ホスピタリティの良さ : Masuya

Revisited. This is the first time I've eaten inside the restaurant since it was rebuilt. Having said that, I often come here for takeaway or delivery. It turned out to be quite an impressive building. My father and Musume's favorite food is eel. For both of them, their final supper was eel. If I want to just eat eel, I'll go to Musashino, but I wanted to try something else, so I went to another restaurant this time. Since Yamazaki-ya is closed for consecutive days (it's closed irregularly), I visited Masuya-san. These are usually the three choices in my neighborhood. In fact, when I called a few days in advance to make a reservation, it was already full. You have no choice but to go directly on the morning of the day. Opens at 11:00, reception starts at 10:30. I thought it wouldn't be that crowded, but since it was the equinox, I decided to get there early just in case, and arrived around 10:35. This decision was the correct one, and I was excited to come back later.The inside of the store was full of people waiting for the store to open. It's unclear how many people were able to get a seat in the first round, but I didn't expect it to be this crowded. It makes sense that the number of seats increased to 176 after the rebuild. ◯Unagiju (special quality) with liver soup and pickles 5,650 yen x 5 ◯Umaki 1,900 yen x 2 ◯Eel zaku 1,800 yen x 2 ◯Carp 800 yen x 2 ◯Eel 2,300 yen ◯Shiraki grilled eel (top) 4,500 yen x 2 ◯Aoi High 850 yen x 2, Kaku High 600 yen, Ebisu medium 850 yen, Oolong tea 350 yen Total amount is just over 52,000 yen. Taro Bando is out of stock on this day. The eel at Unaju is thick, but it lacks a bit of fat. It's tolerable since I'm eating a lot of other things, but I think it would be a bit unsatisfying if I had eaten just the eel. The sweetness is refreshing (better) than my previous impression. By the way, you can also order a large serving of rice. Unazaku has a good amount of eel. The carp's rough edges could be a little thicker. The Umaki is less sweet and the egg is fluffier. Roughness in eel is rare, isn't it? It has a characteristic crunchy texture, and when you chew it carefully, you can taste the aftertaste of eel. This is delicious. The grilled eel has a nice aroma and is delicious with wasabi. The customer service is wonderfully attentive. For example, ``Umaki'' is usually cut into 4 pieces, but since there were 5 of us, they cut it into 5 pieces so that each person could eat 2 pieces. As for the ``eel zaku'', even if you ordered two, they brought it to you in five small portions. They will also change your tea and teacups. The store is barrier-free and has an elevator, so it's safe for the elderly, and there are several private rooms with views of the courtyard, which is nice. There is a tatami room, but there are many chairs, so it is safe for elderly people with bad knees (Yamazakiya may have a tatami room and a horigotatsu).Actually, there is a Japanese restaurant, or rather a kappo restaurant, right behind this restaurant, but it has been closed for about a year. . If Masuya serves Kaiseki course meals, including tempura, and the customer service is good, there's no chance of winning (I was there for lunch and the customer service was really bad). You can also eat while looking at the Japanese garden. Hospitality is really important because you don't spend a lot of time at eel restaurants or kappo restaurants. The fact that there are many families in the Masu family is proof of this. Thank you for the meal. Also.

いつも店内利用もあるが、出前でお願いすることが多い満寿家さんだが、自粛生活においてはやはりテイクアウト、HPを見たら5月31日までキャンペーン中で、鰻重など10%オフということを知った。単価が安いものではないので、これは嬉しい。予約を入れで受け取りに伺った。
店前の駐車場スペースが「テイクアウト専用駐車場」とやらになっており、すでに数台のクルマが。こんなに混んでるの⁉︎ どうやら予約なく来ると、料理が出来上がるまでそれぞれクルマの中で待つというシステムらしい。店内の帳場もビニールカーテンしてあったし、やはりかなり気を遣っておられるようだ。

今回は「鰻巻き」もお願いしたので（鰻重や天重のほかにウザクや鯛のカブト煮などもテイクアウト可能）鰻重は特上でなく上にした。通常4050円のところ3645円、お得だなぁ。数が多くなるとかなりの違いになる。ちなみに鰻巻きは1500円。いずれも熱々。テイクアウトなので容器については、仕方ない。いちおうお新香はついていた。出前の時には肝吸いをポットに入れて温かい状態で持ってきてくださるのが満寿家さんなのだが、テイクアウトなのでそれがない。寂しいけれどもこの値段だしね、うん。

お味のほうは、いつものとおり。この辺りの鰻屋さんとしてはタレの濃さはほぼ真ん中だと思っている。店舗改築前のずいぶん前にお店でいただいた時には正直「ずいぶん甘めだな」と思ったものだが、ここ数年はあまりそれを感じなくなった。そうそう長くやっていらっしゃる店がタレの味を変えるはずもないのだが、どうも甘くなくなったと思っているのはワタシだけではないらしい。普通に美味しいし、ほぼ平均的なのかと思う（個人的な印象は濃い順に、小島屋、山崎屋、満寿家、うーんと離れて中村家だと思っている、むさし乃も濃くもなく薄くもなくだったように記憶しているが、なにせビールとウザクが出てくるまで１時間近くかかったことに対する怒りで味の記憶があまりない）。鰻重の甘辛さを求める方には物足りないかもしれないが、あまり濃すぎるものは好みではないので許容範囲内だと思っている。
鰻そのものは、まあ特上ではないので些かいつもよりは…。そりゃあ5000円くらいのものと差があって当然で、そうあってくれないと困る。焼きは皮目もきちんとしっかり焼かれていて良（ここの部分の焼きがあまい店は許しがたい）。特上のほうがやはり厚みがあるのでフワッとした感じかな。ちなみにたとえ特上であっても、こちらのお店の鰻は脂のりのりのトロトロ系ではない。トロトロがお好きな方にはむかないように思う。
一品料理の鰻巻きはほの甘く好きなタイプ。フワフワというよりも、わりとしっかりめの柔らかさ。中の鰻は二段で、鰻の比重はやや多めなので満足度は高いように思う。

改装前のお店には故志ん朝師匠の色紙があった。あれはどうなったか。いろいろ終息したらお店でゆっくり確認したい。
飲食店はテイクアウトしかほぼ手がない現在。本当に食べることに執着がハンパない人間としてはこういう貢献しかできないのだが、本当に応援しています。頑張れー！