Izakaya 101: The Ultimate Guide to Food & Drink in Japan!

Izakaya 101: The Ultimate Guide to Food & Drink in Japan!

Kaya isak are more than just places to eat they are way to experience Japan’s unique food culture up close but if you’ve ever felt over we buy the menu or unsure what to expect don’t worry we’ve got you covered in this video we’re taking to one of our favorite isak kayas right in the center of Tokyo called wasen it’s located here in Shinjuku we’ll walk you through everything you need to know so grab a drink get comfy and get ready to become an isaka expert so what exactly is in isaka well it literally translates to stay sake shop and that makes a lot of sense because unlike a bar where you might grab a quick drink isaka are places where you linger order sometimes lots of food and stay for hours we like this particular shop wasen because they have private booths pretty much every seats are private like this one right here menus are bilingual in English as well so super easy for you guys once again add an isaka the focus is not just on the drinks but also on the food speaking of food the menu at the isaka is a pretty diverse most of the dishes a good friend with alcohol the first thing we have to talk about is the old toi which is kind of like a small little dish and it’s like a table charge think of it as a table charge and it’s mandatory so you can’t really refuse it you never know what you’re going to get like for example today we got macaroni salad and another day you might get meatballs and another day you might get octopus and vinegar you never know and when it comes to drinks it’s mostly basic you got beer you got Japanese sake chuhai High balls if you’re expecting like expensive wines or champagne you will not find it here well maybe some places too but not here and if you don’t drink alcohol because sometimes I don’t you can order ulong tea or nonalcoholic beer but just remember it’s polite to wait until everyone has their drink before sipping compai compai the fastest of beer is my happiness and I got something called a highball which is whiskey and soda really simple but very refreshing cheers so let’s dive into Foods this is a question we get asked time and time again what should I order at isaka so we usually eat edamame but unfortunately today adame is sort out here so instead we ordered caki it’s crushed cucumber with Bonito Flakes and K seaweed it’s a com seed has a sness it’s combined really good and this is perfect with either hiball or beer or whatever really mhm the most of isaka has this one it’s called hii tomato it’s called tomato sometimes it’s just tomato and salt but this one is with dressing M it’s sweet and juicy tomato has tomato and cucumber these are called quick menu it comes immediately after you order another dish we recommend if you like raw fish is sashimi platter and we got the three different Sashimi platter they have like four they have five and you can order bigger platters like the more people you have since it’s just a two of us today uh this is what we got and it’s usually beautifully presented today we have salmon we have katsu which is Bonito and it’s a little bit seared and this other fish I’m not really sure what it is and this comes with Wasabi seawe PE leaf and Dorn I’m going to go for this seared Bonito because I love seared Bonito it’s so fresh and you know what this is the point where if you like Japanese sake this is where you should order sake because sake pairs perfectly with sashimi and the parallel Leaf the Canton pet and the daon this is garnish but this is edible garnish so you can definitely eat them like this here and it just makes it more fresh one of my favorite isaka food is KAG it’s Japanese deep fried chicken at this isaka it comes with mayonnaise and lemon did you hear the sound it’s crispy nicely seasoned with salt and it’s juicy lots of chicken flavor chicken Umami very good I like my karag with a little bit of mayo the chicken here is so crispy It season so pery not overly salty one of my favorite dishes at this particular isaka next is one of my favorite food and is a must order is tamagoyaki or Japanese egg omelette sometimes it can be sweet sometimes it can be Savory depending on the shop you choose at this place uh the tamagaki is seasoned with Dashi so it is on the Savory side and it comes with a theop of grated daon radish which you can use if you want if you’re going to use this I suggest you put a little bit of soy sauce into the daon radish and eat it together with The Omelette it’s so fluffy and beautifully Iggy and it it’s not too Sal which I love delicious so the next dish is agedashi dofu it’s deep fried to coated with starch and it comes with broth dashi broth Dashi is regularly made with comu seed and Bonito FX this one it comes with Bonito FX on top very soft smooth tofu it was a good Umami because it is coated with starch and deep fried this is must food next on the must try menu is grilled fish and I got something called Hoke and this is one of my favorite fish at isak Kaya in fact the first time I had H was at isaka and Osaka when I was in my 20s like super long ago but the reason why I like it is because it’s a pretty big siiz fish and the bone is very easy to peel off and this one once again comes the lemon witch as well as that theop of dcon radish so super easy so you have two bones here I know two bones for a fish it sounds strange but it’s simply peeled off like this it’s easily peeled off I’ll peel off the other side for Satoshi as well because he hates bones he hates peeling off bones so I I will do it for him but still you do have to be careful of small bones in the fish and look as soon as I cut into it with my Chopstick you see how flaky it is look how flaky and Meaty the fish is this is the reason why I like this fish it’s very meaty one [Music] M it’s really good it’s a very flavorful fish and it’s not overly fishy so I think you will like this it’s really good and if you think it’s a little bit fishy just squeeze on some of the lemon and eat it with the dcon radish and maybe pour a little bit of soy sauce just a little bit soy sauce because it’ll be too salty if you put too much so next one is Yakitori you know what Yakitori is they have a variety of yakit here today we decided to choose three neima skun and shishto pepper this one is simply seasoned with salt this is Nima chicken green onion chicken green chicken green onion it’s nicy gilled chicken with Char good flavor I can taste the chicken flavor very nicely because it is seasoned with just seasoned with salt I want to eat [Music] n greed green onion has sweetness it’s a ground chicken meat this one is filled with Umami Umami Umami of chicken so when I say Umami it means good flavor my favorite Yaki is actually neima I love the contrast of the chicken flavor and Nei flavor and if you don’t feel like chicken and you feel like eating veggies they do have like a veggie option here oops and this is the shishito pepper once again simply seasoned with salt M I think what makes Yakitori so delicious is that it’s grilled over charcoal so you get really beautiful charg flavor on any yakit you get I can’t stop number nine is guza and I’m sure many of you guys are fans of guza which are pan fried dumplings and the guza here is fantastic okay to going to dip it into the dipping sauce right here which is usually soy sauce and vinegar M oh that is so good there’s pork there’s onions garlic and ginger and green onions is just so so flavorful and it’s cooked perfectly crispy on one side and it’s fluffy on the other and this is one of those things that go so well with beer so at the end of the meat of an isaka we regularly eat shim shim is dish with c like noodles or rice dishes we ordered chaha it’s fried rice this one is nicely seasoned with salt and pepper it contains meat carrot egg and green onion the variety of flavors are into one dish it’s like when I used to live in Hawaii like after a night of drinking we used to go and eat pizza or sometimes have breakfast at like 3: in the morning so I guess Shima would be something like that really like Satoshi says to absorb all the alcohol you drank and when it’s time to pay don’t forget to ask for the bill by saying and don’t worry about calculating your share just split the bill evenly and everyone’s happy we have a video teaching you most important phrases at a restaurant check it out the link is in the description below so da habit everything you need to know to enjoy isaka experience isaka offers something for everyone so make sure you stop by one next time you’re here in Tokyo and until next time take care bye-bye bye guys by come bye

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Become an Izakaya expert by diving into the world of Japanese Izakaya culture with our latest video! Uncover the hidden secrets, savor the authentic flavors, and master the art of Izakaya dining as we guide you through everything you need to know. From must-try dishes to insider tips, this video is your ticket to becoming an Izakaya connoisseur.

Useful Phrases at a Restaurant in Japan
👉https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32B2nqss9T4

📍Wazen
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