It was great being back in Japan. Because this was going to be a rather short trip, our days were going to be quite busy and we'd be making good use of our JR Pass and Suica Card. While our flight to Narita was going to be arriving at around 5pm; I figured that by the time we got thru customs (pretty quick in Japan), got our pocket wifi, activated our JR Pass, got our train tickets for the following day, get to Tokyo Station, and check into our hotel, it would be around 830 or so. Which was a good estimate. Even though 9 or even midnight is not especially late in Tokyo; I still didn't want to be hunting around for a place to eat.
The Missus had really enjoyed the Horumon (offal) we'd had on our previous trip, I decided to make reservations at Horumon Dedesuke which was a mere 10 minute walk from our hotel in Ginza.
We found the place with little problem; having downloaded a photo of the storefront and using Google Maps.
One of the few phrases in Japanese I do know is "Yoyaku shitemasu xxxx des." As in "I have a booking for....." And they did have seats ready for us in a tiny corner as the place was packed.
In spite of flying Business Class...the seats on the San Diego - Narita route 787s don't go all the way to 180 degrees, so we didn't get much shut eye and we were kind of tired. So, a nice cold "nama biru" was just the thing. The Missus had a nice HiBall.
Our table top grill was prepped and some vegetables brought out and we were on our way......
First up, what was called the "Root of Tongue" on the menu......
This is the rear portion of the beef tongue; it was seasoned perfectly, was surprisingly tender, and very "beefy".
We found that we didn't need to use any of the typical provided sauces for any of the cuts we had. all were nicely seasoned.
Next to arrive was the one cooked dish; the Stewed Beef Tendon.
The "sauce" was that tasty salty-sweet we associate with Japanese cuisine; with an added Korean (as is with most Yakiniku places) touch of spice.
The tendon and associated beef parts were amazingly tender and a joy to eat.
I love "Harami"; skirt steak, so we ordered the prime skirt.
Man, this was really tender and beefy, just needing a slight sear on the grill.....rare was the best way to have this.
And then the "offal-ness" of it all started, with a triple threat.
With....from the left to the right; sliced small intestine, thymus gland, and large intestine. The small intestine was superb; quite fatty, toothsome, with a mild, pleasant, and surprisingly "clean" flavor to it. The large intestine, as expected was much more chewy, more "offal-ly", though also enjoyable. When I saw thymus gland on the menu, I immediately thought "veal sweetbreads", which is what I'm used too. These were quite tough and chewy; I'm thinking they were taken from an adult cow? That was probably the least enjoyable item we had.
This was a very good meal to start off our trip. The Missus has really taken to yakiniku and horumon. I just wished we had more of it here.
great start!
Posted by: kat | Tuesday, 11 April 2017 at 11:22 PM
Offal-ly too kind sir, I think meant to say @$$.
I grew up eating that stuff and you when you hit it rough. Food looks amazing like always. I seriously need to visit Japan.
Posted by: nhbilly | Wednesday, 12 April 2017 at 04:37 AM
Looks delicious. What's surprising is most Japanese people (who typically don't drink) have never tried this stuff.
Posted by: Junichi | Wednesday, 12 April 2017 at 11:27 AM
It was Kat!
I don't know Billy....I've never tasted.... ;o) lol... You do need to take a trip to Japan!
Funny thing Junichi; I noticed that only some "old-timers" and us were having horumon....
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 12 April 2017 at 03:09 PM