In the most expensive neighborhood in Tokyo, legendary Japanese izakaya Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu, also known as the Kill Bill restaurant, offers reasonable and authentic Japanese food as well as exceptional Japanese American sushi rolls. *I last visited this place in 2021.
A battle at a Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu inspired Japanese restaurant in Kill Bill: Volume 1.
Uma Thurman in a yellow suit with a samurai sword killing enemies. That would explain pretty much everything about the movie “Kill Bill” (to some people). One of the killings in the movie took place at a Japanese restaurant whose model is said to be an actual Japanese washoku/izakaya restaurant, Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu, in Tokyo. That’s why the restaurant is called “the Kill Bill restaurant.”
Sidebar: “Washoku/和食” means “Japanese food” in Japanese. “Izakaya/居酒屋“ is the most quintessential form of restaurant in Japan (i.e., pubs of the UK, diners of the US).
Past an entrance hall with photos of Hollywood stars is a huge dining hall with movie sets like izakaya settings which reminds me of the enormous exhibitions of replicated neighborhoods of Tokyo in Edo period (1603 – 1867) at Edo-Tokyo Museum.
The restaurant’s atmosphere was so amusing that I thought it was an amusement park: somewhere Japanese that doesn’t really exist in Japan. Perhaps, it was Spanish conversations echoing everywhere as the background music that mesmerized me.
Why Spanish? It was during the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021 (confusing, I know) amid the Covid 19 pandemic in Japan; the Japanese stayed home, and international Olympic staff foraging for any available food won the reservations. FYI: the BGM was 80% Spanish, 10% North American English, and the rest Japanese.
A hand-written/drawn food menu emanating an authentic Japanese izakaya vibe.
Menus at Gonpachi Nishi Azabu offered straightforward Japanese izakaya items that gained my trust to try anything they would offer. There were also American sushi rolls that would look exceptional in the US. “An authentic Japanese izakaya in the US” was what I felt at Gonpachi Nishi Azabu.
Dashimaki omelet roll.
Yakitori skewers: chicken gizzards, left, chicken thighs, right.
Karaage fried chicken.
Ebi-shinjo fried shrimp balls.
Cold soba noodles. It’s a dish best served cold.
I also ordered a dragon roll and a California roll. These were exceptional and one of the best Japanese American foods I had eaten in Japan. All the trivial flaws in Japanese American sushi rolls the Japanese would notice, in the US, were all fixed: flawless. The quality of the rice, the density of the ingredients, etc, were Japanese Japanese.
Given the fact that Gonpachi Nishi Azabu is located in the most expensive neighborhood in Tokyo, Minato City, I was more than willing to get ripped off. But the prices were reasonable. And the food tasted not bad. It was shockingly, totally OK.
P.S. The restaurant’s name Gonpachi is named after a famous kabuki character Gonpachi Shirai, whose model is Gonpachi Hirai (1655 – 1679) who didn’t kill Bill obviously, but his father and 130 more.
Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu | 1 Chome-13-11 Nishiazabu, Minato City, Tokyo, 〒106-0031, Japan
Dashimaki omelet roll: ¥750 / $5.80 / £4.70 / €5.40
Chicken gizzards yakitori: ¥250 / $1.90 / £1.60 / €1.80
Chicken thighs yakitori: ¥290 / $2.20 / £1.80 / €2
Karaage fried chicken: ¥680 / $5.20 / £4.30 / €4.90
Ebi-shinjo fried shrimp balls: ¥390 / $3 / £2.40 / €2.80
Cold soba noodles: ¥790 / $6 / £4.90 / €5.60
Dragon roll: ¥1300 / $10 / £8.10 / €9.30
California roll: ¥1100 / $8.50 / £6.90 / €7.90
Website | Dinner menu | Drink menu
Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu | 1 Chome-13-11 Nishiazabu, Minato City, Tokyo, 〒106-0031, Japan
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