Ippo - Wine & Spirits Magazine

Restaurant Review

Ippo

by W. Blake Gray • April 11, 2018

Ippo’s sign promises “fish and sake.” The fish is the easy part. Finding good tiny-production sakes in Tokyo is such a challenge that Ippo co-owner Hideki Takano buys many of them retail from shops with connections to breweries in distant prefectures. Ippo’s list of 42 sakes is one of the city’s most eclectic, filled with obscure, rare bottles—and all are available by the glass. It’s a tiny place; with just 12 chairs at a long bar and three four-tops, it’s worth calling for a reservation. Unlike the sake list, which is printed in English characters, the daily-changing food menu is not, so you may be best off asking for recommendations. Sashimi is excellent (just ask for a “moriawase,” or assortment), and so is the grilled fish—removed from the grill at just the right moment, when the fish is still plenty moist.

1-22-10 Ebisu, Kamasuya 2F, Shibuya-ku, Japan, Tokyo

Japanese

03-3445-8418

W. Blake Gray

W. Blake Gray lived in Tokyo for eight years before moving to San Francisco, where he became an award-winning wine and spirits journalist. He is the US Editor for Wine Searcher and runs the Gray Report blog. He still travels to Tokyo frequently to drink and eat and drink.

This story appears in the print issue of April 2018.
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