Shokugi Tei (CLOSED)
I have never been to Shokugi Tei for dinner before the Covid quarantine. I don't know why, but I always procrastinated until I decided to try some available takeaway dishes. Yet, I have always seen people outside waiting to be made comfortable and almost all were Japanese or otherwise Asian. Probably because seen from the outside it doesn't seem welcoming - inside it's even simpler and more spartan - and I've always preferred to go to Poporoya, going wrong. Why cross the whole city when you can eat more of an almost equal cirashi in a less chaotic context? Now that I know Sho Kugi Tei I know where to make a quality takeaway without having to have dinner crushed among many other customers (who has dined at Poporoya knows what I mean).
So, if you are in the Bande Nere area and you like the type of Poporoya cuisine, this place is absolutely worth a visit. Here the menu is in fact practically the same, with the difference that you can eat more comfortable, as already mentioned, and the quality of the dishes is in my opinion more accurate.
The restaurant consists of two small rooms and there are about ten seats. At the sushi counter, the chef is currently preparing the dishes for the customers.
At the entrance there is even a food department where you can shop for Japanese products to prepare your favorite dishes at home (another similarity to Shiro's famous restaurant). The similarities with the Shiro restaurant at this point are really too many: I find out that the club was originally his own and, subsequently, it was sold to a Chinese owner! It seems that nothing has changed since then, the quality and atmosphere have remained unchanged with the difference that the price is lower.
At the entrance of the restaurant you will find a sign that says that you eat traditional Japanese cuisine. I look at the menu and I see that there are only traditional Japanese dishes: from appetizers (including yakitori, gyoza, ebisu), to sushi (nigiri per piece, hosomaki, futomaki, uramaki with some "poetic license" to satisfy everyone, as is done in Japan) up to hot dishes (including tonkatsu, karaage, saba no shioyaki teishoku, katsudon, oyakodon and toridon). There is even a delicious eel on rice (those who are passionate about it know that it is not always easy to find it)! And going back to the famous cirashi, I must say that here it is more delicate and abundant in terms of fish than Shiro's famous cirashi - the most famous in Milan.
The dishes are all very accurate and abundant. The taste is excellent and the rice is perfectly prepared. I am incredulous: why hasn't anyone talked about this place so far? It is only frequented by regulars in the area, as if it were a sect. I find it simply absurd, much more than the bill is truly honest.
Finally, I discover that the menu also includes many Japanese sweets, which are however available in "normal conditions". It is therefore necessary to wait until the obligation to consume in the premises in safety to return to try them ends, as well as many other hot dishes and noodles in broth for now "at a standstill". I will certainly not miss, maybe for a dinner with friends during the week or a quick lunch.
📍 Piazzale Giovanni delle Bande Nere 9, Milan
📞 +39 339 5028 319
💰 $$