Ibuki — Restaurant in Tokyo

This small restaurant is truly a hidden gem! We were so happy to have found it! Looks like most of the customers are locals, which we appreciate. The restaurant is a one man operation which makes us appreciate it that everything done is of high quality. The chef is Japanese and had worked in French restaurants before he opened his own. Ibuki, the name of the restaurant, means a breath of something new and fresh, and the small but nicely done space certainly conveys this feeling, yet cozy!

The lunch menu and dinner menu are in Japanese, handwritten on different chalkboards. We used google photo to translate it, but No worries as upon ordering, we found that the chef spoke some English which made ordering so much easier! When we came for the first time, it was for lunch and were given lunch menu, but we would like to order many dishes to try instead of just a lunch set menu, so we asked if he had any octopus and oyster and if we could get those during lunch and he said YES! No problem. We had salad which was super fresh and tasty, a plate of seafood sashimi drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a plate of oysters on the shell, octopus salad, and soup. Everything was very fresh and made after you order.

It was a wonderful lunch experience that we went back for dinner that very same day to have his Seafood Bouillabaisse. Soon after we placed the order, he got busy in the kitchen making our bouillabaisse from scratch! It was wonderful to hear the sound coming from his kitchen and the whole room smells so intoxicating! Soon after, to our surprise, instead of two bowls of bouilabaisse, he brought out a portable burner and set it on our table. As we were wondering what that was for, he brought out a Japanese earthenware donabe containing the bouillabaisse for two to finish the cooking at the table! The many kinds of seafood were still in the raw state floating on the beautiful color broth and told us to lower the heat once it reaches boiling point. Of course we got distracted and were not paying attention when it was boiling, but he came right to our table to rescue and lower the heat for us. Looked like he quietly paid attention to what was going on at customers' table. While waiting for the bouillabaise to finish cooking, we heard the whisking noise as the chef was making us some aioli for us to enjoy the bouillabaise with! Just imagine to get that freshly made! The whole dining experience was amazing! The seafood bouillabaise was beautiful and colorful in appearance and was loaded with tons of good stuffs from fish, shrimps, shellfish, oysters, octopus and baby squids besides beautiful color from selected vegetable. It a generous portion, delicious and very filling, but we had to ask him for an order of bread to scoop up the broth!

The food is the chef's fresh take on French inspired cooking. It is his Ibuki, the best of both worlds, a Japanese chef's fresh take with not limited only to his French cuisine background, but also some Italian inspired dishes in the menu.. If you visit Tokyo ONLY aiming to eat typical Japanese food from sushi to tonkatsu to unagi to tempura to ramen only and only, you will certainly miss an exquisite dining experience with well executed good quality food like this, where you feel the magic of the chef as the only person creating exquisite meal in an efficiently manner while you wait sitting at the table. Probably it could only happen in Japan....or perhaps only in this restaurant. The price is reasonable for the food quality you get! The dishes in the menu starting from less than 1000 Yen to 2700 Yen.

It is a bit of a walk from a subway station, but it is worth it! You could walk from Iriya Station or Inaricho Station. We will certainly be back on our next visit to Tokyo to try other food...

Although I rarely leave any reviews, this restaurant most certainly deserves one.

If you (like my wife and I) are looking for non touristic experiences, then this may very well be the place for you.

First of all, do not be thrown off by the location, which is tucked well away in a residential area behind some main streets in the Taito/Asakusa district. The facade of this place doesn't appear grand, but if you can see through that, then hang in for a fantastic ride of your taste buds.

Secondly, it's a small place, so it is highly recommended that you reserve a table in advance (we managed over the phone, but be patient as the owner is not fluent in English). Again, there is no fancy website, so no online booking.. but there is still a very good reason I left this review, so please read on.

We reserved for 8 pm, and were greeted in very friendly manner by the owner who drives the business entirely on his own. At first it seemed a bit alarming that we were the only guests, but we soon realized that we were simply late (Japanese people apparently have dinner between 6 pm and 8 pm), and well.. there were no tourists :-D

Our choices fell on several dishes, all written in Japanese on chalk boards (use google translate and be enlightened with numerous very appealing choices), amongst them grilled barracuda and octopus in butter sauce.. As main course we tried a perfectly balanced pasta dish, and the dessert left us speechless.

The style is far from traditional Japanese, but more of a French cuisine based on available fish/seafood purchased at the local fish market, and the menu changes both with seasons and availablity of ingredients. The dishes we ate convinced us that this chef really knows what he is doing in terms of both preparation and composition.

The atmosphere is friendly with quiet music in the background. There will be no white table cloths or fancy carpets, but in return you likely walk away with an unforgettable experience of food that is simply not possible to find...

We walked by this restaurant on our way to our nearby hotel, after a day of seeing Tokyo. . The storefront and signage was charming so we looked inside , it was empty so we decided to come back later in the evening. When we did , the small space was still empty except for the chef/owner, who greeted us and sat us . I was with my wife and daughter , and we wanted a simple Japanese meal. What followed was an experience we’ll never forget . As the menu was in Japanese, we used Google translate to ask the chef to make us his favorite dishes for our family.. he started us with Fresh sashimi, simple, delicate, spot on. A cold corn soup was next. It was refreshing and a great dish on a warm night. Next he prepared a seafood au gratin, a combination of fresh seafood and pesto. The dish was a Japanese , and French, and Italian.. which the chef later told us were his major inspirations.. he finished our meal with a pasta dish, so simple , so perfect. All served with great wines ..we sat and talked with the Chef , as we were still the only ones in the restaurant. We learned about his cooking and him. And we had one of the best dining experiences we’ve ever had. Unforgettable . Please seek this place out. It’s the sort of restaurant that should be sought out when travelling, local, small, with food prepared with so much care and craft. Truly a...