大哉心乎
On Saturday night, my family of five decided to go out for dinner, and we chose to go for yakiniku, which can be intimidating to go to alone. After searching online, we found this highly-rated restaurant in the area of Yoshijin. Although we had heard of the restaurant before, it was our first time visiting. We made a reservation and decided to start our feast at 7:00 pm. When we arrived at the restaurant on time, there was a crowd of customers waiting outside. Seeing how popular it was, we realized that visiting without a reservation would be risky. Even with our reservation, we had to wait for about 5 minutes to be seated. It seemed that the turnover of customers was causing delays. We had pre-booked the seasonal "Autumn Course" for 4,000 yen. Here is a breakdown of the dishes we enjoyed:
- Appetizers: Assorted appetizers (kimchi, tofu, chashu with yuzu pepper) and beef tongue carpaccio. The chashu had a great flavor and paired well with the yuzu pepper. The beef tongue carpaccio was thinly sliced and had a refreshing taste with the sweet and sour sauce.
- Specialty: Cod roe pancake. This unique pancake with cod roe paste on the surface was surprisingly delicious. It was a great combination of grilled cod roe and pancake.
- Salt platter: Grilled beef tongue, thick-cut lamp meat, negi salt kalbi, grilled hoso. All the meats were tender and flavorful. The generous servings of leeks and grated radish were a nice touch.
- (Additional) Thick mushroom grill: This dish took time to cook but was worth the wait. It was thick and flavorful, and I enjoyed it with salt.
- Main dish: Wagyu beef shabu-shabu. We dipped the meat in a mixture of miso and raw egg. The fatty beef belly and leaner beef belly were both delicious. The dipping sauce was rich, almost like sukiyaki, and went well with rice. We finished by pouring the remaining egg over rice, which was a delightful ending.
- (Additional) Egg soup: Since the course did not include soup, we ordered this additional item. It had a hint of sesame oil, which I enjoyed.
- Sauce platter: Marbled kalbi, light roast, masuichi kalbi. These were the final meat dishes of the course, with a rich sauce. They were all tender and tasty. The masuichi kalbi was served in blocks and cut with scissors, allowing us to enjoy the flavorful meat.
- Dessert: Gion Kinana ice cream. Served in a small cup, this ice cream with kinako had a pleasant sweetness and was a delicious way to end the meal.
Despite the lack of privacy due to the absence of dividers at the table, causing some noise from other customers, the high-quality meat and generous portions of the Autumn Course made it a satisfying dining experience. We each had a beer and managed to keep the bill under 5,000 yen per person, which felt like a good deal. Though the atmosphere could be a bit rowdy at times, the delicious food made up for it. Overall, it was a great yakiniku experience.