(Photo by Takahiro Takiguchi)
Whether or not you’re into designer and luxury brands, Tokyo’s Ginza is the place to go see some pretty expensive items.
Even if items are over your budget, Ginza is a popular place to “ginbura,” a Japanese portmanteau that means strolling around Ginza.
If you find yourself ginbura-ing around Ginza and want to take a break for lunch that won’t break the bank, stop by Kamonka.
(Photo by Takahiro Takiguchi)
(Photo by Takahiro Takiguchi)
(Photo by Takahiro Takiguchi)
(Photo by Takahiro Takiguchi)
(Photo by Takahiro Takiguchi)
Kamonka serves up delicious Chinese dishes in a beautiful dining hall just a five-minute walk from Ginza Station of both Tokyo Metro’s Hibiya and Chiyoda-lines.
The restaurant is known for its authentic Sichuan dishes, and during a recent visit I had a spicy mapo tofu lunch set. Mapo tofu is bean curd and ground meat sauteed in a thick chili pepper sauce. At Kamonka, the lunch set is 1,500 yen (about $10) and includes steamed rice, egg soup, and a side of pickles.
Within 10 minutes, my mapo tofu arrived in a large iron pot and included a side of ganraa Chinese spicy red pepper seasoning. I dug in and my taste buds exploded with the flavors of spicy miso and numbing sensations of the Sichuan pepper. My breath shortened slightly with the addictive taste and the tender meat and tofu melting in my mouth.
(Photo by Takahiro Takiguchi)
(Photo by Takahiro Takiguchi)
Chinese pepper spice (Photo by Takahiro Takiguchi)
The mapo tofu was spicey, but I needed more heat so I sprinkled some ganraa over the dish. The spice added more depth to the heat, and it was delicious. It’s counterintuitive to think that adding more spice to something already spicy would make it better, but the ganraa did exactly that.
I devoured my lunch and made sure to snatch up a bottle of ganraa available for 600 yen at the register.
I left Kamonka only a couple thousand yen down and reenergized to continue my ginbura. You can find Kamonka in Ginza and other Tokyo districts like Shimbashi, Akasaka and Ueno.
Kamonka
Hours: Mon – Fri, 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m., 5 – 11 p.m.; Sat, Sun and holidays – 10 p.m.
Location: 1-10-6 [B1] Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-3563-7900
*Kamonka has locations in Shimbashi, Marunouchi, Akasaka, Ueno, Kinshicho and Kawasaki. For more information, click here.
