Hana-no MaiEdotokyohakubutsukammae

We may have stayed in Sumida, which has been dubbed as ‘Sumo City’; yet, the closest exposure we had to the sport was to dine inside a restaurant which housed a sumo ring. Just across our hotel was Ryogoku Happyakuyacho Hananomai Edo Tokyo Musuem-Mae. It was one of the few restaurants open for lat...e dinners in our area; which was why we ended up having our dinner there. To our surprise, the dinner crowd was bustling inside, in stark contrast to the silence of the city right outside it. In line with its sumo-theme, its menu features massive group sets for grilled meats and shabu-shabu. Unfortunately, my entire family didn’t really have much of an appetite as we were dead tired from a day spent at Mt. Fuji. Our long list of appetizers started off with a personal Japanese side dish, Tsukemono, or pickled vegetable and a steaming hot plate of Takoyaki. The Takoyaki balls were massive; although not as stuffed as the ones served by my personal favorite, Kraken Takoyaki. It promises immense value-for-money though as eight pieces come at an affordable price of ¥500. The Fried Oysters (¥150/pc) are a must-try; as each chunky piece comes clothed in a beautiful golden deep-fried thin batter, which paired amazingly with its zesty tartar sauce. Its Chicken Karaage (¥99/pc) featured humongous cuts of perfectly battered juicy fried chicken. It’s definitely a departure from the bite-size portions commonly served in ramen joints in Manila. We didn’t really think through the Yakitori Platter (¥790/5 pc set) we ordered; as we forgot that it also came with less conventional chicken parts such as gizzard and liver; which unfortunately, none of us really could appreciate. Both shio and miso flavors are made available to diners (we opted for the shio). I love that their grilled dishes came with a natural smokiness; which can be identified from their chicken yakitori to their gindara. We were blown away at how affordable the Miso Glazed Cod (¥590) (roughly P300), as it usually comes priced at P800 to 1000 at Manila! To be honest, all of the food we’ve tried from Ryogoku Happyakuyacho Hananomai Edo Tokyo Musuem-Mae came with a quality that’s already pretty standard to casual Japanese restaurants in Manila, so don't expect unique gastronomical experiences here. I think what made the experience more memorable for me was that the prices were crazy reasonable (cheap even!) once we started converting to Philippine Pesos! We were actually looking to pair our Gindara with a single serving of Mackerel; but seeing how a whole mackerel was priced only at (¥890), ordering an entire fish for that price was simply a deal too good to resist. I’ve always loved the Salmon and Salmon Roe Rice (¥590) of Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, so naturally we ordered a similar dish upon seeing the menu. It was tasty and came at a large for-sharing size; but the salmon bits were next to invisible. They also had numerous add-on options for their Soba Sets; but we were happy with splitting a couple orders of their regular Tempura Soba Sets (¥790). Apart from the usual cold soba toppings, each set also comes with a complimentary cold tofu appetizer.

Visited December 2019

By Tokyo standards this is not a particularly good restaurant, unless you are a sumo obsessive. Although very interested in sumo I still didn't feel that it was really that atmospheric (though at least the music made no concession to Western tastes), and the food was so-so. Whale bacon worked well w...hen smeared with the accompanying mustard and onion, but was nowhere near as tasty straight up.The service was more like you would find in a less than delightful Western restaurant - very young staff, not overly enthused, and didn't really know their own menu. Perhaps at dinner, when there are some retired sumos going through their paces it would be worthwhile, but lunch, with no wrestling, felt a bit empty.

Visited October 2018

It’s supposed to be a sumo wrestling restaurant. I didn’t get that, but enjoyed one of the menus that sumo wrestlers allegedly have. It’s fun because you prepare it handling the pot yourself. Just in front of the Edo-Tokyo museum

Visited November 2018

We stopped here for a sumo lunch on our one day tour of Tokyo. It was fun eating the hot pot and seeing the sumo ring, unfortunately for us the sumo championships were over already. The food was very goo, tasty and filling. Quite a nice experience.

Visited October 2018

Went with our 2 families and the kids enjoyed it. The demonstration was in Japanese and they showed the diners specific moves. A few people in the crowd was invited to participate in a tussle with the wrestlers. There are monitors around the restaurant and it would be better if it was translated. We... had a variety of Dishes and is mostly average but the best one was the hot pot.

Visited July 2018