Japanese Lunch at WANOKA @ Meguro

Happy New Year 2016! I would like to update my blog more often in this year. 
あけましておめでとうございます！今年はブログをもっとアップして行く事が目標です(笑)。そして、日本語も載せる事にしました。どうぞよろしくお願い致します。

Today, I came to a Japanese restaurant near our studio for research. Many customers ask us the good places to eat, but I am not professional around here, so... I will go and show you many restaurants around Meguro station more in this blog.
さて、今日は近くの日本料理のお店にランチを食べに行ってきました。スタジオに来るお客さんにしょっちゅうこの辺の良いお店を聞かれるのですが、こんなおしゃれな町、目黒には疎いのでリサーチあるのみです。

The restaurant's name is "Wanoka," literally means "scent of Japanese." Wa is the same word of our studio name, Kimono Photo Studio WA. So I like this name, haha. 
お店は「和の香」です。私たちのスタジオ名「着物フォトスタジオ和」と同じ「和」なので勝手に親近感を覚えてます。




The restaurant is close to Meguro station, about 3 minute walk, and you can find the sign even though  it is located underground. 
お店は目黒駅から３分くらい、地下にありますが看板があるのでわかります。





Here is Today's  Lunch Special.
All are JPY850. You can choose from Tofu and meat set, baked salmon set, deep fried sakura shrimp and vegetable bowl, and cooked fish (teriyaki taste) set. All sets comes with a small appetizer, small salad and miso soup.
今日のランチメニューは肉豆腐定食、焼魚定食、桜えびと冬野菜のかきあげ丼、煮魚定食でした。すべて850円。

I wanted a deep fried shrimp bowl, but I chose baked salmon because I wanted to eat "Nanakusa-gayu," literally means  rice porridge with 7 kinds of winter vegetables. This is traditional Japanese food, which you eat on 7th of January to supplement vitamin with these vegetables in winter because vegetables were not enough long time ago in Japan. Also, this is eaten now as well to relax our stomachs which had too much feast in new year holidays. 

かきあげも惹かれたのですがごはんが七草がゆを選べたので焼魚にしました。英語で七草難しい...スーパーの広告見て簡単に書いてみました。胃を休めるのもありますが昔は冬に野菜が不足するためビタミンCを補う為に食べていたんですね。





The porridge was very mild and the salmon was delicious with salt and sake lee taste. I went there before noon, it was almost full around noon, should be popular restaurant around here.
おかゆは思った通りの優しい味でした。銀鮭もほどよい塩加減で美味しかったです。お昼前に行ったのですが１２時にはほぼ満席でした。人気のお店なんですね。

You see many Sake bottles back of the counter because this restaurant has Sake sommelier. Full-course Japanese style dinner is served in the evening with special sake. Also, they serve a dish, which a famous Samurai, Heizo Hasegawa, loved in Edo period about 200 years ago. 
このお店にはきき酒師さんがいて夜はコース料理になるそうです。食通だった鬼平犯科帳の長谷川平蔵が愛した江戸時代の再現料理もあるそうです。今度は夜に行ってみたい！


I would like to come in the evening next time! 

WANOKA (和の香）
Address: 
Nakagin Meguro Ekimae Mansion B1
2-18-20, Kamioosaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Open: 
AM11:30~PM2:00 (only Mon-Fri)
Dinner: PM6:00~ PM12:00 (Last Order PM11:00)
Holiday: Sunday and National holidays
No English menu, good for couples or solo.
http://www.wanoka.com/free1.htm

Experience Japan!