Enjoy shellfish dishes with friendly “monks”

Take the north exit at Koenji station and go straight to the shopping street. From there, go in a narrow street to get to Abusan, a restaurant that specializes in shellfish.

At first glance, it seems like an ordinary residential house.

I open the sliding door and am greeted by two staff members that look like monks, smiling at me!

Hmm, the restaurant looks like it is filled up…

The “monks” then tell me that there is a table available on the second floor! So, I go out of the restaurant and take the stairs outside that lead me to the second floor.

The first floor has a counter and the second floor has two four-person tables.

Once arrived on the second floor, I take off my shoes and go inside. It feels so cozy, like it’s my home!

Here is the room.

The room is very simple. It has the traditional atmosphere that is so comforting.

I run my eyes through the menu and decided to order some grilled shellfish, sashimi and raw oyster.

You can order course menus with three, five or eight shellfish dishes. You can also order the dishes individually, but I recommend the course because they serve you what is best the day.

My friend and I ordered the three-dish course.

Now without further due, “kampai!”
A good sake to go with the shellfish.

The hors d’oeuvre consists of a cold dish of

green beans and lotus root cooked with fish.

Delicious!

Next up is, oysters!!

They are so big and fluffy.

The smooth texture and subtle sea flavor spread through my mouth.

The tasty oysters are from Hokkaido.

And here come some grilled shellfish!

The first one is clam with seaweed topping.

This goes perfectly with the sake! So good! The seaweed is definitely a nice addition to the clam.

The clam is cut up so it’s really easy to eat and good for sharing.

Next is scallop.

The sweet taste of the scallop goes great with melted butter. Such a gentle taste!
It’s quite different from the clam. I’m enjoying the diversity!

And here is the next one!

I forgot what it was called…
But it had a nice strong taste and was absolutely delicious!

I really like this restaurant so far. I definitely want to come back because I love shellfish and high quality sake.
They also have a variety of dishes outside of seafood, like Japanese omelet, pasta and grilled or fried vegetables.

For sashimi, we ordered Matsukawa righteye flounder.

It has a nice firm texture. A mild taste fish with some tasty fat. I’m definitely going to remember this fish so I can order it again.

To finish off the meal, I ordered Chawan-Mushi, a savory steamed egg custard with assorted ingredients. It’s one of Abusan’s most popular dishes.

But this is no ordinary Chawan-Mushi. It uses plenty of flavorful shellfish stock. You can’t get it like this anywhere else.

As it takes a while to cook, make sure to order it beforehand.

And here it is!

The appearance as well as the ingredients inside is very simple. The emphasis is really on the shellfish stock. The texture is very smooth. So delicious!!

Be careful not to burn yourself while eating because it is rather hot.

Abusan has made it on the list as one of my favorite restaurants. I really had a great experience, including the two “monks” that welcomed us, of course.

I definitely recommend Abusan to anyone that likes shellfish and sake!

writer：Tanna♡