What better way to spend a chilly winter evening than to dine on some tasty shabu-shabu or Japanese hot-pot. Our restaurant of choice this time was IMAFUKU in Shirokane who had just opened it’s doors to the public on January 23, 2012.
Imafuku's facade
We found out about this restaurant from its sister restaurant Jumbo which we frequently visit for their excellent yakiniku. I was excited about our dinner, Jumbo has some excellent beef and I was expecting the same from Imafuku.
The design of the restaurant was clean and simple in a very Japanese way.
The interior
The meat for our shabu-shabu was put on display for all to see.
We were whisked into one of their private rooms on the second floor where we chose some sake to accompany our dinner. The waitress then came back with a tray filled with an assortment of sake glasses for us to pick from.
The assortment of sake glasses
The menu was in Japanese and we were lucky to have someone who could read Japanese with us. We chose the most extensive set menu which set us back around 10,500 yen per person.
The first appetizer to arrive was a small glass of sea urchin over a potato puree with some vegetables on the side. Both were delicious.
The sea urchin and veggies
Then came the raw food platter which did include some raw heart and some intestines. I ate everything but the intestines and thought that it tasted pretty good.
And then came time for what we were waiting for….the shabu-shabu
The hot shabu-shabu broth
What I noticed to be different from other shabu-shabu restaurants was the clear yellowish ponzu sauce instead of the usual dark one. It tasted a little different but had the same acidic taste of ponzu.
The clear ponzu sauce and the sesame sauce
The first plate to arrive was the tongue which we were to dip into the broth only for a few seconds and retrieve while it was still pink in color. It tasted really good.
Then came the meat platter with 5 different kinds of meat from different parts of the cow, along with some vegetables.
The meat platter and the vegetables
I found what made this shabu-shabu dinner to be excellent instead of just simply good was the sesame sauce. It was the best I’ve ever tried. A little bit sweeter than what I’m used to but absolutely delicious. I used it for all my dips including the vegetables which I usually dip into the ponzu sauce.
To end things, you had the choice of some noodles or rice. We chose the noodles and were told to eat half in the broth and the other half dipped into the sesame sauce. Simply heavenly.
There was a choice of panacotta, ice cream or sorbet for desert. All were delicious.
This is a restaurant I would definitely recommend you to try. And before I end things I just have to share this cute little picture with you….
IMAFUKU address : 1-12-19 Shirokane,minato-ku, Tokyo. Tel : 0354202914
