IZAKAYA TAICHAN

Okay, so even though we said that we've moved on from Japanese, I guess it's not entirely true, cause here we are again! Can't help it, people..we just love Japanese foods! Not satisfied with just any Japanese foods, we decided to go straight to the heart of Japanese food in Jakarta and that is Little Tokyo!

This little Japanese restaurant is called Izakaya Taichan and it's located at Blok M area, if you don't know where Little Tokyo is. Here you get to sit as if you're on a tatami dining table to enhance the Japanese feels! :D Each table are only divided by that black wooden separator, so be sure not to disturb your neighbors..lol!

AGEDASHI TOFU IDR 32,5K

Not really expecting much from agedashi tofu. It was my friend's favorite dish, so we decided to get it and I can say that it's very decent! You can really judge a restaurant's cooking from the simplest dish!

KUSHIKATSU MORIAWASE IDR 75K

A set of fried foods, who can ever resist it? Lol! Anyways, I guess there's not really much that can be said about fried foods. I'm just glad that the crumbs were not overly thick but they could use some seasonings that could make it at least a bit more flavorful!

BUTA KATSUNI SET IDR 82,5K
From this set, you'll get rice, miso soup, and pickles, so it's a complete set for a reasonable price! Another plus point because it tasted amazing, really love how flavorful it is, yet it's not overwhelming! I'd love to have these over and over again, plus it's pork!

YAKITORI MORIAWASE (6 PCS) IDR 77,5K
It's chicken on a stick..lol! But seriously, starting from the skin, intestines, boneless, and with bones, they're all here! There's really nothing special about it though, since you'd find the ones in Indonesia's stall better than these. Guess these are healthier ones, which means a less strong flavor!

Really amazed with how authentic most places here in Little Tokyo, from ambiance to foods! For someone who admires Japan very much, this is like a little heaven. :p I'd definitely come back to try other restaurants here!!

Izakaya Taichan

Jl. Melawai 6 No. 5

Little Tokyo

Blok M, Melawai

Jakarta Selatan 12160

021-7261281

Opening Hours :

Everyday : 11:00 am - 01:00 am

ECHIGOYA RAMEN

Kon'nichiwa! Why the Japanese? Well, cause today we're gonna introduce to you another Japanese restaurant which is located at Little Tokyo, the same place as Daitokyo Sakaba. This is also another one of those that opened only at lunch and dinner time, which is at 12 pm - 2 pm and open again at 6 pm.

Came here at 11, since I'm just an impatient person when it comes to good food and became their first customer of the day right after they opened at 12. Yay! To all otakus out there, this will probably be your top dining destination with all the manga they provide (all in Japanese)! Oh, and most of the customers here are also Japanese, when I came here, all of the customers were Japanese businessmen, must be authentic!

Since nowadays, many dining spot has offered interior more than taste, it's amazingly relieving and refreshing to find one that still has a nice simple interior with an ass-kicking food!

Of course, the typical window to you're magic maker view is almost always available in a Japanese restaurants.

OCHA (complimentary)
An essential beverage for a Japanese restaurant!

MINI BUTA CHASHU DON IDR 30k
Going to several ramen places in town, sometimes you'd get this weird craving for donburi! Translating it as a rice bowl, it's for those who'd like to have some rice instead of noodles as their carb portion! This one is not-so-mini compared to other places (ring a bell?) but not as big as a normal bowl either. Perfect portion for ladies with perfect taste! Love the tenderness of the perfectly grilled pork and it's well seasoned as well. For all of you non-pork eaters, don't be disappointed! They also serve chicken for the very same menu!

GYOZA IDR 29.8k

Gyoza is probably a mandatory appetizer for me when it comes to Japanese dishes cause I think it's the best partner for ramen and this has got to be the BEST gyoza I've ever tasted! The authenticity of it is killing me, in a good way, I don't even mind that it's chicken meat instead of my all time favorite pork!

ECHIGOYA RAMEN IDR 49.8k

Yeap! This has got to be their signature dish, it has the same name, can't get more obvious than that! Anyway, this place serves super sized bowl of heavenly goodness for only 49,8K! Guess that Japanese people really love their ramen. This is perfect for those who likes vegetables cause it's complete with large amount of corn, wakame, carrot, and leek with only few chickens, the noodle is also fulfilling, I bet it's even enough for 2 people. You can also choose between shoyu and shio for the soup. 

CHASYUMEN IDR 78K
Drum roll please, cause we're gonna welcome the champion here, Chasyumen! Ramen with PORK, sweet, juicy, fat slices of pork! With the generous amount of beautiful pork and ramen, you can rest assured that you're gonna go out this place with a stuffed belly!

This here is the fat, juicy pork! There's like 5 or 6 thick slices of these and I seriously can't get enough of it! Best ramen in town next to Hakata Ikkousha and it's only because the soup is not as rich as Hakata's, but other than that, PERFECT!

Now, I'm gonna show you just how big the portion of the ramen is compared to the donburi!

Did you see how big it is? The best ramen shop in town indeed! Fyi, all the noodles here are homemade. Wow! Big applause for that! I'm definitely gonna come back here to enjoy their amazing ramen with unbelievably reasonable price!

Echigoya Ramen 

Jl. Melawai 8 No. 2A

Blok M (Little Tokyo)

Kebayoran Baru

Jakarta Selatan 12160

021-7395962

Opening Hours :

Monday - Friday :

Lunch : 11:30 am - 02:00 pm

Dinner : 06.00 pm - 01:00 am

Saturday and Public Holidays :

Lunch : 11:30 am - 02:30 pm

Dinner : 05:00 pm - 12:00 am

Sunday:

Lunch : 11:30 am - 02:30 pm

Dinner : 05:00 pm - 11:00 pm

DAITOKYO SAKABA JAKARTA

Okay, confession time! Who else have never been to the Little Tokyo in Melawai other than me?? Anyone? Well, I didn't even expect Jakarta to have this kind of place. This whole area is full of Japanese shops and of course, Japanese restaurants; which is why it's called Little Tokyo. Though the opening hours varied from restaurant to restaurant; some open for 24 hours and some only open from lunch till dinner, and Daitokyo Sakaba is one of the ones that only opens at night. Fyi, it's a bit of a struggle to have dinner here, cause the whole place is FULL of people and I really mean FULL! Good luck finding a parking space. Just look at the picture above! Actually, you have a bigger chance in finding a spot at the parking building provided rather than trying to find one in front of the restaurant.

I first knew this place from Ivy and I totally fell for the looks of their Donburi and Yakitori, so I thought 'I HAVE to try it!'. In the first night I came here, the place is too full that I had to change my plan, BUT that didn't stop me! Yeap, I came back the other night and all just for this particular restaurant.

The place is an authentic Japanese restaurant and it looks like a hallway divided into several private tables. Cool!

Unfortunately for big parties though, they only have tables around this size: 4 per table, or bigger ones for 10 at most. Private to the level of inner circles!

Look at how cute this is, it's where they wrote our orders!

Like the Japanese street food you might see in television, this place also provides a table right in front of the kitchen where you can eat whilst looking at the cooking process.

It's always fun to be able to take a peep into how the magic happens behind the kitchen!

Fyi, this is an actual Japanese restaurant, even the website is in Japanese!

ODEN

Too bad I didn't get to try this, but it sure looks appetizing!

OCHA

What's more Japanese than Ocha when it comes to beverages??

GYUTAN DON IDR 63K

Looks small, but it's actually a lot. Though the rice portion overwhelms the meat, it's still the best Gyutan Don I've ever tasted! The Gyutan is really tasty and tender and the complimentary miso soup is also yummy, perfect match for a rice bowl.

YAKITORI DON IDR 60K

Rice with a lot of small chicken drumsticks on top, at least that's what I first thought. Turns out, there're chicken skins and livers too, PLUS an egg in the middle which is covered by those Nori. Seriously, ultimately yummy, just imagine a super tender sweet chicken meat with savory chicken skin and liver plus a creamy egg yolk. I'm craving for it whilst writing this as well! I have to come back here again!

BUTA BARA IDR 40K

From the grills, PORK! I know it's not photogenic, but you gotta try this! Nothing beats a perfect tender texture with amazing aroma and it's PORK, I can't ask for anything better. Only 1 word to describe this; PERFECT!

NEGISHIOTAN IDR 75K

For those who don't know what Negishiotan is; it's an ox tongue. This one is recommended by the waiter and I admit, it's delicious, but I still like the Gyutan on the Gyutan Don better. It's the same meat, the only difference is the cooking process. Worth the try though!

I did NOT regret having to come back here twice! I won't even mind going through all those hardship just to get to these amazing foods and I will come back soon. Definitely made to my TOP Japanese authentic restaurants! Thank you Daitokyo Sakaba for the delicious experience!

Daitokyo Sakaba

Jl. Melawai 9 No. 26

Blok M

Kebayoran Baru

Jakarta Selatan 12160

021-7222047

Opening hours :

Monday - Friday : 05:30 pm - 12:30 am

Weekend : Closed at 11:00 pm

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