While we were in Japan over the winter holidays, we stayed a couple of nights in Tokyo. On our first night there, we were walking around, looking for a place for dinner. After going to a spot that has not opened for the new year just yet, we kept walking around, until we found this place, Onden Ippo. It was almost hidden, down the stairs, away from the busy street noise.
Onden Ippo is kind of an Izakaya, which we love. We have a few Izakaya spots we love in NYC, such as Izakaya Juraku, and Izakaya Mew. In Japan, they have all sorts of Izakaya restaurants offering small plates, like tapas. We didn’t have a reservation, but luckily enough to get counter seats.
Their table seatings were very unique, semi-private with curtains, and the table setting was not something I expected at Izakaya. Very pretty and modern! The Onden Ippo seems to be a popular spot, it was nearly full and you could hear people having a really good time.
We decided to get some beer, The Premium Malt’s by Santory, called Master’s Dream (800 yen). I must laugh at this dramatic name for their beer… I do say it was a very nice glass of beer, very well balanced, smooth and tasty!
One thing to note about ordering at Izakaya is that you should never order too many dishes at once. Unless you know exactly what they look like, and how big/small they are. We started off with three dishes; Deep Fried Ebi Imo (700 yen), Nagaimo Isobe Age (750 yen), and Ippo’s Chicken Nanban (930 yen).
Deep Fried Ebi Imo (海老芋の唐揚げ) came piping hot! Ebi Imo means “shrimp potato” since the potato is shaped like bended shrimp. It is kind of taro root, with its unique texture similar to taro. Once you bite into it, it becomes almost creamy like yamaimo texture. Although it was deep fried, but you could never guess since it was not oily at all! It was very tasty, with a little dab of salted seaweed bits. Almost fluffy and flaky, simple yet so satisfying.
Nagaimo Isobe Age (長芋のサクサク磯辺揚げ) was also piping hot. Isobe yaki is something that is coated in seaweed flakes or wrapped in seaweed. Since Nagaimo and Ebi Imo has similar texture and flavor, they ended up kind of similar result. This dish was also not oily at all, with crispy exterior and fluffy interior.
Ippo’s Chicken Nanban (いっぽのチキン南蛮) was a nice large portion. Chicken Nanban is a Fried Chicken with Tartar Sauce on top. It came with a side of greens and sliced onions on top. The tartar sauce had lots of freshly ground peppers, with the right amount of other spices. The chicken was moist and juicy, with nice batter. The bottom of the chicken got a little soggy as time pass, but I was ok with that. This dish was very filling.
We added Oyster and Vegetable Tempura (牡蠣と野菜の天ぷら) (1150 yen). It had two oyster tempuras and assortment of vegetables tempuras. The fried oysters were huge! They were fresh, not fishy at all. The vegetables were great too, I believe they were sweet potatoes, eggplant, and maybe zucchini? I don’t know how they deep fry things here, as none of them were oily at all. The batter was light and crispy, you can hear the crunch as you bite into them. The ingredients were fresh and high quality. Just a little dab of sea salt and you are good to go!
The last dish we ordered was Mentai Cheese Harumaki (もっちり明太チーズ春巻き) (800 yen). It was a nice comfort food item to end the meal. We love Mentaiko, and it went great with the cheese and mochi. I didn’t realize that everything we ordered were ALL deep fried food, yet we didn’t feel heavy at the end. They are all very lightly fried, with super crispy exterior. The seasoning is just right, and each bite was very satisfying.
The bathroom was almost hidden at the back corner, and rather small, kind of NYC bathroom size. The difference is their TOTO toilet, which we really love… We should go to TOTO Toilet Museum one day (LOL). The bathroom was very clean, modern, and well organized.
We had a great dinner here at Onden Ippo, we were very happy to find this spot! A bit pricey for Izakaya (in my opinion), but the the food is high quality and very tasty. The staffs were polite and efficient. They leave you alone until you call for them. Very relaxed atmosphere. The food came out rather quickly, and everything was high quality. I definitely recommend this place if you are looking for an Izakaya spot in the are!
Onden Ippo – 6 Chome−8−7 B1, Jingumae, Shibuya City, Tokyo
穏田一甫 (おんでん いっぽ) – 東京都渋谷区神宮前6‐8‐7B1