Jackson B.
Google
Tsugumi (the name of the young owner and chef and server) was small, simple, minimal, authentic, masterful (and we have eaten in our share of Michelin star restaurants, and those that should be, around Europe and the US).The Japanese meal was the second best or best we had over the first five days (of 30). It’s close contender was the Dashin Soan, homemade soba restaurant. So we did not have a lot to base our rating on. Not yet.
Tsugumi was a lucky selection. It was not recommended to us, as it is only two years old. But chance was with us this evening. After a long day walking around Roppongi, Tokyo, and at the Mori Art Museum, we were hangry, and searched near our hotel for „vegetarian near me“ in google. It was the closest and looked charming in the pictures. We had no reservation, so were a bit worried we might be turned away.
Tsugumi met us at the door of the tiny corner building ( downstairs seats 10, upstairs 20) with an enthusiastic smile and showed us to the only front table at the window. We saw only two other Japanese couples at the back when we arrived at 7:30pm. Another couple and four international English speakers came later during dinner. He brought us an English menu, to our relief.
We ordered 8 dishes over three orders, Japanese wines - white and red (both blends) - and sake. The variety and selection and vegetarian dishes were impressive (we are not strictly vegetarian and enjoy good seafood and occasional wild red meat). Hard to pick a favorite. We described the food as „atarashi Nippon ryoshi‘. My 2 favorites were the pickled mountain Udo and the kiyomi orange and asparagus, but the sashimi was classic and tasted very fresh.
But perhaps most impressive was the fact that there were between 10-15 diners on two floors and Tsugumi was managing everything alone, cooking, serving, sommelier, bussing tables, and all with a calm energetic enthusiasm.
Highly recommended if you are looking for an authentic neighborhood, nouveaux-cuisine Japanese dinner, in classic simplicity, with quiet atmosphere.
Tsugumisan arigato gozaimasu. totemo oishii desu!