Two sisters from Germany, on their first-ever trip to Japan, sat down at a charcoal-grill and dried-fish specialist inside Yodobashi Akiba. Every impression below is recorded in the video.
Our guests were two sisters from Germany who had never eaten real sashimi in their lives.
They arrived worried they might not like it.
By the end of the meal they were saying “Everything was delicious. We can recommend it.”
Budget is around ¥3,000–¥3,999 per person for dinner and ¥1,000–¥1,999 for lunch.
Open 11:00 to 22:30 straight through, all non-smoking, cards accepted. Easy to find, and easy to recommend to travellers.
| Nearest station | JR Akihabara Station (Shōwa-dōri exit) — 1 min walk, 126 m |
| Where exactly | Yodobashi Akiba, 8F (restaurant floor) |
| Genre | Seafood / izakaya / robatayaki (charcoal grill) |
| Budget | Dinner ¥3,000–¥3,999 · Lunch ¥1,000–¥1,999 (rough guide only) |
| Our video | Two sisters try Japanese food for the first time |
Traveler checklist
| What travellers ask | Status |
|---|---|
| Online reservation | ✓ Yes — bookable online |
| Card payment | ✓ Yes — VISA / Mastercard / JCB / AMEX (e-money also accepted, QR code payment not accepted) |
| Non-smoking | ✓ Yes — the whole restaurant |
| Picture menu | — Not yet confirmed, please ask when booking |
| English menu | — Not yet confirmed, please ask when booking |
| English-speaking staff | — Not yet confirmed, please ask when booking |
| Free Wi-Fi | — Not yet confirmed, please ask when booking |
| Vegetarian options | — Not yet confirmed, please ask when booking |
Information may have changed — please confirm the latest details on the official site before you go.
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About this review
We actually visited this restaurant with our guests and filmed the whole meal. Every quote in this review is taken word-for-word from the video. Impressions are our guests’ real, unedited reactions.
Nothing here is written from a press release or a menu photo.
What stands out about this visit: our two guests had never eaten raw fish in Japan before.
Our pick: if you order only one thing
In the video, around 15:20
Negitoro small rice bowl. On the day, both sisters picked this as the best thing on the table.
It was almost exactly like Mett, the dish they eat on bread at home in Germany, and it won our guests over: “That’s pretty good.”
What to order — everything they tried
Lemon sour (レモンサワー)
In the video, around 2:24
Neither guest had ever tried a Japanese drink before.
The meal opened with a lemon sour. They learned kanpai at the table and matched it against the German Prost.
Fresh sashimi platter (豊洲・産地直送鮮魚刺身盛合せ)
In the video, around 4:12
A platter of fresh fish — what is on it depends on the day’s catch.
On our visit the host started them on madai (sea bream), and the seared piece was sea bass. He explained at the table how aburi works — the surface cooked with a flame, still raw underneath — while they ate.
The first sashimi of their lives (around 5:44 in the video)
And this was not their “first sashimi in Japan” — it was their first sashimi ever.
At home the only fish they eat is salmon or tuna, cooked.
If you are new to sashimi, working from lean to fatty is an easy way in.
Charcoal-grilled dried-fish skewers (名物 干物串焼き)
In the video, around 6:30
The house speciality. Himono — semi-dried fish — is put on skewers and grilled hard over charcoal on an oversized grill.
The one our guests kept coming back to was mackerel.
You eat it by pushing the piece off the skewer with one press, and the host demonstrated that at the table.
The skin is the part they noticed (around 8:00 in the video)
Herring roe potato salad (数の子ポテトサラダ)
In the video, around 8:30
One of the house’s signature small dishes.
Herring roe is folded through smooth potato salad, adding a pop of texture. Our guests called out “potato” the moment it landed, and when they tasted it, it turned out to taste like home.
A taste of home in Akihabara (around 9:00 in the video)
Sake (日本酒)
In the video, around 9:52
The sake here is chosen from a wide range of styles.
Our guests were served a small pour in an ochoko cup, which led to the question of how Japanese people normally drink it.
One cup alongside the grilled fish is a good way to try it.
Fried chicken thigh, sanzoku-age style (鶏もも山賊揚げ)
In the video, around 10:16
A popular dish — chicken thigh marinated with ginger and garlic, fried after you order it.
The host named the seasoning at the table before they tried it.
It is also the safe order when someone at the table would rather not eat fish.
In the video, around 10:40
Charcoal-grilled salmon mixed rice (炭火サーモンまぜご飯) and miso soup (味噌汁)
In the video, around 13:54
Rice with charcoal-grilled salmon belly folded through it.
The miso soup is a katsuobushi-and-kombu stock with two kinds of miso blended together, and on this visit it came with wakame seaweed.
The host also showed them how to hold the bowl from the bottom and drink straight from it.
Drinking miso soup straight from the bowl (around 14:50 in the video)
Negitoro small rice bowl (ねぎとろ小丼)
“It doesn’t taste like fish” (around 16:44 in the video)
Minced fatty tuna with spring onion over rice, served as a small bowl.
The host suggested adding only a little soy sauce first, then adding more if you want it.
This is where the biggest reaction of the meal came.
The sisters recognised the texture straight away as Mett — the dish they eat on bread at home in Germany — and both of them picked it as the best thing of the day.
Too much and it covers the flavour of the fish.
Hojicha (ほうじ茶)
In the video, around 17:44
Hojicha to finish. It is a brown tea rather than a green one.
How the meal ended
Before the meal, one of the sisters had said she was afraid to taste the fish (she does not eat much fish at home).
After eating, both of them gave the same answer.
They also said this about Japanese food, without being asked:
Watch the full visit
Sashimi from 4:12 · charcoal-grilled skewers from 6:30 · negitoro from 15:20.
Getting there & booking
In the video, around 0:44
| Address | 越後屋 平次 秋葉原店 — 東京都千代田区神田花岡町1-1 ヨドバシAkiba 8F Yodobashi Akiba 8F, 1-1 Kanda-Hanaokachō, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo |
| Access | 1 min from JR Akihabara Station, Shōwa-dōri exit (126 m). Take the Yodobashi Akiba lifts to the 8th-floor restaurant floor. |
| Hours | 11:00 – 22:30 (last order 22:00) (may change, check when booking) |
| Closed | Irregular — follows the closing days of the building |
| Seats | 70 · counter, tatami and sunken-kotatsu seating · no private rooms · children welcome |
FAQ
- Do I need a reservation?
- Reservations are accepted and can be made online. With 70 seats you may well get a table as a walk-in, but the restaurant sits on a busy department-store restaurant floor next to a major station, so booking ahead is the safer choice. Last order is 22:00.
- Is English spoken?
- We have not confirmed English-speaking staff or an English menu, so please ask when you book. In our video the ordering and the explanations were handled by our HANABIMARU guide.
- Where exactly is the restaurant — is it on the street?
- No. It is on the 8th floor of Yodobashi Akiba, the large electronics store directly outside the Shōwa-dōri exit of Akihabara Station. Go into the building and take the lifts up to the restaurant floor — you do not need to find a back street, which makes it one of the easier izakaya in Tokyo to reach with luggage or with children.
- Is it a good choice if I don’t usually eat raw fish?
- There is plenty on the menu that is not raw at all — the charcoal-grilled dried fish and skewers, the fried chicken, the potato salad, grilled pork and vegetables are all cooked.
Restaurant information may have changed since our visit — please check the latest details on the booking site.
More restaurants in this area: Ueno, Akihabara & Nippori · see it on the HANABIMARU map
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