When you go to a restaurant, you will have the opportunity to talk to a “food professional”. Taking advantage of this, the author is always researching "gourmet restaurants recommended by food professionals".

And the other day, there is a restaurant that a professional in the food and beverage industry recommended, "You should visit once!" Founded in Gotanda in 1950, it is a long-established Western restaurant "Grill F" that has been loved by people for more than half a century.


It's said that lunch can be eaten at a relatively reasonable price, so I went to lunch one day!

If you walk into the back alley about 3 minutes from Gotanda station, you will find Grill F. The retro storefront and the signboard with a slightly certain font are the landmarks.



When I opened the door and stepped in ... Even though it was past 13:00, which was off the peak of lunch time, the store was crowded with many customers! When we (2 people) arrived at the counter, all 3 tables were full. As expected, a popular shop that makes professionals groan ...!

By the way, there are also tatami mat seats on the 2nd floor that can be reserved. It seems that it can also be used for welcome and farewell parties and dinner parties.


Beyond the counter, you can see the owner cooking skillfully. Fried food on the right and stir-fried food on the left. It's like a witch who handles orders flying from here and there alone! Cooking is completed one after another, and the scent that drives your appetite drifts to this point.

By the way, from among the many lunch menus, this time I ordered the signboard menu "Hayashi Rice" (1,300 yen) and the popular menu "Crab Croquette" (1,500 yen). Since the crab croquette is a single item, I attached bread (200 yen).


A few minutes later, the crab croquette was first delivered! Two large croquettes with a unique shape like a magatama and a drop are placed on a plate.


When you bite into the crispy batter, the fluffy cream overflows from the inside, and the taste of the crab spreads in your mouth with the gentle sea breeze!


The cream is thick and trolley, and it has a lot of ingredients such as crab meat and crispy mushrooms, which makes it delicious.

The taste of crab, which contains saltiness and umami, is insisted, so you can eat it deliciously without adding sauce. Rather, the correct answer is to enjoy the texture and straight crab taste without adding sauce!


Then, the long-awaited hayashi rice was brought in! Roux and rice are on separate plates ... huh? Where is the hayashi sauce? It looks quite different from what I imagine when I hear "Hayashi rice" ... ??


There is plenty of meat and onions in the sauce spot with roux. It is topped with mushrooms and colorful green peas.


When I scoop the inside of the pot with a spoon ... Oh! The sauce was on the bottom! However, it is much less than the amount of sauce that usually comes out when you ask for hayashi rice. It is not thick and smooth.

However, this sauce is insanely rich . A deep taste with sweetness and richness in a caramel-like aroma and bittersweet taste!


This, combined with the sweetness that oozes from the crispy onions and the umami that overflows from plenty of beef, completes the perfect hayashi rice even if the sauce is not in the tappu. Hayashi rice is eaten by chewing the ingredients firmly, so there is no sense of satisfaction after eating!


By the way, hayashi rice can be topped with scallions, Fukujinzuke, and pickled ginger. Occasionally, if you pinch the chopsticks to rest and reset your mouth, the taste of hayashi may be even more pronounced.


Here is the delicious taste of an old-fashioned Western-style restaurant. The nostalgic hayashi rice, which seems to have the same deliciousness since its founding, was a treat.

By the way, this Grill F has a surprisingly large number of menus. From the royal roads of Western food such as "cutlets" and "beefsteak" to menus that make you feel nostalgic like "ham and eggs". I'm sure they all have an unforgettable taste once you eat them. You will want to visit it again and again.