East Blue Gowan

Great quality and service!

East Blue isn’t the easiest place to find — just a small sign next to the door on a busy street — but it’s worth the effort. In fact, I saw it on Unilocal but still couldn’t find it until I happened to notice the sign one day while walking by.
If you do find it, get ready for an amazing meal. They don’t really have an English menu, but the chef spoke enough English to come by the table and suggest he send out items and asked if there was anything we didn’t like.
Over the next hour we were treated to one of my favorite food experiences so far in Tokyo. A big salad for the table followed by a daikon radish braised with pork that was so delicious my 4 and 7 year olds couldn’t get enough. Then came the sashimi platter with horse mackerel, crab, snapper, octopus, salmon, tuna and yellowtail (picture included). Then four giant scallops in the shells with a flavorful broth. Then the shrimp that were so fresh the legs were still moving (you’ll walk by the tank on the way to the table). Then a plate of Saba torched at the table and finally some miso to finish the meal. All of this, plus a couple of highballs, for 9960 yen (~$ 80 at today FX rate!).
The service is also excellent, though like many Japanese restaurants the staff won’t bother you unless you ask.

Six (6) adults, an abundance of food and less than $ 25 each at the end of the night? We all looked at each other as we walked away from East Blue, flabbergasted that we could eat that quantity of quality dishes, with the highest Japanese service, in our own private dining booth and no pay more than $ 25 Australian dollars. The mind boggled.
Dining in a group definitely made the experience at East Blue. We were able to try several dishes from the Izakaya style menu and at points in our meal we struggled to make room on our table.
The menu isn’t strictly traditional Japanese and you’ll see some western-​style items like curly fries. Still, they add their own twist to each dish and with the fries it’s topped with cod roe. The Daikon and pork was a highlight as was the sashimi sampler. Again, it’s truly a better experience in a group!