The Place Located in Akihabara, Ishibashi is a One Michelin Star Sukiyaki restaurant in Tokyo housed in a traditional nondescript building which I would have walked past without noticing. The restaurant has a long history and was founded in the early Meiji period, and it was evident as I slid opened the wooden sliding door.

Remove your shoes at the entrance, and I was ushered up a wooden stair to level two where the dining rooms are. 

One of the main charms of Ishibashi is the Washitsu where every group gets to enjoy their meal in a traditional Japanese tatami setting. It is quite old school, but the space is well-maintained. 

The Food My meal started with some appetisers to whet the palate, including a delicious plate of fresh slices of scallops. 

Next up was the presentation of the Wagyu beef and vegetable platter.

The meat is cooked by a Nakai and is done Kansai-style at Ishibashi. The slab of beef fat is first used to polish the pan, before the meat is added.

The sukiyaki sauce is then added to the meat and once cooked, it is dipped into raw egg.

My first bite and impression were how good the beef is, very flavourful and tender that it requires almost no effort to chew. I wanted more. 

There are a series of rounds of cooking whereby our Nakai adds different combinations of the vegetables and the beef for each round, which include the likes of spring onion, enoki mushrooms, tofu, noodles and green vegetables. Each vegetable soaks up the goodness of the rich sukiyaki sauce. 

The beef is consistently cooked each round, such that the anticipation for every round after I had one kept going. 

The finale of the savoury course of the meal is something not commonly seen in sukiyaki and it was my first time having it – an Ojiya made according to the proprietress’s own recipe. 

Rice is added to the pot, before eggs are spread over it.

The lid is then placed to cover the pot, and few minutes after, magic happens, and the rice become almost like a fried rice topped with egg in a slightly fluffy texture. It was then sliced into pizza-like shapes for ease of eating. 

This is an interesting way to conclude a sukiyaki meal and even though I was already quite filled at this point, I couldn’t resist a good eggporn moment and ended up having more rice than I could. You also get that bit of slightly charred texture at the edges of the rice.

Miso soup and pickles were also served, which is great to cleanse the palate after the series of rich beef meat. 

Last but not least, dessert is a simple plate of seasonal fruits. 

Rants None, too satisfied from this meal. A note to keep in mind is that only cash is accepted.

Will I Return Again? The service at Ishibashi is very sincere and while there is language barrier, I feel very welcomed throughout my meal and the staff tried hard to communicate with us. It is a very personalised service throughout the meal in a traditional Japanese tatami room, and I highly recommend Ishibashi if you love a good sukiyaki.

The final finale before I left the restaurant. I was told that there is a parting ceremony. I literally turned my back against the friendly fourth generation proprietress, before she picked up a flintstone to strike sparks in my direction as a symbol for good luck. I felt blessed while leaving the restaurant and my heart was full. 

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4.5/5
Hole in the pocket: 4.5/5
Ambience: 5/5
Overall Experience: 4.5/5

Ishibashi
3 Chome-6-8 Sotokanda, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 101-0021, Japan
Tel: +81 3-3251-3580

Opening Hours 
Monday to Friday: 5pm to 9:30pm 
Closed on Saturday & Sunday 

Ranted by The Ranter