Teishoku at Suju

I've been eating at Suju (レストラン酢重) at Mandarin Gallery for years. It's not particularly exciting because they do a homestyle teishoku (定食 or ていしょく). Set meals. Rice, miso and pickles with something savory. Its parent is Suju Masayuki Shoten (酢重正之) in Nagano, Japan, which manufactures miso, soy sauce and vinegar.

The restaurant has kept its standards, although I won't recommend having sushi or sashimi here. A limited menu is exactly what I like over the bigger restaurants with more choices of main dishes. Their lunch sets offer way better value over dinner, which is priced a la carte. However, I do hop in every now and then for dinner if I feel like having an easy piece of grilled gindara or salmon belly that isn't too heavy on the char. Its 'homemade' cold tofu with a paste of miso and soybeans is delicious. There're chicken, pork and beef on the menu too.

Suju serves up comfort food offering simple flavors for the soul. It's precisely what I'd cook at home. Importantly, I'm picky about the grade of rice used in Japanese restaurants, and Suju does their gohan koshihikari (from Minshuku lizuka in Nagano) in a copper pot. There is a difference to the taste of rice cooked in a rice-cooker or in a pot. It comes out exactly right. Sticky and fluffy with each grain nicely separated without being mushy. This is a bowl of rice I will finish each time I eat at this restaurant.