It has turned cold — the season for hot pot. Continuing our look at Ibaraki Marche on the Sotobori in Ginza 1-chome, Tokyo, this time the topic is nabe.
Among dinner highlights (5–11 p.m.) are whole Okukuji shamo chicken hot pot (3,580 yen single / 5,500 yen course for two), country-style monkfish hot pot in miso (2,580 / 4,500)＝photo top, from Ibaraki Marche's website＝, and rose pork soy-milk hot pot (1,980 / 3,500) — all using Ibaraki specialties.
Monkfish hot pot carries a drama tied to the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The site (http://ibarakimarche.com/) describes "vow monkfish hot pot — rebuilding after the disaster."
Hitachi spreads the beautiful sea Mitsukuni praised as a sunrise scenic spot. On March 11, that sea changed utterly. Jitsuno Harada, who had run Unoshima Onsen Inn for more than fifty years, barely escaped the tsunami and could only watch stunned as the inn was swept away. ... Endless aftershocks, reputational damage, and financing weighed down hopes. Then Harada remembered a recipe book found untouched by the wave — recipes compiled by the previous innkeeper. ... "Let us make monkfish hot pot again — to welcome back the guests who looked forward to that pot every year." Traditional monkfish hot pot filled with that passion is reborn here at Ibaraki Marche.
Unoshima Onsen Inn (Facebook https://www.facebook.com/unoshima.onsen.ryokan) sits on Otagiri Beach in Hitachi, right before the sea, aiming to reopen next year — taste the tradition early in Ginza＝photo bottom, from Ibaraki Marche's website.
From Takebashi at Palaceside Building, one minute from Ginza 1-chome on the subway, four to five minutes from Ginza Station, three minutes from JR Yurakucho.