Sukiyaki Ishibashi (鋤焼いし橋) @ Sotokanda, Tokyo

Cuisine: Sukiyaki

Map: Sukiyaki Ishibashi (鋤焼いし橋) @ Sotokanda, Tokyo

Charged Price: JPY14,000 per person without alcohol

Visited: 11 November 2015

Food: 9/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Value for money: 7/10

Services: 10/10
Scale: [1=poor ---- 5=average/standard ---- 10=outstanding/exceptional]

Sukiyaki, in my opinion, is a kind of Japanese dish that has put together many things in a meal: delicacy, tradition, joy, and even companion. It is definitely delicious which is full of umami sense from each bite. However, it is never just a quick quick meal then off you go like ramen or don nor lining up on a counter to be served with sushi individually. Sukiyaki is fun and is always good for family and friend gathering, and even business talk.

Ishibashi near Suehirocho Station is one of the magnificent in its category. Long history with almost 150 years. It is also situated in the traditional house which is indeed rare for such developed city like Tokyo. What I really like about this cozy place, apart from the taste, is the service and privacy. All rooms are private. So it is not a matter how many of you are visiting, you all get your own room.

Sukiyaki Ishibashi (鋤焼いし橋) @ Sotokanda, Tokyo

traditional private dining room

my pot is ready (^.^)

chopsticks are also ready!!!!

While waiting for Nakai (waitress) to prepare for sukiyaki, appetisers were served. The first one was steamed daikon which was so soft and sweet. Then it was a small portion of grilled salmon and ginkgo. So delicate and tasty.

appetiser 1: daikon

appetiser 2: salmon + ginkgo

At Sukiyaki Ishibashi, you do not have to do anything with the sukiyaki. Your job is only to eat. Nakai has her role in preparing, cooking, and serving. I believe there are choices of beef grade to be chosen. The one for our meal was from Kyushu Miyazaki. Just by looking, ones can tell this would be heavenly melting in mouth.

Nakai would firstly start with oiling the pan with beef fat before pouring in some of warishita sauce. The serving came in 4 rounds: 1) beef only, 2) beef with kombu and vegetable, 3) beef with mushrooms and onion, and 4) beef with kombu and vegetable. Of course, the delicious way of having sukiyaki is to dip with fresh raw egg. The combination of fat flavour from beef, its delicacy, the sweet and salty warishita, and fatty texture of yolk is just undeniable.

sukiyaki set

bird's eye view

1st round with beef only

subsequent rounds with vegetable and side dishes

a small bowl of heaven

To end the course, we also had ojiya which is rice cooked with the remaining sauce and egg. This was enjoyable and a good experience. Not at all the amazing one but good enough. I believe how rich the flavour would be, depend on the amount of remaining sauce though. Anyway, it was at satisfaction along with condiment.

Well, Sukiyaki Ishibashi is sure one with long history and its history tells you well how delicate and perfect this place is. Personally, I love this place and would not hesitate to return at all. Look forward to next trip here even so.

baked rice with egg in action

it is now ready

classic carb dish to end the meal

Sukiyaki Ishibashi (鋤焼いし橋) @ Sotokanda, Tokyo

3-6-8 Sotokanda
Chiyoda-Ku
Tokyo 〒101-0021
Japan

Open Hours: Mon-Fri from 05:00pm - 08:30pm (last order) for dinner

Tel: +81 (0) 3 3251 3580

KiSara @ Conrad Bangkok Hotel - คิซาระ @ โรงแรมคอนราด กรุงเทพฯ

Cuisine: Japanese (sushi)

Map: KiSara @ Conrad Bangkok Hotel - คิซาระ @ โรงแรมคอนราด กรุงเทพฯ

Charged Price: THB1,250 per person without alcohol

Visited: 17 April 2015

Food: 5/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Value for money: 4/10

Services: 6/10
Scale: [1=poor ---- 5=average/standard ---- 10=outstanding/exceptional]

Here is a brief visit to one more Japanese restaurant in a hotel in Bangkok. It's KiSara at Conrad Bangkok Hotel. It was my first time here really since its reborn from the previous Drinking Tea Eating Rice. The place is still and almost the same in term of atmosphere with kind of contemporary Japanese concept. There is a teppanyaki counter right in the middle of the large dining hall which can accommodate around 10+ guests. Adjacent to teppanyaki counter, but enclosed with glass screen, there is a sushi counter as well.

What I like about this place is the spacious and private surrounding. Each table is separated from the others. Forget about being overheard on your conversation here. Nevertheless, feeling more like business privacy talk, requesting for a private room is also available.

KiSara at Conrad Bangkok Hotel

spacious and comfortable dining hall

sushi counter

As in typical Japanese restaurant in hotels, the menu comprises of variety of dishes: from sushi to hot pot to noodle and etc. This time we opted to US Angus Beef Shabu Shabu (7/10) which was nice indeed. The quality of beef was good, though not the very top class. We at least enjoyed it a lot. The set of shabu shabu came along with mixed vegetables. The dipping sauces are the standard sesame sauce, which was delightful and savoury, and ponzu based sauce. While waiting for shabu shabu, we also had Salmon Skin Roll (5/10). There is nothing spetacular about this one. But just crunchy texture roll with standard satisfaction. Again, I am not a fan of modern sushi but I would not say I don't like this dish. It's ok.

I would say that this place offers decent food and service. Atmosphere is great too. It is in general more suitable for business type of meal. However, family is also ok. But I would not say it is the one for romantic type of meal. In term of pricing, it is not cheap but not ridiculously expensive. Would I return to this place? Um.....why not, if it's from time to time.

Salmon Skin Roll (THB320)

US Angus Beef Shabu Shabu (THB1,600)

dipping moment!!!!

decent quality of US beef

vegetable for good health (^.^)

KiSara @ Conrad Bangkok Hotel - คิซาระ @ โรงแรมคอนราด กรุงเทพฯ

87 Witthayu Road
Lumphini, Pathum Wan
Bangkok 10330

Thailand

Open Hours: daily from 11:30am - 02:30pm for lunch and 06:00pm - 10:30pm for dinner

Tel: +66 (0) 2690 9999
Web: http://www.conradhotels.com/bangkok
FB: https://www.facebook.com/conradbangkokhotel

Utage @ Plaza Athenee Bangkok - อูทาเกะ @ โรงแรมพลาซ่า แอทธินี กรุงเทพฯ

Cuisine: Japanese

Map: Utage @ Plaza Athenee Bangkok - อูทาเกะ @ โรงแรมพลาซ่า แอทธินี กรุงเทพฯ

Price: THB1,000 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)

Visited: 30 December 2014

Food: 6/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Value for money: 5/10

Services: 7/10
Scale: [1=poor ---- 5=average/standard ---- 10=outstanding/exceptional]

Often that we visit a restaurant at Plaza Athenee Bangkok: Reflexions, Silk Road, and etc. Utage is as well a dining room of the hotel that we usually pop by for nice shabu shabu or sukiyaki but never had a chance to blog it. It was the end of 2014 and our family popped by for a meal so I would like to take an opportunity to share.

Utage is a Japanese joint that is decorated in a more contemporary Japanese. Food range is wide, e.g. sushi, udon, shabu shabu, and etc. It operates both lunch time and dinner. During weekday lunch, they serve set lunch but it would be buffet brunch for weekend. Staffs are polite and helpful. During the meal, I also had a bottle of Walter Hansel The North Slope Vineyard Pinot Noir 2012 to accompany shabu shabu and it complimented the meal excellently.

Utage @ Plaza Athenee Bangkok

contemporary ambient

Walter Hansel The North Slope Vineyard Pinot Noir 2012

Before starting the hot pot thing, something classic to warm up was not a bad idea at all. Salmon and Tuna Sashimi (5/10) were on average. Nothing delightful but enjoyable. Then mixed tempura (4/10) came. It gotta say that this was not quite a standard one. Batter was a little too thick and not crispy enough.

salmon and tuna sashimi

tempura

Here comes the highlight: Shabu Shabu and Sukiyaki (7/10). One set of shabu and sukiyaki come in slices of your meat choice, vegetable (range depending of shabu or sukiyaki), and different dipping sauce: i.e. ponzu and sesame sauces for shabu and raw egg for sukiyaki. We had USA beef and pork for the night which costed THB1,200 and THB1,000 respectively. I personally enjoyed sukiyaki a lot which was rich in flavour and so naturally delicious with raw egg. Shabu shabu was equally wonderful with refreshing shabu soup complimented with thick and rich sesame sauce. Quality of meat was also excellent. I would really say that this is the one to go for at Utage. Not exactly those cheap things but quite value for money in our perspective.

USA beef slices

pork slices

vegetable for sukiyaki set

dipping the beef into shabu shabu pot

sukiyaki to be consumed with raw egg

Utage @ Plaza Athenee Bangkok - อูทาเกะ @ โรงแรมพลาซ่า แอทธินี กรุงเทพฯ
Floor 3, Plaza Athenee Bangkok
61 Witthayu Road
Lumphini, Pathumwan
Bangkok 10330

Thailand

Open Hours: daily from 11:30am - 02:30pm for lunch and 06:00pm - 10:30pm for dinner

Tel: +66 (0) 2650 8800
Web: http://www.plazaatheneebangkok.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/plazaatheneebangkok

Aji Japanese Taste @ Big C Ekkamai, Bangkok - ร้านอาหารญี่ปุ่น อจิ @ บิ๊กซี เอกมัย กรุงเทพฯ

Cuisine: Japanese

Map: Aji Japanese Taste @ Big C Ekkamai, Bangkok - ร้านอาหารญี่ปุ่น อจิ @ บิ๊กซี เอกมัย กรุงเทพฯ

Price: THB800 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)

Visited: 30 March 2014

Food: 6/10

Atmosphere: 5/10

Value for money: 6/10

Services: 5/10
Scale: [ 1=poor ----- 5=average/standard ----- 10=outstanding/exceptional ]

Aji is a large Japanese restaurant that is located of the 3rd floor of Big C Ekkamai. It has been here for a few years already but this was our first visit. Surprisingly for a place like Big C to have this kind of restaurant situated within. The place reminds of those kind of restaurant/pub where white collar Japanese hang out with colleagues or clients after work. Notice the long cupboard with stored unfinished sake near the entrance. Aji is actually suitable for all kind of meal, except a date I suppose, for examples dinner with clients, family meal, hanging out with friends, and etc. However, bear in mind to ask for non-smoking seats if you cannot take the smoke or you are with kids. By law in Thailand, smoking in restaurant is prohibited and illegal but many restaurants still offers their clients smoking seats though.

The one thing that we do like about this kind of Japanese restaurant is the privacy. There is a partition between each table which really give a more private atmosphere. Aji's range of menu is wide. There are almost all sorts of Japanese food: sushi, sukiyaki, udon, and etc. They are, in fact, enjoyable and priced somewhat reasonable. The one that we like is nabe range and we would recommend you to try.

Aji Japanese Taste @ Big C Ekkamai, Bangkok

variety of menu

clients' unfinished sake and alcohol

partition between seats

Firstly, we tried some sashimi and sushi. The aji sashimi (6/10) was fresh and lovely. It was not so delicate but pleasure enough to satisfy me. However, it was strange that we were told to have it with shoyu instead of ponzu like in other places. Anyway, it is one of my favourite dish. Then we had chutoro and akami nigiri. We were told that chutoro is rather nice here. Chutoro (6/10) today was indeed nice and pleasant. It was not the kind of those high end sushi. It is more of valuable kind. The akami (5/10) was standard. It was somewhat bland for me.

aji sashimi - ซาชิมิปลาทู (THB200)

chu toro, akami nigiri morikomi - ชูโทโร่กับอะกะมิรวมมิตร (THB480)

The highlight was the nabe. We had buta nabe or simply pork hot pot (7/10). At the price of THB680, this was not cheap but it could do enough a good meal for 2 persons. The nabe comes with 4 choices of soup: tomato soup, miso soup, shoyu soup, and shio soup. We did go for shoyu soup this time and it did not disappoint us. The set came with various vegetables, sliced porks, and minced pork. Pork was tender and the minced pork that made pork ball was flavourful. The soup was also delicious. This is a must try dish. Surely, people may get used to those all-you-can-eat suki but this will indeed give another kind of happiness.

buta nabe - สุกี้หมู (THB680)

minced pork ball for nabe

tender piece of slice pork

Aji Japanese Taste @ Big C Ekkamai, Bangkok - ร้านอาหารญี่ปุ่น อจิ @ บิ๊กซี เอกมัย กรุงเทพฯ
Floor 3 Big C Ekkamai
78/2 Soi Sukhumvit 63 (Ekkamai)
Sukhumvit Road
P้ra Khanong Nuea, Wattana
Bangkok 10110

Thailand

Open Hours: Mon-Fri 11:30am - 02:00pm for lunch and 05:00pm - 10:30pm for dinner, and 11:30am - 10:30pm for Sat, Sun, and public holiday

Tel: +66 (0) 2714 8367
Web: http://www.aji.co.th/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/ajidouraku

Sukiyaki Iao Hua @ Rama 4 Road, Bangkok

Cuisine: Chinese

Map: Sukiyaki Iao Hua @ Rama 4 Road, Bangkok - สุกี้ยากี้ เอี้ยวฮั้ว @ ถนนพระราม 4 กรุงเทพ

Price: THB250 per person without alcohol (what I paid for)

Visited: 15 June 2011

Food: 7/10

Atmosphere: 3/10

Value for money: 8/10

Services: 3/10

Nowadays, sukiyaki market in Thailand is in fact dominated by the giant chain MK Suki. However, the one that has brought sukiyaki to Thailand is Sukiyaki Iao Hua @ Rama 4 Road, which is still a favourite place for many Bangkok local: claimed to be the first to open for more than 50 years. This place may have the old fashion perception to new generation but do not underestimate this old place. The famous beef is really unrivalled: tenderness at supreme level. Although, the ambient of this restaurant is not so enchanted, the taste is not like what it looks. It is located pretty close to MRT Samyan, hence, travelling here is not so difficult. We would encourage anyone to give it a try.

Store Front of Iao Hua

Sukiyaki Iao Hua @ Rama 4 Road

Overall, selection of ingredients to be put into the pot is at ok quality but do not ignore the beef which is a must try one if you do not take beef.

Dipping Set

The Famous Beef with Eggs

Tofu with Pork

Shrimp Ball

Prawn Dumpling

Fish Dumpling

Seaweed Wrapped Prawn

Shitake Mushroom

Jew's Ear

Eringi Mushroom

Cabbage

Spinach

Just put them all together

Done!!! Ready to be Eaten

Dipping Beef

Additionally, deep-fried dishes here are pretty good, ranging from dumpling to prawn cake to spring roll. They are all filled with a lot of prawn. Yummy indeed.

Deep-fried Prawn Dumpling

Sukiyaki Iao Hua @ Rama 4 Road, Bangkok

842-846 Rama 4 Road

Si Phraya, Bang Rak

Bangkok 10500

Thailand

สุกี้ยากี้ เอี้ยวฮั้ว @ ถนนพระราม 4 กรุงเทพ

842-846 ถนนพระราม 4

แขวงสี่พระยา เขตบางรัก

กรุงเทพ 10500

Open Hours: 11:00am - 10:00pm daily

Tel: +66 (0) 2234 3548, +66 (0) 2637 0032