Issho

I was looking to try nabe at least once while in Japan—I also just like trying unique things that you can only find in Japan. Thankfully, my wish was granted because my Airbnb was in the Ueno area, and they had this highly rated “motsunabe” place in a random building in Ueno on the 5th floor, I t...hink it was. Compared to most Japanese restaurants I've been to, this place was surprisingly very, very accommodating to foreigners. Not only do they have an English menu, but by far they had the best—or at least were trying their best—to speak English to a foreigner like myself who only barely knew basic speaking Japanese. Anyway, you get a private room no matter the party size. As you’d expect by the name, they specialize in “motsunabe,” a popular Japanese hot pot (nabemono) from Fukuoka, featuring beef or pork offal (motsu) simmered with vegetables like cabbage, garlic, and chives in a flavorful broth, typically soy sauce- or miso-based. I got the miso version with—I think it was—beef offal (internal organs like liver, tongue, tripe), but either way it was really, really good. I like when you get to use the soup ladle fire torch to sear the meat and make sure it's nice and cooked. And as someone who generally doesn't like eating internal organs, I thought it was really good here—the miso nabe broth especially. One thing I also really liked was that they specifically instruct you to wait about 10 minutes for the broth to cook everything. Then the burner turns off on its own once enough time has passed. I looked it up and apparently it's common practice to order “champon” noodles when you finish all the meat so you can absorb all the broth, and thankfully I was able to do that here. I like that when you order the noodles after eating all the meat, they heat up the broth again by turning on the burner. They also have some other unique things here, like Kyushu specialty horse sashimi. I definitely thought it was good but it just tasted like bluefin tuna sushi or something. I highly recommend this place—it’s one of the best nabes I’ve ever had, and they’re even super friendly and accommodating to foreigners, a lot more than the average Japanese restaurant I’ve been to in Tokyo.

Visited February 2026

The food was good but not great. The seating was awkward (because of screen configuration). Was filled with families some very loud. The best dish was the grilled squid. Their signature nabe was our least favorite.

Visited April 2025

I cant emphasize enough of how good the foods are here, we went two times in our tokyo trip! Try the RED SEA BREAM SASHIMI it's life changing with the sesame oil sauce (?) They even gave us like a complimentary fried cords which were also good bc we came back haha

Visited September 2024