Azabudai Hills [SUMI] (Janu Tokyo) ～ Editor's Afterword by the Editor-in-Chief of Japan's Gourmet Site "Hitosara" Discover Oishii Japan -SAVOR JAPAN -Japanese Restaurant Reservation Guide-

Update-date: Jun 18 2025

Author: SAVOR JAPAN

Azabudai Hills [SUMI] (Janu Tokyo) ～ Editor's Afterword by the Editor-in-Chief of Japan's Gourmet Site

Azabudai Hills, which is currently a hot topic, has many famous restaurants, among which the news that the renowned "Aman" opened its sister brand hotel "Janu Tokyo" ahead of the world attracted a lot of attention. Janu Tokyo has eight restaurants & bars, each creating a unique dining space in line with the hotel's concept. This time, the charcoal-grilled dining restaurant [SUMI] on the third floor of the hotel's annex is introduced.

Since [SUMI] starts all at once from 6 PM, they decided to go a little early and have an aperitif at the bar. The bar's name is [Janu Bar]. It is located at the back of the lounge, which you reach from the hotel reception, making it a perfect space for meeting up.

Azabudai Hills [SUMI] (Janu Tokyo) ~ Editor's Postscript by the Editor-in-Chief of Hitosara

At [Janu Bar], where one can enjoy the evening view of Tokyo Tower, there are signature cocktails inspired by the city of Tokyo. After having a drink there, they head to [SUMI]. They step outside and walk to a separate building, and the reason for this becomes clear later.

[SUMI] is a charcoal-grilled dining restaurant mainly featuring a counter, with courses starting all at once. Dinner is served twice a day, from 6:00 PM and 8:30 PM.

Guests enjoy the lively atmosphere as dishes are prepared one after another right before their eyes at a good pace. The head chef, Hisateru Otsuka, trained domestically. He says, "Our motto is to bring out the original flavors of the ingredients with minimal alteration, while paying close attention to details such as visual beauty, aroma, and texture."

They receive an explanation of the course while enjoying Champagne. They show the straw and ingredients, saying they will start grilling now.

They enjoyed black soybean tea, and the appetizer was grilled soft eggplant mixed with sea urchin, myoga, and rock mozuku seaweed. For the alcohol course, they chose a pairing of wine and sake.

And a smooth edamame soup. Hirousu is topped with ginger.

A large amount of smoke rose at the counter. It is indeed difficult to have ducts to handle this smoke inside the hotel. Now it is clear why the restaurant is in a separate building.

The squid is eaten with salt, and the tuna, seared with straw, is enjoyed with plenty of wasabi. The aroma of the charcoal is truly appealing. It goes well with alcohol. The wine is Le Croix de Château Carbonnieux, which has a mineral taste.

Grilled conger eel over charcoal served with plum sauce. The sweetness of the onions in the salad creates a wonderful harmony.

A small serving of kamadaki rice with grilled corn is prepared as a palate cleanser. It is paired with Yuho's junmai sake.

The chef grated Parmigiano-Reggiano right in front of them to finish a dish made by hollowing out the core of zucchini, stuffing it with chicken, and shaping it like a tsukune, resulting in a fragrant and exquisite plate.

The other dish is young sweetfish and figs. The elegant sweetness of the charcoal-grilled figs pairs well with the egg yolk vinegar. The sake is Daishinshu's Iwai Toki.

Azabudai Hills [SUMI] (Janu Tokyo) ~ Editor-in-Chief's Afterword of Hitosara

The spiny lobster that had been grilled right in front of them was served. It is grilled in its shell. They enjoy it with a shrimp miso sauce along with Manganji peppers.

Before the main dish, the chef served handmade soba noodles. It is accompanied by Yamagata-style dashi. This is a cold soba in kelp broth. The rustic soba has a strong aroma and is refreshing. Now, the main dish appears.

The main dishes are grilled eel kabayaki and charcoal-grilled black-haired Wagyu fillet. The wines are Napa Cabernet Sauvignon and Anabella. They enjoyed about half of it with the wine and ate the rest with rice. Since side dishes such as mentaiko also arrived, they ended up having a second helping.

Since they offer a choice of warm tea, he chooses hojicha from among sencha and bancha. The hojicha is roasted right in front of him.

And for dessert: ice cream flavored with real Japanese pepper, mascarpone monaka, kinako tiramisu, and hojicha pudding. Each was enjoyed in small portions alongside freshly roasted hojicha tea.
It was quite a rare experience to leisurely enjoy charcoal-grilled dishes in such an elegant space right in the heart of the city. When entering the restaurant, the outside view was still bright, but it had completely darkened by the time of leaving, with Tokyo Tower shining even more brilliantly.

Outside, the sound of insects could be heard, and there was a slight chill in the air. It is already autumn.