Has this ever happened to you? You follow a spontaneous craving to a hole in the wall that you don’t think is going to amount to much, but the meal ends up being so good that you remember the experience in vivid detail for months afterwards? On our most recent trip to Tokyo, my sister and I decided to take a walk from Roppongi Hills to Azabu-Juban for lunch. I was set on having soba at a restaurant a friend recommended, but once we arrived in Azabu-Juban and found a wide array of options, we decided to check out all the other eateries close by. I just love Japan’s lunch sets. You can find great meals of all ethnicities for great prices. We passed by Roji Azabu, a tiny restaurant/bar that had a blackboard outside listing the day’s lunch special, “hamburger rice” — hamburger steak with rice, a Japanese comfort food staple much like Salisbury steak but served with rice. We looked at each other and soba went right out the window.

Roji Azabu is tiny, railroad-style with red walls. Neither its wine list nor its appearance — a very old-school Japanese-Western café sensibility — suggested that the food would be so distinctive, but when the hamburger rice arrived, my sister and I were in heaven. The hamburger was offered in either a demi-glace sauce or a mushroom cream sauce, and we opted for one of each. It came with a small salad topped with a delicious corn dressing and a drink (tea or coffee), as well as a scoop of ice cream for dessert. (All this for just 1000 yen, or approximately $10 — you see why I adore Japanese lunch specials? Such a steal.) The excellent quality of the rice was completely unexpected, and the hamburger steak was cooked to perfection in both preparations.

We finished our meal and left extremely satisfied — so delighted by the food that I forgot to take note of the name of this wonderful little restaurant. Even after traveling on to Taipei, Shanghai, Los Angeles and back to New York, I was still thinking about that hamburger rice. I searched everywhere for the name of the place, to no avail. Fortunately, based on my description, Gen Yamamoto, whose bar is in the neighborhood, was able to find it for me. Though it wasn’t on my planned itinerary, the hidden gem of Roji Azabu was one of the best parts of my time in Tokyo, and I’m so glad to be able to share it with you. You just never know what wonders might be on your path.