Kuimonoya - Izakaya

After being in Japan a while you get an image that comes to mind when you hear the word Izakaya. Typically they are very warm and inviting places, and some actually are part of the owner's home. The food is comforting and varied.  Saying "modern Izakaya" may be an oxymoron, although there are several out there.  Having said that, I would be happy in just about any Izakaya you put me in.

Front entrance

Kuimonoya (くいもの屋) Wan fits the traditional Izakaya style quite well and I recommend you visit. Kuimono means food and 屋 or "Ya" means shop or restaurant among other things.

Kuimonoya is located on the 7th floor above the Pachinko parlor on Blue Street. If that doesn't narrow it down please check out the blog map.  You'll take the elevator up and then go to the left as you get off. Restaurant Gohan, another good bet that I haven't written up yet, is also on this floor, although I recently heard Gohan is under new management and may not even be called Gohan anymore.
Kuimonoya is a chain restaurant with quite a few locations around Japan, all of which have well designed interiors. Check their website here and another review site here.  Judging from the crowd, this is a reliably good place.

Just about everyone is seated in private booths with sliding doors. Your feet are in a well under the table. Each table has a button to summon the wait staff. One area they could improve upon is this doorbell type system, which goes off and it keeps going until acknowledged by the staff. With a lot of different booths it can get a bit distracting. The separate booths do help to separate you from the smokers in the place. They have a sign on the counter "分煙" which means separate areas for  smokers and non-smokers.


居酒屋  is the Kanji for Izakaya.  In general, it means a place where you can sit down and drink sake. These places eventually started serving food with the sake and hence you have the modern day (but traditional) Izakaya. At Izakayas, you will likely order many small to medium sized dishes and share them. It's a great way to try many different dishes and find your favorite.

"Seating charge" salad

 As the front of the menu states, there is a seating charge here. You can do some more searching on your own concerning this custom at some Japanese places. Whether it is worth it or not is hard to say. For this charge you do get a small salad and some tsukemono (varies from Izakaya to Izakaya) and the privilege of sitting there of course.  While others online claim it is possible to turn down these dishes and the associated seating fee, it's not very polite. If you feel strongly about not wanting to pay the seating fee I'm sure you can decline it and you'll likely live to see another day. But it's not being a good ambassador to Japan - and besides,  I'm sure the Yakuza generally don't own Izakayas, so you have nothing to worry about.

Oden

 The oden above was served in quite a large bowl and you can see the large daikon radish. This is a dish that  you can just keep eating little by little throughout the meal.

"Wan" style Caesar salad

 Most of the contents of the Caesar salad was hidden on the underside. Interesting, but it was nothing to write home about.

Tori momo yakitori

Tsukemono, pancake, deep fried gobo (burdock) root

 The deep fried burdock root (gobo) on the top right are really really tasty. I've made these at home but the seasoning they have here is better. Tastes like a bit of curry seasoning.  I might try it the next time I make them. The pancake was also pretty good.

Shiso pork roll 

The shiso pork roll was unremarkable. Surprisingly bland for having shiso and bacon.  Times like these make me appreciate Maido even more...

Kuimonoya has a lot on their menu. It's good enough that we'll likely go back and try some of the other dishes. The menu is in both English and Japanese. They are open for dinner only and stay open very late.

Interesting interior

Some counter seating and yakitori grill