Hiyama, Nihonbashi Japan - One star Michelin sukiyaki
I previously wrote about Nakajima being one of the cheapest Michelin meal you can get in Tokyo. So to top my previous post, I've decided to write about another Michelin meal! Oh yes... another Michelin meal *rubs belly* (not as cheap but worth the money!) This time round, it's Hiyama in Nihonbashi.
Hiyama specializes in sukiyaki as my title suggests. Before I proceed any further, elaborating on my experience, let me just quickly entice you with the meat that was used for our sukiyaki experience.
LOOK AT THAT MARBLING.
Hiyama's facade is very "low-key", If you don't pay attention, you'd walk right pass it thinking it's a butcher shop of some sort. Indeed, Hiyama gets their meat (or rather Hiyama also sells their meat) next door.
As you make your way upstairs, you'll be greeted by... I don't even know what you call a person who helps take care of your shoes! Anyways, this ojisan who's in charge of arranging all the shoes (you'll need to take off your shoes, so make sure there's no hole in your socks), number tagging them and returning them to you at the end of your evening, will greet you. We were quite taken aback when we saw the shoes lined up were mostly proper working shoes while we were just wearing sneakers and sandals. Well at least they didn't turn us away, so I'm going to assume they're not strict with dress code, if they have one. For reference, I was literally in shorts and tee.
Once our shoe business was sorted out, le wild obasan in Japanese traditional wear (also their uniform) appeared. She guided us to our private dining area. With this set-up, it's no wonder reservation is a must!
We pre-booked one of each, the sukiyaki and oil-yaki/butter-yaki course. The obasan had a hard time trying to ask us which we would like to have first. This place is a bit tricky if you have zero understanding of the language. I sort of guessed what she was trying to ask by picking up words such as "betsu betsu" meaning "seperate".
Apart from that, we ordered sake to go along with our food. The one we ordered shown below was around 3,700 yen. They do serve other alcohol like beer and shochu.
One thing I truly enjoy about Japanese food is that, they're really good in bringing out the natural flavors of their selected ingredients.
As we were enjoying our appetizers, the obasan was setting up and bringing in the ingredients for our sukiyaki course. She sat with us almost throughout the whole dinner, cooking the food right at the table we were seated.
Again, ingredients were really basic. Just the typical tofu, mushroom, eggs and what not.
Using a matchstick (did I travel back in time?), the obasan lighted up the stove, slowly poured in the special sukiyaki sauce and gently placed the ingredients on the pan, making sure that each and every ingredient is well coated with the sauce, soaking up the goodness it has to offer.
I don't know why I decided to take a boomerang rather than an actual video. What a shame!
She cracked an egg into each of our bowl, distributed the vegetables and placed the meat, the oh-so-glorious meat amongst it all. Not even exaggerating but the meat falls apart effortlessly as we bite into it and every bite we took, a sip/gulp/shot of sake followed.
Once we were done with that, she cleaned the area and got ready for our next course, oil-yaki/butter-yaki.
Behold, the meat that was served. Overall, it was quite tender but having this after having sukiyaki, in comparison, cannot fight lah.
Sukiyaki was served with raw eggs. This on the other hand, was served with radish drizzled in some special soy sauce combination thingymajig. It may not standout but that mushroom though! While retaining its original mushroom taste, it has soaked up all the meat juice and offered another layer of complexity. Cooking method was also slightly different so you can see the ingredients were slightly charred.
Once we were done with our main course, the obasan came asking if we would like to have our rice. In Japan, it seems like rice is the finale to your meal. Again, because of communication difficulty, it took us a while to decipher her message. Vocabulary to learn here, "gohan" means "rice". It can also means "meal",
You get to choose either (Rice + Miso) OR (Ochazuke). Both are served with pickled vegetables. Go for the Ochazuke! I don't know why a bowl of rice submerged in hot dashi, topped with seaweed and furikake can be so satisfying.
Last but not least, dessert came in the form of fruits.
Our night ended with more surprises as we make our way out. ALL the other obasan was lined up, sitting on their knee by the corridor, saying thank you for our visit. What!
With all that elaboration done, let's talk money. Both the sukiyaki course and oil-yaki/butter-yaki was 14,040 yen each. There's a few grades to choose from but trust me, definitely worth every penny. However, if you had to choose only one, I'd recommend sukiyaki. Personally enjoyed that a lot more.
Hiyama doesn't do fancy nonsense. It's plain basic ingredients but very well prepared; customer service that felt extremely genuine with no flowery speech (maybe because we can't speak Japanese); nothing felt "extra" but just very detailed.
Ending my post with a few things to note. They're not open on Sunday and to avoid disappointment, you'll definitely need to do reservation for this.You can make your reservation here. No booking fee was involved but no guarantee they won't change their policy. Or alternatively, if you can read Japanese, you can directly liaise with Hiyama here.
Address
2 Chome-5-1 Nihonbashiningyocho,
Chuo, Tokyo 103-0013, Japan
Hiyama specializes in sukiyaki as my title suggests. Before I proceed any further, elaborating on my experience, let me just quickly entice you with the meat that was used for our sukiyaki experience.
LOOK AT THAT MARBLING.
 |
| Slices of meat used for sukiyaki at Hiyama |
Hiyama's facade is very "low-key", If you don't pay attention, you'd walk right pass it thinking it's a butcher shop of some sort. Indeed, Hiyama gets their meat (or rather Hiyama also sells their meat) next door.
As you make your way upstairs, you'll be greeted by... I don't even know what you call a person who helps take care of your shoes! Anyways, this ojisan who's in charge of arranging all the shoes (you'll need to take off your shoes, so make sure there's no hole in your socks), number tagging them and returning them to you at the end of your evening, will greet you. We were quite taken aback when we saw the shoes lined up were mostly proper working shoes while we were just wearing sneakers and sandals. Well at least they didn't turn us away, so I'm going to assume they're not strict with dress code, if they have one. For reference, I was literally in shorts and tee.
Once our shoe business was sorted out, le wild obasan in Japanese traditional wear (also their uniform) appeared. She guided us to our private dining area. With this set-up, it's no wonder reservation is a must!
We pre-booked one of each, the sukiyaki and oil-yaki/butter-yaki course. The obasan had a hard time trying to ask us which we would like to have first. This place is a bit tricky if you have zero understanding of the language. I sort of guessed what she was trying to ask by picking up words such as "betsu betsu" meaning "seperate".
Apart from that, we ordered sake to go along with our food. The one we ordered shown below was around 3,700 yen. They do serve other alcohol like beer and shochu.
Started the night with some really simple yet oddly comforting appetizers. Some sort of melon cooked in dashi stock with bonito flakes and a plate of random vegetables which consists of sweet potato that was so sweet, I questioned my taste bud and wonder if they cooked in in some sugar water or if it's just because it's Japanese sweet potato; edamame which was blanched just nice, its crisp maintains; pickled asam flower that was slightly sour but refreshing; some kind of fish in tempura batter and etc.
One thing I truly enjoy about Japanese food is that, they're really good in bringing out the natural flavors of their selected ingredients.
As we were enjoying our appetizers, the obasan was setting up and bringing in the ingredients for our sukiyaki course. She sat with us almost throughout the whole dinner, cooking the food right at the table we were seated.
Again, ingredients were really basic. Just the typical tofu, mushroom, eggs and what not.
Using a matchstick (did I travel back in time?), the obasan lighted up the stove, slowly poured in the special sukiyaki sauce and gently placed the ingredients on the pan, making sure that each and every ingredient is well coated with the sauce, soaking up the goodness it has to offer.
I don't know why I decided to take a boomerang rather than an actual video. What a shame!
She cracked an egg into each of our bowl, distributed the vegetables and placed the meat, the oh-so-glorious meat amongst it all. Not even exaggerating but the meat falls apart effortlessly as we bite into it and every bite we took, a sip/gulp/shot of sake followed.
Once we were done with that, she cleaned the area and got ready for our next course, oil-yaki/butter-yaki.
Behold, the meat that was served. Overall, it was quite tender but having this after having sukiyaki, in comparison, cannot fight lah.
Sukiyaki was served with raw eggs. This on the other hand, was served with radish drizzled in some special soy sauce combination thingymajig. It may not standout but that mushroom though! While retaining its original mushroom taste, it has soaked up all the meat juice and offered another layer of complexity. Cooking method was also slightly different so you can see the ingredients were slightly charred.
Once we were done with our main course, the obasan came asking if we would like to have our rice. In Japan, it seems like rice is the finale to your meal. Again, because of communication difficulty, it took us a while to decipher her message. Vocabulary to learn here, "gohan" means "rice". It can also means "meal",
You get to choose either (Rice + Miso) OR (Ochazuke). Both are served with pickled vegetables. Go for the Ochazuke! I don't know why a bowl of rice submerged in hot dashi, topped with seaweed and furikake can be so satisfying.
Last but not least, dessert came in the form of fruits.
Our night ended with more surprises as we make our way out. ALL the other obasan was lined up, sitting on their knee by the corridor, saying thank you for our visit. What!
With all that elaboration done, let's talk money. Both the sukiyaki course and oil-yaki/butter-yaki was 14,040 yen each. There's a few grades to choose from but trust me, definitely worth every penny. However, if you had to choose only one, I'd recommend sukiyaki. Personally enjoyed that a lot more.
Hiyama doesn't do fancy nonsense. It's plain basic ingredients but very well prepared; customer service that felt extremely genuine with no flowery speech (maybe because we can't speak Japanese); nothing felt "extra" but just very detailed.
Ending my post with a few things to note. They're not open on Sunday and to avoid disappointment, you'll definitely need to do reservation for this.You can make your reservation here. No booking fee was involved but no guarantee they won't change their policy. Or alternatively, if you can read Japanese, you can directly liaise with Hiyama here.
Address
2 Chome-5-1 Nihonbashiningyocho,
Chuo, Tokyo 103-0013, Japan
