Jimbocho, Tokyo
An Italian kitchen in Tokyo's secondhand-book quarter, cooking with fish, pork and honey from Chiba — the stretch of coast and farmland just east of the city. You have most likely been there already: it is where Narita Airport sits. We serve straight through the afternoon, when most kitchens in this city close.
Between about two and five, most restaurants in this city pull down the shutter and prepare for dinner. It is the hour when visitors, having walked since morning, are usually hungry.
Not a 2 p.m. cut-off. The full lunch set — a main with soup and salad — is served until 5:00 p.m., last order 4:30 p.m., seven days a week. Weekdays from ¥1,200; weekend and holiday prices differ.
The room carries on without a break: coffee roasted by our own company, cake, a pizza, a glass of wine at four in the afternoon if that is what the day calls for. Coming in only for coffee is entirely welcome.
Forty-five seats, and the afternoon is our quiet stretch — so walking in without a reservation almost always works. Free Wi-Fi, and power outlets along the counter, if you need to sit for a while.
Italian method, Japanese ingredients. The combination is the whole point — and it is the part you cannot order at home.
昭和レトロなオムレツパスタ
Pasta under a soft-set omelet, made with Chiba eggs and Hokuso pork bacon. A Japanese comfort dish from the Showa era rather than anything you would find in Italy — and the one thing here you are unlikely to have eaten before.
¥1,480 at lunch / ¥1,680 à la carte
千葉県産金目鯛のカルパッチョ
Kinmedai landed in Chiba and bought at the Ohara Port auction by our own people. Sliced thin and dressed simply, so the fish stays the loudest thing on the plate.
¥1,280
レモンと千葉県産はちみつのピッツァ
Lemon against honey produced in Chiba — sweet and sharp at once. One of eight pizzas, from ¥1,600.
¥1,800
地はまぐりの和風スパゲティ
Hamaguri clams from the Chiba coast, opened into the pan so the pasta finishes in their liquor. Japanese-leaning rather than strictly Italian.
¥2,080
房総ポーク ほろほろ赤ワイン煮
Boso pork — a Chiba brand raised on a feed of domestic rice, seaweed and vitamin E — cooked down slowly until it gives way to a fork.
¥1,980
千葉県いすみ市のチーズ盛り合わせ
From a small workshop in Isumi. Handmade, so quantities are limited and the selection changes. The plate to put a glass of wine next to.
¥1,500
Eating without meat? The Marinara pizza (¥1,600) has no cheese, and there is fried seasonal vegetable (¥780), caprese (¥880), grilled Chiba vegetables (¥1,200) and a rocket-and-pecorino salad (¥1,180). We do not run a separate vegetarian menu, and we cannot yet promise allergen-free preparation — so if it matters, please tell us when you arrive.
Ohara is a working fishing port on the Pacific coast of Chiba, about two hours east of Tokyo. We are registered to bid at its auction, and our owner and staff go and do it themselves — so the fish on the plate was chosen by this restaurant, not picked off whatever truck a supplier had going out that day.
Which also means the answer to "what is good today" changes with the boats. If something has just come in, we will tell you.
The coffee is roasted at our company's own roastery in Chiba and brewed here. There is cold brew steeped slowly in cold water, hot coffee, cacao tea, herbal tea, and cake made in our kitchen — cheesecake, chiffon, and whatever else came out that week.
The cold brew is made from Colombian beans, roasted to a clean cup with a berry note.
Ordinary enough in Europe; oddly hard to find in Tokyo, where the wine tends to arrive with dinner or not at all. Here it is available from the moment we open — red, white or sparkling by the glass from ¥580, bottles from ¥2,980, and a non-alcoholic wine at ¥480.
Tell us what you have ordered to eat and we will pour something that suits it. Beer, highballs and cocktails are there too, for anyone who would rather not.
We are about 40 m from the Sanseido Books flagship on Suzuran-dori, in the middle of Tokyo's secondhand-book district — streets of shops selling old volumes, prints and maps.
The Imperial Palace grounds, Yasukuni Shrine and the Nippon Budokan are all nearby, with Tokyo Dome a little further. A reasonable place to land in between.
Jimbocho Station is served by the Toei Shinjuku, Tokyo Metro Hanzomon and Toei Mita lines — about four minutes on foot from our door.
Much of this district closes at the weekend because the offices do. We serve lunch and dinner on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Forty-five seats over one floor, entirely non-smoking. A semi-private room seats four to six.
The printed menu in the restaurant is still in Japanese, though most dishes carry an English name alongside. A full English menu is in preparation. In the meantime, the pages on this site list what we serve, with prices — bringing one up on your phone works well.
Walk in, sit down, and take as long as you like over the coffee. For dinner or a group, a reservation is safer.
GRAND