Tokyo Station Marunouchi Exit, a photo by The Paper Crane on Flickr.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Dashi-chazuke EN
This past trip to Japan was cold--unexpectedly so for us. One chilly night when we were returning to our hotel, the Park Hotel Tokyo, we wanted something light for dinner, but also something hot to warm us up, and we remembered a small restaurant that we had passed several times in Wing Shimbashi, but never had a chance to try, Dashi-chazuke EN. Dashi is Japanese soup stock and chazuke is hot rice with green tea pour over it.
Grilled salmon, salmon roe (ikura), and boiled seaweed
Steamed chicken, fried egg, green veggies, and pickles
Our chazuke with the soup. Itadakimasu!
They have a small dine-in area that's primarily counter seats and orders are made via a ticket vending machine. If you're taking out, like we did, you can order at the take-out counter in front. My wife ordered the chazuke with steamed chicken, fried egg, green veggies, and pickles. I ordered one with grilled salmon, salmon roe (ikura), and boiled seaweed. It should be noted that for take out, you cannot order either of the raw fish chazuke dishes, the tuna (maguro) or sea bream (tai). Also, when you order, you can request how much rice you want (we ordered the regular portion).
Dashi-chazuke EN bills itself as a "high-class fast food" Japanese restaurant and they deliver on both counts. Our meals were handed to us within five minutes, with both our main dishes in thick paper bowls with clear plastic domes and the (very) hot soup in nice plastic bottles that kept the soup hot for 20 minutes, despite a 5-minute walk in brisk weather.
The grilled salmon with ikura was delicious! I'm not usually big on fish eggs, especially the large ones, like salmon roe, but mixed in with the broth, it really hit the spot and warmed me up. My wife thoroughly enjoyed her chicken chazuke, too. The hot, salty broth thawed our chilled bones and the tasty rice, veggies, and meat filled our stomachs. It was a surprisingly enjoyable meal and we'll definitely go back on another chilly night during our next trip!
Website: Dashi-chazuke EN
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