BBQ’ing and Hotpotting - Shibuya style

-->This was the best meal by far that I had in Tokyo.  And it all came down to the beef!  This restaurant was pretty popular with loud drunk businessmen ordering more and more to couples who came in, ordered what they wanted, ate and left promptly.  We on the other hand were happy with our find and took it all in, the smoke and the whole vibe of the busy restaurant.  We were all wanting a hot pot to warm us up, so we got that first despite everyone else BBQ’ing away.  We were not disappointed!  But our clothes did smell like this restaurant for the next few days.

 

So the hot pot came out on a portable stove top.  The pot was more like a shallow pan of delicious broth, filled with cabbage, shallots and turnip, and the meat all at the bottom.  Of course we got the beef, and boy was it tasty!  When it was raw, the beef didn’t look like a great cut at all.  But when it was all cooked, it was so tender and melted in your mouth.  The fat content was pretty high and it was really rich, so not good for you, but heck I didn’t get to eat this everyday so I savoured every moment of biting into the soft buttery fat and soft meat.    We totally devoured this and absolutely nothing was left in the pot.

 

Onto the BBQ.  . . The cute, in a nerdy, not hot way, waiter was trying his best to speak English and when we asked what meats he recommends he said pork neck, “very juicy” with a big smile on his face and we all looked at each other and tried not to laugh in front of him, but it was just so cute and funny.  He was very proud of his recommendation, so we got that and some more beef.  I love that BBQ smokiness, it makes taste everything so good!  This restaurant also served up “hormone in the pot” didn’t go there this time.

 

The "very juicy" pork neck

After dinner we headed to a bar in the backstreets of Shibuya called Wokini.  I highly recommend this bar if ever you go to Shibuya.  The guys I was travelling with had been here before.  They played vinyl records all night, classic hits to anything cool really and served up the meanest drinks.  Not that I had many the margheritas we ordered were so bloody strong it took me so long to drink it. . . This bar also offered free cigarettes!  What was cool was that there were no little ice cubes here.  They had huge blocks that they chipped down to fit perfectly to the glass.  Like mini icebergs.  They looked very pretty, I didn’t get the best picture of this.  Anyway it turned out to be a fun night and most of the gang were quite hungover the next day.  But it was great to get out and enjoy some nightlife on a work trip for once and not eating by myself in a hotel room!