Tokyo Series - Value (cheap and good) lunch at Michelin Star Restaurant Nakajima @ Shinjuku 新宿割烹 中嶋

Hi there! Sorry about the lack of updates in years! Honestly sorry but I was really caught up with Life... I graduated from my studies and became a slave to my work... but recently I quit my job and had some time to travel - went to Japan.

I took a lot of pictures but I didn't get a chance to blog about them... let me select a few worthwhile restaurants to showcase.

For my first post after a long hiatus, let me showcase a Michelin star restaurant! Well, when I first chose the place, I didn't know it was Michelin - it had good reviews in tripadvisor that attracted me there.

The name of the place is *drum-roll*......

Nakajima 中嶋 (literally means middle island)! Apparently it specializes in sardine ryori, or sardine dishes. My first thought was disgust, as I wasn't a fan of sardines. My only schema of sardines was that of those canned types... so wasn't exactly a turn on, but I decided to go give it a try to see what the Michelin fuss was about.

It wasn't far from Shinjuku and we stayed around there. Not hard to find using google maps... There shouldn't be any problem finding it because....

There's a queue!!!!! And we were early! About half an hour before opening. I think it opens at 11.30 am and we were there at 11 am. We were worried we might not make it for the first serving and that means wait wait wait. We already waited a lot for food for this Tokyo trip.... Their restaurants are often crowded, even trivial ones.

At 11.20 am:

Horrible, isn't it? So better be early. We were not sure of the size of the restaurant either.

But luckily we made it for first serving! 

The restaurant is bigger than it looks, as it is located at the basement.. so no worries. I think you can still get a sitting if you arrive JIT (just in time), no need to be so kiasu.

This was the counter seats... we were shown into the tables... It was a REGRET. Better to sit at the counter to see the chefs cook on the spot. You had to share tables inside the tables as well. It was truly AWKWARD - as the room was silent and nobody dared to say anything for fear of being rude.

We were really whispering....

I had forgotten to take a pic of the menu.... basically, you only had 4 set meals to choose from, all sardines! 1. Sashimi style 2. Furai - fried (duh!) 3. Nizakana - stewed I think? 4. Yanagawanabe - steamed with egg in claypot

I think pictures speak louder than words so here it is:

(credits to http://tummyfull.blogspot.sg/2014/12/cheap-michelin-star-lunch-at-nakajima.html)

For a Michelin star restaurant, 800 Yen is really cheap and affordable. This could be your virgin Michelin restaurant... :)

We saw a family of 4 order all 4 sets - they really want to try all! However, there was only two of us, so we asked for osusume, or recommendation - the nice lady said we should try the nabe (or claypot). As for the other, we chose the traditional stewed version - that looks like canned sardine! haha

They could understand English well, so no worries if you can't understand Japanese.

However, I really *loved* sashimi... so after pondering for a long while i.e. after putting our orders for 10 minutes and waiting, peering over at people who ordered sashimi. I decided to put in an order for sashimi.

Luckily I knew some basic Japanese, and could understand from the menu that we could just order sashimi without the set - I think it was half-priced or something (400 Yen).

Managed to dig a copy of the Japanese menu on the net:

Here's the translation: 1. Sashimi set 2. Fried set 3. Cooked set 4. Salted and grilled set 5. Claypot set.

/Guess they don't offer the grilled set anymore./

It says that a refill of the main dish is 600 Yen, but for the claypot refill is 700 Yen.

A la carte: Salad 300 Yen, Cold Tofu 300 Yen

First 2 refills of rice are complimentary! 3rd refill is 100 Yen

Knowing a little Japanese really helps...

Anyway, after a silent wait of 10 - 15 minutes with awkward glances at each other in the room.

Here comes the food!

The sardine sashimi came first...  it was marinated with lots of citrusy stuff - mainly lemon and sesame - as observed, ginger by the side as well.

The result was a little tangy, soft as like normal sashimi, but indeed fresh - no fishiness taste at all. All in all, worth trying! I would say the taste is similar to salmon, but more meaty and fishy (slight). I would say the taste is between salmon and mackerel, if you can even understand what I'm saying.

That was the miso soup by the side... sumptuous eh! Miso I would say nice as in any Japanese restaurant. I am not sure what base was used but miso is flavourful with seaweed. Anyway, miso wasn't the draw of this place, so I shan't comment too much.

 Can you see the stewed version? That's what I ordered.

Really looked like canned sardine??? haha

But I am not giving it justice... The meat is soft and flavourful - stewed in soya sauce... even the bones have softened considerably.

A girl next to us was picking the bones slowly, but got reprimanded by the waitress, who said 'The bones are soft and can be eaten!'

I didn't want to risk having a soft bone stuck in my throat so I picked out the bones also.

In summary, the sardine was really good, salty, unami - slightly fishy.. but very very slight. Cooked fish tend to be fishy compare to sashmi version. But tolerable.

I like this dish a lot.

Can't help but had to say it really looked like canned sardines. However, this is guaranteed the fresh version and the meat is much better - flavourful and chewier than the canned version - which is all mush. 

Quite a generous portion, but goes well with rice.

The girl next to me had 2 bowls of rice with her stewed sardine.. (remember that you can get 2 bowls of rice free?)

Of course, we had the claypot version.... lots of egg as you can see.

Similarly, stewed in soya sauce but lighter. Japanese soya is usually sweeter as well, but very slight - diabetics no worry. But if want to go for savory, then I would recommend the fried one. We didn't get to try as I thought duh, fried fish is fried fish - only stale fish get fried. However, I observed a significant number of Japanese people ordering the fried one too, so it must be good I think.

Anyway, the sardine in the claypot was also coated with batter and fried I think, then stewed, so it combined the best of both worlds. No fishiness at all for this version. Very oishi!

The slices are a bit thin though, compared to the stewed version. But no bones! So it's easy to eat... they gave about 4 slices I think.

Goes well with rice as well - but I wanted to save my stomach for other delicious foods, so I didn't ask for more.

It was really good and I cleared my plate.... ^_^

Here comes verdict time:

I would give a Yay! Capital Y 'yay' for Nakajima, but only first time. Not worth going on every Japan visit because there are tons to try out.

My reasons:

1. It's Michelin star! For 800 Yen, a Michelin star treat! How could you in your life miss it? And it's in Shinjuku! Who goes to Tokyo without going to Shinjuku?

Honestly, I think the Michelin star went to the dinner service, not the lunch service. But hey, it's still Michelin, so you can have your bragging rights to your friends.

2. Cuisine-wise, it's worth a first try. I've never tried sardine ryori before, for lack of a better word. It was really special and challenged my schema of sardine being canned all the time.

3. The stewed version was delicious - go for it if you are a fish eater like me. I like fish to retain some slight fishiness. Otherwise, try the claypot version.

The sashimi version is just sourish raw fish - worth a try if you have never tried before.

If you are truly adverse to sweet or fishy raw stuff, then go for fried.

There's something for everyone.

In terms of preference, 1. Stewed 2. Claypot 3. Fried 4. Sashimi. I liked the sashimi but it's nothing special.

Alright, that's it for the day. Hope you guys enjoyed another Gary's Yay or Nay post.

Hopefully, I can do the next post on ramen soon - also in Shinjuku - a famous one!

Here's the info, please feel free to comment on this post:

Shinjuku Nakajima 新宿中嶋

Address: Nichihara Bld.B1, 3-32-5, Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo [Use Google map first]

新宿区新宿3-32-5 日原ビルB1 [I include the Japanese version if in case you need to ask around]

Opening hours: 11:30~14:00 (L.O.13:30) ; 17:30~21:30 (L.O.20:00)

Closed on Sundays and public holidays

Website: http://www.shinjyuku-nakajima.com/ (has English version)