Food and drinks
- Alcohol Served
- Beer available
- Small plates restaurant
- Lunch menu available
- Dinner menu available
01 / ABOUT THE PLACE
About this place
Start with an assortment of sashimi, add tempura or something grilled, and choose each dish as you go. Jinbei in Nishi-Nippori is an izakaya for settling in and enjoying a meal at your own pace. One evening diner reported trying everything from the complimentary whitebait starter to an assortment of sashimi, deep-fried shishamo smelt and early-season Pacific saury. They praised the careful preparation of each fish, noting its pleasantly springy texture and sweetness. The menu lists wild-caught bluefin tuna sashimi, horse mackerel, greater amberjack and alfonsino, among other fish. An assorted sashimi platter made up to the chef’s choice is listed at ¥1,500 per person, or ¥2,800 for 2 people. The selection may vary from day to day, so the day's recommendations are another option.
Even diners who are not usually keen on fried food have described the tempura as light and crisp, and said they kept ordering more. At lunch, choices include a sashimi set with an assorted sashimi platter, prawn and vegetable tempura, a small side dish, pickles and soup; and a deluxe tempura set with 2 prawns, 2 seafood items and 4 vegetables. Free rice refills are listed with both sets. They work equally well for a substantial tempura-focused lunch or a meal that pairs sashimi with fried dishes. Another lunch account mentions fish grilled with Saikyo miso and a rice refill, suggesting that grilled fish can also take centre stage.
Small plates and grilled dishes bring the easy-going variety of an izakaya meal. Options range from lighter bites such as cream cheese marinated in Saikyo miso and lightly pickled water eggplant to grilled black cod with Saikyo miso, salt-grilled Sangen pork loin and skewers. It is part of the pleasure to decide what to add after the sashimi. Diners have also enjoyed vegetable crisps, skewers and salad; for a meal with a few people, several dishes can be shared.
Drinks include beer, sours, shochu, chilled sake and other sake. The sake list includes Junmai Suigei and Yamahoshi, a super-dry junmai, offering different styles to pair with sashimi or grilled dishes, one carafe at a time. Jinbei is described as a quiet, relaxed restaurant that also suits solo diners. Whether you want sashimi and a drink in the evening or a tempura set at lunchtime, the menu makes it easy to build a meal around the dishes you feel like eating.
