Surf and Turf: Uni, caviar, wagyu sirloin donburi. Finale of the omakase at Torishige in Shinjuku
So far, I've shared a few restaurants that fall into my favorite food groups: ramen, sushi, junk. Leaving our luscious friend, meat, out of the conversation would be sacrilegious so here is my first carnivore-friendly recommendation.
Torishige (鳥茂) is located in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo and sits at the side of a building next to a busy corner McDonalds leading into an dark alley way that seems to just go on for blocks. It's a 2 floored izakaya which is rare for a non-chain restaurant like this and can accommodate up 82 people total (22 counter and 60 table). The prices are quite reasonable with skewer courses starting at around $30 dollars and going up to $100 for the full blown omakase. They also have an ala carte menu you can order from so there's almost something for everyone.... as long as you like meat.
I speak frequently about how Tokyo has so many amazing restaurant options, so whittling down the choices of which shop I wanted to introduce first was no simple feat. I chose Torishige because I wanted to discuss an interesting topic regarding the differences in eating habits and food cultures between countries and cultures.
Torishige (鳥茂) is located in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo and sits at the side of a building next to a busy corner McDonalds leading into an dark alley way that seems to just go on for blocks. It's a 2 floored izakaya which is rare for a non-chain restaurant like this and can accommodate up 82 people total (22 counter and 60 table). The prices are quite reasonable with skewer courses starting at around $30 dollars and going up to $100 for the full blown omakase. They also have an ala carte menu you can order from so there's almost something for everyone.... as long as you like meat.
I speak frequently about how Tokyo has so many amazing restaurant options, so whittling down the choices of which shop I wanted to introduce first was no simple feat. I chose Torishige because I wanted to discuss an interesting topic regarding the differences in eating habits and food cultures between countries and cultures.
In Japan, this type of restaurant is classified as motsu-yaki, or kushi-yaki if you wanted to get a little more general. Motsu literally translates to guts and yaki meaning grilled so: Grilled Guts! Mmmmmmmm
Jill: So whats up for dinner tonight? What do you feel like?
Jack: GRILLED GUTS, OMG I've been thinking about it since I rolled out of bed!!!
Yep, thats one conversation you would never hear in English. Guts or recently more popularly known as offal, don't exactly inspire the most appetizing images. And I can guarantee it's definitely not something you would hear as a crave-able dinner option among Americans.
Jill: So whats up for dinner tonight? What do you feel like?
Jack: GRILLED GUTS, OMG I've been thinking about it since I rolled out of bed!!!
Yep, thats one conversation you would never hear in English. Guts or recently more popularly known as offal, don't exactly inspire the most appetizing images. And I can guarantee it's definitely not something you would hear as a crave-able dinner option among Americans.
Everything served at Torishige is extremely clean. The food is well handled and prepared so well that it might even convert someone who is on the fence about offal. All of the cooked items are lightly grilled over Japanese binchotan coals to give it a deep and subtle smoky flavor that still allows the ingredient to shine. Here is what I received from the $100 omakase course. I left out a few of the items like their lovely homemade pickles and finishing noodle and soup dish because I was so full after eating the Surf and Turf Rice bowl that forgot how to launch my camera app.
In Japan, offal is extremely popular, especially amongst men! As is the case with most non-Western cultures, Japan, has a very deep rooted tradition and sense of responsibility in using everything and wasting nothing. This mentality and way of life, grown out of necessity.
In the worst of times when everything was bad, people were poor, and even the chickens were starving, there really wasn't a choice - it was starve or eat that pig snout, go hungry or nibble on those chicken feet. And like most things over time, with human ingenuity at play, they turned those "leftovers" into delicious and dare I say it, crave-able food options.
Things are slowly changing though, and these days, with the miracle of modern refrigeration and techniques and recipes passed down for cleaning and preparation after what I'm assuming was a lot of trial and error, offal is slowly making it's way onto adventurous diner's plates here. Perhaps a few hundred more years and a famine or two... and we even might hear people screaming for grilled guts in America.
In the worst of times when everything was bad, people were poor, and even the chickens were starving, there really wasn't a choice - it was starve or eat that pig snout, go hungry or nibble on those chicken feet. And like most things over time, with human ingenuity at play, they turned those "leftovers" into delicious and dare I say it, crave-able food options.
Things are slowly changing though, and these days, with the miracle of modern refrigeration and techniques and recipes passed down for cleaning and preparation after what I'm assuming was a lot of trial and error, offal is slowly making it's way onto adventurous diner's plates here. Perhaps a few hundred more years and a famine or two... and we even might hear people screaming for grilled guts in America.