01 / ABOUT THE PLACE
About this place
Hanging its curtain in a quiet residential corner of Katsushika Ward's Kameari, the Japanese restaurant Mukasa combines serious culinary craft with affordable small plates. When dining with intent, guests seek out the house specialties: softshell turtle (suppon) and blowfish (fugu), served as hot pots or multi-course meals. Opting for the whole-turtle course—which brings fresh turtle blood, liver, sashimi, and hot pot—or sipping hot fugu fin sake (hirezake) makes for an evening of deep satisfaction.
On more casual evenings, the long strips of paper menu slips advertising tempura and izakaya appetizers take center stage. The tempura roster features wild spring greens like tara no me (angelica tree shoots), fukinoto (butterbur buds), and kogomi (ostrich fern fiddleheads), alongside tsurumurasaki (Malabar spinach), ashitaba, lily bulb, and shallots, all fried individually to celebrate each vegetable's distinct character. Sashimi cuts like raw Pacific bluefin tuna, red sea bream, and splendid alfonsino are also available in small portions or as off-cuts, making it easy to sample widely even when drinking solo.
The drink lineup is equally comprehensive, spanning tasting flights of sake labels like Hakkaisan and Kubota, authentic shochu, and house-made fruit liqueur highballs infused with kumquat, natsumikan, or loquat. A set pairing 2 draft beers with 2 small appetizers provides a straightforward, welcoming start right after work.
Inside the quiet dining room, you can also settle in for a full meal with an unaju eel rice box accompanied by liver soup, or a prawn tenju rice box. Dinner reservations are accepted, and cashless app payments including PayPay and Rakuten Pay are supported. Whether gathering around a lavish communal hot pot or grazing across small plates at the counter, it is a neighborhood spot well worth knowing.
