachi, sweet prawn, red snapper, scallop, mackerel, etc....

By the end of the meal, surrounded by the gentle noise of the small dining room and plates filled with the day’s best catch, it felt like we had discovered another Tokyo secret: a humble little restaurant serving seafood that easily competes with far more famous names.

We have been to Uoshin Nogizaka three or four times now, and every visit has been just as memorable as the last. No matter how simple the setting or how busy the street outside may be, the food never disappoints. Each meal feels carefully prepared, deeply fresh, and quietly confident , the kind of place that doesn’t need to show off, because it already knows how good it is.

By the time we finished our last bites and settled the bill, night had fully fallen. The narrow street outside was dark, the tiny restaurant glowing softly between two towering buildings, like a secret known only to those who seek it out.

Full and happy, we stepped back into the Tokyo evening and made our way toward Kabukicho, trading the calm satisfaction of perfect sashimi for the neon lights, crowds, and electric energy of the city’s most famous nightlife district.

NEXT... Day 8- Golden Gai