居酒屋 つぐみ 東北沢 (tsugumi)

Amazing place with a really nice selection of natural wines, japanese craft beers and sake. We asked the chef to decide what we should eat and everything we ate was fantastic! We will definitey go back on our next visit to Tokyo. Thanks again

One of our unanimous best meals of two weeks in Japan. We went back a second time with our friends. What a feast! Each dish is beautiful, varied, exquisitely balanced with flavour and freshness. I don’t know how the chef does it: we had cocktails, eight or nine dishes, sake and other non alcoholic beverages and everything was incredible. The menu changed some dishes between the two nights so it is worth multiple visits. It is humbly priced, well designed and beautiful. It’s on a very quiet residential street away from the hub of Shimokitazawa and was recommended by the staff at Mustard Hotel and so so worth seeking out. The burgundy oysters, oh my god! I’ll also be dreaming of that rhubarb miso tofu for the rest of my life. Wonderful gentle service and a gorgeous small renovated space. A truly special restaurant in Tokyo. A truly special chef. Highest recommendation.

Amazing spot and perfect for a wonderful date night. Very innovative food with a wide variety of tastes and fusion items. It's worth checking out and giving this restaurant a try. You can get a wide variety of dishes and the atmosphere is amazing. You are getting personal service for the chef with good wine choices and not too expensive.

Super varied and large menu with everything from Italian to Thai, to Japanese, to French. A sort of super fusion! And every single dish was amazing both in presentation and taste very refined with high quality ingredients. Really great value for money. Amazing selection of wines and beers. The atmosphere feels modern but also quaint.

We had a wonderful meal at Tsugumi - the dishes looked and tasted amazing. It was clear that a lot of thought and care has been put into all of the dishes that we ordered. The food was all incredibly sophisticated considering the reasonable price point, with complex flavours and exceptional presentation. The drinks that we ordered were also fantastic. The chef was very welcoming, talented, and hard working to be running everything himself. Lastly the atmosphere was calming and peaceful - a great place to have a memorable, relaxing dinner with friends.

What an absolutely delightful meal! The quality and creativity are certainly star-worthy, while the atmosphere is casual and welcoming. The flavors are perfectly balanced and subtle, and we tried flavor combinations we had never tried before (white miso rhubarb paste comes to mind). The owner put up with our questions about his history and the ingredients in each dish with grace and was so friendly. We would have happily paid double what we were charged. We can’t wait to return. This has been the food highlight of our Japan trip so far!

We sat at the counter and watched the chef owner do magic to the food. He was amazing to watch and every dish was an artwork in appearance and flavor. If this doesn't get a Michelin something someday I would be surprised. It was our first attempt at an izakaya and though they didn't speak much English, they understood everything we said and they were so kind and helpful. Even when we dropped a chopstick they came running over to give us a new set. We're going to come back to Shimokitazawa just to come here again. We just asked what they recommended from the specials menu and everything was incredible, creative and the best of ingredients. Who would have thought to make a paste of rhubarb mixed with miso and put it on tofu... Incredible!.

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!