Tofuya Ukai is one of those "only in Japan" experiences. In the heart of the city, minutes from Roppongi and at the very foot of Tokyo Tower, you round a corner and find yourself in front of a samurai-era merchant's residence, its low-slung wooden gateway announced by an imposing white lantern and a tall banner fluttering in the wind.
A winding path leads you along smooth flagstones, through a second gate to an inner garden of shrubs, rocks and pools filled with ornamental carp, surrounded by a complex of half-timbered buildings decorated in resplendent vermilion. Two years ago, this site was a run-down bowling alley and car park. Now it's Tokyo's top dining destination, the showpiece in the growing portfolio of restaurants run by the Ukai group.
Think of this as the sophisticated urban cousin of Ukai Toriyama, the wonderful restaurant "village" out in the hills of Takao, west of Tokyo. Instead of rustic farmhouses, here the core of the premises is a 200-year-old sake brewery transplanted from Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture, massive polished beams, thick-walled warehouse, and all. You are greeted by kimono-clad staff, then ushered through winding passages, past a miniature sake museum with ancient vats and a wooden sake press, to your private dining room.