01 / ABOUT THE PLACE
About this place
Down a flight of stairs along Hitotsugi-dori in Akasaka, Maeda is a seafood-focused restaurant serving straightforward Japanese dishes spotlighting ocean ingredients. At lunch, the limited-quantity Maeda Kaisen-don stands out immediately. A generous mound of finely diced tuna, white fish, octopus, tobiko, cucumber, and pickled daikon covers the bowl, finished with an egg at the center. Diners can enjoy the ingredients stirred together with the egg directly from the bowl, or wrap bites with the provided sheets of nori seaweed, complemented by a bowl of miso soup brewed fresh each morning with sea lettuce.
Those craving grilled fish will appreciate the two-variety grilled fish platter. It pairs plump, salt-grilled mackerel with crisp, aromatic skin alongside savory salmon marinated and grilled with sweet saikyo miso, both naturally encouraging extra bites of white rice. The lunch lineup also covers fried and simmered offerings, such as a set combining salt-grilled mackerel with juicy fried chicken, a mixed fry plate featuring crab cream croquette, horse mackerel, and fried chicken, and a daily simmered fish dish available in limited portions.
In the evening, the kitchen turns to à la carte seafood dishes, including sashimi assortments, sesame mackerel, sake-steamed sea bream, fugu tatsuta-age, and anago tempura with seasonal vegetables. Guests can linger over these plates alongside draft beer or various selections of sake. With counter seating surrounding the open kitchen as well as tables, Maeda caters equally well to a relaxed solo lunch or an unhurried dinner gathering around quality seafood.
