I spent months looking for new places to eat in Tokyo, but my prerequisite was no lineups, eliminating many good restaurants. While waiting for great food can be worth it, I wanted to avoid all the super-hyped spots that TikTok made inaccessible. Tokyo is so busy and crowded that the last thing I wanted to do was stand outside a restaurant for hours. Let’s listen to “Who Hoo” for this post.

I picked Iroriya Higashiginzaten because I could make an online reservation. What appealed to me were the reviews about their famous ikura bowl. If you order it, the staff comes out with taiko drums and chant as they heap scoop after scoop of shiny roe until it overflows into your bowl. I also liked that the restaurant was located in central Tokyo. Many of the restaurants I wanted to try were out of the way, which meant Chew Steel would have to navigate through a couple of stations to get us there.

Iroriya is located in the basement, off the side streets of Ginza. I read that seafood is caught in the morning and brought in daily, and the vegetables are from a local farm. Their specialty dish, funajo meshi (salmon roe), comes from Hokkaido.

Iroriya charges a seating fee, which comes with the most delicious bowl of beef stew. The clear broth tasted like gravy, and the homey blend of tender beef and onions was so good that I wanted to order another bowl.

We ordered grilled shiitake mushrooms (280 ¥), salmon roe don (37000 ¥), chicken karrage (900 ¥) and seafood salad (900 ¥).

The shiitake was grilled and served with a soy sauce broth. Our server warned us not to eat the stem. Meaty and soft, the mushroom could have been cooked longer, as it wasn’t piping hot. After our server took away our dish and commented on the leftover broth, I realized we should drink the sauce.

The chicken karrage was super crunchy and juicy. The meat had some pull as I bit into the hot morsel. Chew Steel loved the karrage, and while I liked the crunchiness, I preferred Sukiyaki House’s more seasoned meat. However, I would order the chicken again. It was delicious, just less refined than Sukiyaki House’s version.

When our salmon roe came out of the kitchen, the staff turned up the music and dimmed the lights. Two staff came out, one pounding on his drum and the other shouting, “Yoisho! Yoisho! Yoisho!” The female tourist beside me said she wanted to order the salmon roe as well, but it would be too much to eat.

She’s right; the salmon, though so fresh and glistening like orange jewels, was rich and salty. Despite trying it in various ways, on its own, with broth, or mixed with rice, seaweed, wasabi and a dash of soy, we couldn’t finish our bowl. I’m glad we tried it, but if we come again, I will skip it unless I share it with a group.

The seafood salad was my favourite dish of the night. The dressing was tangy and peppery. There was a ton of assorted seafood, like salmon, tuna, and ebi, all tossed with buttery avocado pieces. The tomatoes, onions and lettuce were spanking fresh. I would order the salad again. Next time Chew Steel and I are in Tokyo, I’d return and try some of the fresh seafood.

My neighbour asked the head guy in the kitchen if he spoke English. I wasn’t paying attention to their banter until he bought out a round of beers. She had bought everyone working in the kitchen a drink and shouted that they were awesome. One thing I admire about Americans is they know how to party. Yoisho! Yoisho! Yoisho!