Pork Perfection

I am standing here at my favorite Yakiton (Pork not chicken) establishment in Tokyo. This venerable establishment has served this neighborhood, salarymen, OL's and other everyday folks for over 80 years.

This is my kind of place. There is a rule here that my aunt informed me of. If you do not drink or if someone in your party is not drinking (alcohol), you will not be served. My aunt learned this the hard way. She does not drink. Consequently, she has to wait for my uncle or cousins to come home after drinking to enjoy the morsels of pork served here. They do take out here, more as a courtesy to appease the wives and kids at home for their customers. I am not standing in front of the take-out window, must drink.




Their specialty is the tataki, locally known as tsukune. The tataki is minced pork much like hamburger. Beyond the flavor, what make this special is the texture. The meat and other parts are coarsely ground. There is a pleasant crunch when you bite in to the tataki which complements the flavor of the tare.

This establish caters to the normal working folk. Nothing pretentious here. Just value. There is only one choice of draft beer. One choice of sake. Bierly's Orange or Cider. No coke.... Just the basics.

Prices are kept low by using pork. They use all parts of the pig. This year, we discovered a new menu item, the Teppo (pig's head). It was the best, I regret not knowing about this before. It is roast pork on a skewer, only better. Fat Meat Fat. As my Lee would say "That was awesome!!!"




Other dishes include cartilage, skin, liver, gizzards and other parts. These are called Horumon in Japan.




Our favorite dish here is the motsuni. It is miso based stew of tripe. The tripe is stewed until it is so soft that it melts in you mouth. The soup is so rich. This is one of those places that you don't want to ask when was the last time that they washed the pot. Honestly, I do not think the staff is old enough to remember.