Enjoy regional cuisines from all around Japan at Tokyo’s d Taberu Lab

The Japanese archipelago stretches from north to south, giving a variety of climate. No doubt food cultures are different from place to place too. Well, here’s a piece of fantastic news for those who are curious about regional Japanese food but do not have time to travel around the country. There is a restaurant offering such local specialties at a single place – d Taberu Lab. It is located in Setagaya ward, Tokyo.

The restaurant completed renovations in June 2019. The concept is no longer just a place to eat in. It is now more a laboratory where producers, chefs and everyone else all get together, think, cook and learn more about regional cuisines. “All the activities at the lab are aimed at rediscovering and maintaining a long life design that locals love,” Shimizu, PR staff, said.

The restaurant offers buffet style lunch, and a cafe menu after 3 pm. For lunch, you can satisfy both your appetite and heart with around 10 dishes based on a monthly theme such as Miso (soybean paste) and Sushi. All the menus are easy to cook, so you can make the same dishes at home.

After lunch, how about joining their one-time cooking classes? Your teacher will be the chefs who traveled around Japan researching and learning about home-made meals directly from locals. Participants will have the chance to make Dashi (Japanese broth), Tofu and other Japanese specialities.

Sustainability is also one of the features at d Taberu Lab. They create some of the menus from unused items. For example, did you know that making delicious Dashi requires a large quantity of dried bonito shavings or Kombu (sea kelp)? So as not to waste them, they boil the leftovers down in soy sauce and sugar to make Japanese reserved food called Tsukudani. Furthermore, some of the sweets and drinks are made from wasted fruits such as citrus and peaches which have scratches or dents.

d Taberu Lab is an ideal place for those who wish to have a deeper knowledge and experience of local food cultures from Japan’s 47 prefectures. Inamura, the restaurant staff, said, “we hope to hear ideas from customers to make the place more appealing.”