Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2010
Courtesy of Wasurenbou
After a five-minute walk through the pandemonium of Kabukicho, we were ready for the “forgetting” that Wasurenbou’s name promises. And indeed, this restaurant proved a cool and quaint spot on a brutally hot summer’s evening. The menu was full of cheap and cheerful Japanese delicacies and all the forgetting-inducing cocktails we could handle.
Our visit started with a bit of disappointing news—we couldn’t take advantage of the exceptional all-you-can-drink deals. Customers with a coupon pay just ¥2,980 for three hours of booze and eight food dishes (Sunday-Thursday), or ¥3,980 for nine dishes (Friday and Saturday). Unfortunately for us, these plans need to be reserved in advance.
At first glance, Wasurenbou’s interior seems lackluster—bare beige walls and tatami seating up on the second floor—but the colorful yukata-hybrid outfits of the waitresses add some zing to the surroundings. The staff, summoned by table buzzers, are fast and friendly, and the menu is entirely in English.
The staple here is chicken—a famous breed from Kirishima in Miyazaki Prefecture, apparently—and the number of varieties on offer is dizzying. From sashimi (¥1,580 for a sampler plate) to favorites like yakitori and karaage, lovers of tori-niku will be spoiled for choice.
Not big on raw chicken flesh, we opted for skewers of negima (¥190) and sasami (¥200). The preparations were traditional—the former came slathered with tare and the latter dabbed with wasabi—and the meat was expertly grilled, beautifully succulent. We imagined these chickens had lived a good life (relatively speaking).
We then ordered some skewers of tsukune (¥200) with a sweet tare—there are several more interesting toppings here, like cod roe and mayo—before nearly losing our minds over the “fried tulips”: tiny chicken legs topped with a choice of colorful sauces, including “cheese fondue” (¥200), “black pepper” (¥130) and “red Korean miso” (¥160). You’ll want to order a few; the one-bite delights definitely left us salivating for more.
A bit “chickened out,” we changed pace with skewers of asparagus rolled in pork (¥250) and some perfectly salted and grilled shiitake mushrooms (¥170), followed by another house specialty, kamameshi (¥880). This “burnt rice” dish, served in a stone pot, had an excellent balance of minced chicken, soft-boiled egg, rice and whole green peas, accentuated with a sweet and salty dashi-based sauce. It was the ideal finish to a satisfying meal.
As we wandered out, we realized Wasurenbou had lived up to its name—the humid, crowded streets had, briefly, become a distant memory. Thanks to Wasurenbou’s cool and unassuming interior, colorful waitresses, refreshing cocktails and moreish morsels, we’d forgotten all about what lay in wait in the real world outside. We would, however, remember to drop in the next time we needed a fix of forgetting in Kabukicho.
