Makiyaki Ginza Onodera

Makiyaki Ginza Onodera (薪焼 銀座おのでら)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🎁 Innovative / 📍 Higashi-Ginza

📓 Visits: 3 (2022-2023)

Wood-fired cooking is one of the dining-out trends of the last few years in Tokyo.  All the background on chef Keiichi Terada and this restaurant is on Pocket Concierge, and it's worth a read.

The table below summarizes your choice of omakase course.  On both my visits I had the cheapest lunch.

	Lunch Short Course	Lunch Standard Course	Lunch Special Course	Dinner Standard Course	Dinner Special Course
	¥7,700	¥11,000	¥16,500	¥24,200	¥33,000
Caviar	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅
Canape	✅	❌	❌	✅	✅
Amuse	❌	✅	✅	❌	❌
Cold starter	✅	✅	2	✅	✅
Salad	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
Hot starter	❌	✅	✅	✅	2
Fish	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
Wagyu	❌	❌	✅	✅	A5 fillet
Meat	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅
Paella or ramen	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Toasted marshmallows	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅
Basque cheesecake	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Hojicha	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Candied nuts	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Terada-san uses ingredients from Japan and France which are good quality.  The smoke really adds another dimension to the fish and meat: the French lamb being a particular stand-out.  On the other hand the sauces detract from the dishes rather than enhance them and I usually don't finish them.  The salad is fine but I've had better at similar prices.  The cuisson on the meat and fish is never really perfect.  So there's definitely room for improvement in some of the cooking.  I'd rate the starters, fish and meat 8-8.5/10.  Bread is made in the kitchen from scratch.  Dense, full of flavour, texture from pine nuts and served with brown butter mixed with sour cream.  So often a weak point in Japan, it's exceptional here and the best bread I've eaten in any restaurant in Tokyo.  But don't overfill yourself on the bread because rice is still (or should be) to come.  The best rice dishes I've had in Tokyo are at Suzutashiki, Akasaka Ogino, Den and now here.  'Paella' is cooked separately for each party.  You get flavour from the smoke and texture from the rice crust.  I rated the rice 10/10 both times I had it.  Much to my disappointment the rice had been changed to ramen on my most recent visit.  For dessert, the Basque cheesecake is rich, has the perfect sweetness, is rare in the centre and served at the perfect temperature.

The dinner menu has more courses and includes wagyu.  If you were paying 24K+ for dinner you might want a step-up in the quality of ingredients and quality of cooking.  Without that this restaurant will never have a super-high Tabelog rating but for a restaurant that's been open for coming up to four years, has held a Michelin Star since the 2021 Tokyo Guide and has only 36 Tabelog reviews as of October 2022 (70 as of May 2023) and a score of just 3.73 it's very underrated.  Lunch only started in January 2021 with the short courses introduced in Summer 2021.  The short course is exceptional value and you should leave very full.

Chef Terada is very friendly, engaging and can speak some English.  The restaurant is very comfortable, the other chefs are upbeat and service is excellent.  There will be some smell of smoke on your clothes when you leave but it's not excessive.

My most recent meal was my least enjoyable.  The best dish was the kue.  The confit hotaru ika that came with it was itself delicious too but it killed the flavour of the white fish and had to be eaten separately.  I got a large portion of lamb for my main course but the dish ended up being too salty and one-dimensional, mainly due to the sauce.  As I mentioned the big let-down was that the paella had been changed to ramen.

Easy to book, no simultaneous start, out in under 90m and no stupid cancellation penalties.  This had been one of my favourite restaurants for a lunch course menu but mainly due to the change to ramen I won't be going back to Makiyaki for a while and until I'm sure the paella is back on.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13235042/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.2 (value: 5.0 - this course at this price)

📱 Booking: 🟩  Easy.  Same week reservations via Tabelog, TableCheck (translations are ropey), Pocket Concierge or phone.

📍 Location:

9F Sunlit Ginza Ⅲ, 5-14-14 Ginza.  9F multi-tenant building.  2 mins walk from Higashi-Ginza station.  Top of the street faces Kabuki-za.  Ring the doorbell on 9F to enter.
Map data ©2022 Google

📶 Free WiFi? ❌ No

📅 Visit May 2023

Lunch Short Course:

Kumamoto catarosu
Strawberry, celery, paprika soup; burrata, caviar
Salad
Kue, confit hotaru ika
Sisteron lamb, round courgette
Ramen
Basque cheesecake
Hojicha
Candied almonds

💴 Damage: 7,700
⏱️ Time taken: 1h15m

📅 Visit October 2022

Lunch Short Course:

Katarosu
Périgord chestnut puree, tenshi ebi, pain d'épice
Salad
Amadai, ebi sauce, basil sauce
Brittany Barbary duck, butternut squash
Salmon, maitake, ikura rice
Basque cheesecake
Hojicha
Candied almonds

💴 Damage: 8,470 (7000 + 1 drink @700 + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h15m

📅 Visit March 2022

Lunch Short Course:

Kumamoto akagyu rump
Salad
Aori ika, sansai, mugi risotto
Tachiuo, dandelion, grapefruit, vinegar
French lamb, black truffle
Hotaru ika paella
Basque cheesecake
Hojicha
Candied almonds

💴 Damage: 8,745 (7000 + 1 drink @950 + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h10m