Yakiniku Ushijirushi was amazing until the end, but I’d still go back, and if the post image doesn’t make you want to also…

Yakiniku Ushijirushi is a Japanese BBQ or grilled meat (that’s what yakiniku means) restaurant located in Ginza, Tokyo. On a recent trip to Tokyo, I booked the restaurant last minute for dinner. A lot of times I will plan my meals in advance, but for this trip, since Tokyo has so many amazing places to eat, I wanted to leave days open for randomness. Like this, and I’m glad I did. Tokyo is such an amazing city. This is my third trip and it took this many to really start to get a feel for the city and the different neighborhoods. Same day reservations were easy to make online. I believe all the tables are in private rooms with a grill in the center of the table. Its important to note that one of the drawbacks of this type of dining is the potential to smell like smoke from the grill. However, places with a good exhaust system, I find, don’t have this issue. This place has a good exhaust system because after the meal, I didn’t smell like smoke.

Anyway, there were three menu choices and this is the one I went with:

For the quality of the food, the experience, and service, I believe it represents amazing value! After I chose the meal, a bunch of the meats to be used in the meal were presented:

They also brought a menu with which I could follow along the meal, and a list of producers. They were REALLY proud of the fact that they were serving meat from Mr. Masuda:

The meal started with a tasty French onion soup that was creamy and tasty:

Followed by a piece of beef sushi which was delicious:

Next was a beef tongue stew:

…and then a wagyu tartar with some tempura mushrooms on top:

The next round started with presentation of beef tongue and a selection of “thick cut” beef.

Note that various workers would appear throughout the meal and cook for you. You don’t cook anything yourself. The first was the beef tongue which was very good:

…followed by the thick cut beef served with some beans:

What I loved about this place was that the beef they were serving was tender and tasty without over marbling like I find a lot of wagyu to be. Although my wife is not a big fan of tripe (but I am), the ones they served were nothing like we were used to seeing, and the sauce reminded me of a really good escargot sauce often used in France. Very delicious without rubbery texture.

After that, some vegetables, and although the menu lists a palate cleanser, I don’t recall getting one.

Now, what came next was one of the most amazing beef sandos I have ever had. I savored every bite, and watching the chef prepare it in front of us, was one of the most exciting culinary experiences I can recently recall having. These alone should have you running here on your next trip to Tokyo!

This sandwich was followed by a seasonal kimchi which was not a typical preparation and was just average. The final parts of the meal consisted of a beef selection with “original sauce”. This was very savory though a tad salty:

The last beef dish was a sukiyaki. First they grilled some onions which were so fragrant.

The beef was served with rice, a raw egg, sukiyaki sauce, and some fresh black truffle. Although it was good, the ratio of raw egg, to meat to rice and sauce was a bit off. Too much egg relative to the other ingredients. It was a bit awkward to eat.

The last savory dish was labelled “meal” on the menu and ended up being noodles. It was a bit of an anti-climactic ending and I was expecting more. It was basically like a bunch of instant noodles.

The meal finished with a pudding:

Overall this was an excellent meal especially considering the price point. For example, we also ate at a private restaurant called Nagatacho Ohka which was about 5 times the price of Yakiniku Ushijirushi, but highly disappointing. I will tell you about it in a future post. As for this place, the service was ok, a bit slow and a bit standoffish, but not bad. The food was amazing for the most part except the last dish. I’d return and highly recommend.