五月山公園
Today, I went to Minamisenba for work. After finishing a task around 1 PM, I was really hungry and ready for lunch. There’s a seafood bowl place I’ve been curious about. So, I visited Hachinoya. I arrived at the shop around 1:15 PM and checked the menu outside. They have different bowls: seafood bowl, tempura bowl, seafood yukhoe bowl, and marinated tuna bowl, all for 990 yen with free refills of rice. They also have a miso soup for 250 yen that comes with free refills. I was originally thinking about the seafood bowl, but I felt more like enjoying the marinated tuna bowl, so I decided on that. I entered the shop, which was about half full. After mentioning I was dining alone, they guided me to the counter seats. Inside, a male staff member was preparing the ordered bowls.
I placed my order. “Excuse me, I’d like the marinated tuna bowl, please.” While watching the seafood bowl being prepared, I waited for about 2 minutes... and here it comes! The marinated tuna bowl! It looked more like a size of a regular bowl than a full donburi. As expected, since it's marinated, it didn’t quite match the color of the menu photo. The brighter red looked more appetizing, but it made me wonder about the difference. The amount of marinated tuna was fairly decent for the price, cut into chunky pieces, and it had a strong flavor that made the rice go down easily. The rice was warm, but I noticed some bits of tuna had gotten a bit lukewarm due to the warmth of the rice, which I personally didn’t prefer.
Next, I noticed a tempura piece of sardine served on a scallop shell, which seemed to be intended for making tempura chazuke. I had a bite before preparing the chazuke, and it was pretty cold. I wasn't sure if it was meant to be that way for the chazuke or if it happened to be cold, but it didn’t seem suitable for that purpose, so I just ate it as it was.
After hesitating, I decided to get a rice refill. I could easily eat a bowl of rice with three pieces of the marinated tuna. I refilled my rice again and used the sea bream soup broth from the table to make marinated tuna chazuke, finishing it all. Overall, I think the seafood bowl might be a better choice than the marinated tuna bowl here. Thanks for the meal!