Traditional Japanese restaurant cuisine chain Gonpachi is opening its twelfth store, Gonpachi Nori-Temaki, in Harajuku on May 30. The restaurant is just a 2-minute walk from Harajuku Station along Omotesando and specialises in hand-rolled seaweed bites.

The restaurant aims to fuse modern designs with Japanese culture. In the centre of the restaurant is a 360° counter where they serve customers freshly rolled seaweed temaki. The price range starts from ¥200 for one temaki. There are also sets available on the menu.

The name 'Gonpachi' originates from Shirai Gonpachi, the protagonist of a famous kabuki play.

The seaweed at Gonpachi is kontobi seaweed from Maruyama Nori, a 160-year-old company who own a sushi shop with three Michelin stars. It has a fresh and natural taste as well as a light texture.

As well as regular vinegared sushi rice, you can also order 'cauliflower rice' which has reduced sugar. It's exceptionally nutritious and popular for its vitamin C and calcium content. The rice is an original Gonpachi creation.

There's a wide range of fillings to choose from, including Nagaimo Pollock Roe (Regular: ¥200 / Large: ¥350), Salmon Avocado (R: ¥300 / L: ¥480), Salmon Roe Soy Sauce Zuke (R: ¥450 / L: ¥600), Sea Urchin (R: ¥650 / L: ¥1,000), and more. The level of freshness in the line-up is exceptional across the board.

*All prices above are pre-tax.

Enjoy some delicious temaki sushi in Harajuku with friends and family!

Sushi is the probably the most famous Japanese food! Below are 5 sushi restaurants we highly recommend.

Roppongi “atelier Morimoto XEX”

“atelier Morimoto XEZ” is a combined restaurant produced by Masaharu Morimoto who works in foreign countries centering around the U.S. You can make an order until 3:00 AM and enjoy many kinds of dishes which are a mixture of Japanese style and Western style. “Edomaezushi” is the recommended dish. Why don’t you enjoy the dishes created by this top chef who is loved by people all over the world?

Detailed information：http://www.moshimoshi-nippon.jp/58797

Shinjuku “Sushizanmai”

“Sushizanmai” is a sushi chain restaurant. The price of one of the lunch menus “Maguroduke Donburi” is only 477 yen (tax not included)! Moreover, you can drink as much coffee as you like. The lunch menu noted previously is offered from 11:00 to 17:00 at Shinjuku Higashiguchi Store (only on weekdays.) The helping of rice can be chosen at will and the menu comes with miso soup. The menu is recommended for those of you who want to enjoy seafood at a low price!

Detailed information：http://www.moshimoshi-nippon.jp/34111

Shinjuku “Hokkaido Sushi Unimaru”

The branch store of “Hokkaido Unimaru” where you can enjoy sushi and dishes of sea urchin opened inside of “Odakyu Ace” at Shinjuku Station’s West Exit. The set “Uni Tabekurabe” (1,800 yen) offers three kinds of sea urchins; Murasaki Uni, Bafun Uni and Ensui Uni. Accordingly, you can compare the taste of these different sea urchins. This set menu is highly recommended. You can choose either “Shiro Shari (white rice)” using rice vinegar or “Aka Shari (red rice) using red vinegar.

Detailed information：http://www.moshimoshi-nippon.jp/40869

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Nishiazabu “SUSHI Gonpachi”

“Gonpachi” is a restaurant loved by both Japanese people and people from abroad and many people say, “You should take your guests from foreign countries to Gonpachi.” They offer sensitive Japanese cuisines and Edo-style sushi using fresh fish delivered in the morning. The taste of each ingredient is the same as that of famous old restaurants and it is superb. “Kyaki Set” where you can enjoy 10 kinds of sushi dishes for 3,000 yen is recommended.

Detailed information：http://www.moshimoshi-nippon.jp/27328

Azabujuban “Yuma”

You should go to “Yuma,” a horse meat-specialized store if you want to eat unusual sushis. They offer horse meat dishes at a reasonable price (horse meat dishes are expensive in Tokyo). The recommended dish is “Otona Nigiri” which comes with four kinds of horse meat, 8 pairs of sushis (1,580 yen). Horse meat is known as being a healthy, nutritious food which many doctors in France recommend to their patients. Horse meat has a great effect on anti-aging and is recommended to people who want to lose weight. Why don’t you enjoy their healthy menus?

How did you like our introduction of recommended sushi shops in Tokyo? Let’s enjoy Japanese “sushi!”

Everyone would say Sushi if you think of what is the popular food in Tokyo. There are roughly three business categories of sushi restaurants: revolving sushi restaurants, residential district’s sushi restaurants, and high-priced sushi restaurants. Revolving sushi restaurants are a cheap and entertaining place which everyone can enjoy. At residential districts restaurants, you can enjoy sushi for about five thousand yen, but there are a lot of exclusive customers, and they are kind of not a friendly place for first-timers. Some high priced sushi restaurants such as the ones in Ginza which has been called the “Sushi Mecca” recently cost twenty to thirty thousand yen for only course menus, and yet those restaurants are most likely to have full reservations for next few months. There is not so much chance to visit those places.

Meanwhile, the new restaurant in Akasaka-mitsuke called “Itamae Sushi Edo” draws many people’s attention.  This restaurant is a very entertaining place known as “theater type restaurant where you can feel like you’re traveling back in Edo period.” Inside of this restaurant is amazing. You sit on the table facing down to the kitchen on stage.

Counter table around the stage is unusual for normal Sushi restaurants that you can look up and see sushi chefs cooking and handling knives. The interior looks exactly like the image of EDO which most foreigners would picture in their mind. This is because this place is Hong-Kong capital sushi restaurant. There are also varieties of food menus such as “Kobo rainbow sushi” as one of the specialty foods. If you want the chef’s recommendation, the cost starts from seven thousand yen. There are services which you can take pictures wearing kimono in the entrance, and can buy sushi figures for souvenirs as well.

It is also getting popular among Japanese customers that are filled with fun, hospitality and interiors taking a ‘so-what’ attitude toward Japanese authentic cultures. They were expecting to have almost all foreigner customers at first, but it is getting half and half ratio recently.  I bet you will love to share this experience with somebody after visiting this restaurant.

■Information

Itamae Sushi Edo

Address: No. R Akasakamitsuke 1F, 3-9-2 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Atsuo Ohki（”Tokyo the Best Restaurant” Editor in Chief）

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