Mikasa Kaikan at Ginza, Tokyo - A Great Teppanyaki Meal

I seem to be on a teppanyaki blogging spree. Well I only blog about good stuff, but seriously in Japan, it's hard to get bad teppanyaki. It's hard to get bad food, period. So we went to this rather old-school looking teppanyaki restaurant somewhere in Ginza near the Mitsukoshi department store, tucked away on the 7th floor of a building that looked like any other building with a shop at the ground floor. It's good value for money - I can't remember how much it cost, but for 2 people it was less than 10000 Yen for lunch. 

We started off with salad and soup. Nothing fancy about this.

There are window seats, and there are wall-facing seats. There was a screw up in our reservation so we had to face the wall, but the place is big enough to be able to walk in. Just that you don't get the view of the Ginza streets below, which is really quite nice. 

Our raw meats being presented - we had one less premium set and another more premium, with Japanese beef that was nicely marbled. Can't call it wagyu, but I really don't know where it came from.

First up  -the dipping sauces for the seafood

On they went

Scallops were beautifully done - seared on the outside and still semi raw on the inside. And very sweet. 

The fish was all right - just pan fried fish. Come to think of it, everything is just pan fried something anyways. 

Our chef at work

Seasoning the beef

Look at it sizzle

The beef and everything to dip it in

This was the less fatty cut - already looking very good

And this was the marbled one - looking absolutely divine

And as they all do, the chef chopped up the fatty bits for frying the veggies in

 

On they went

And out they came.

Websites: http://www.ginza.jp/archives/5261?lang=en, with the English add, or the main restaurant chain website is at
http://www.mikasakaikan.co.jp/restaurant/japanese/yamato/index

Teppanyaki at Umakamontei, Fukuoka

I haven't finished posting all my Australia pics but thought I should get started posting a few more pics from our trip to Fukuoka a few months ago.  We found a really nice teppanyaki place recommended by a friend, and were so glad that we made the trip there. The meal came up to around 20,000 yen including drinks for 3 people which we were happy to pay. The meat was great, and even though the atmosphere was a bit old school, we were fine with it.

They have an English menu too

Starting with some cold sake

Seriously, the salad was nothing to shout about

They gave us 2 types of dipping sauces

First up, a squid on the hot plate

Check out the happy chef

We had these prawns to start with first.

Squid rings being cooked

They use foil for plates, but hey, as long as the food is good, I don't really care. And the squid was excellent. They added some butter for extra dipping, which we avoided since they used quite a bit already in cooking the squid.

Veggies in the background

The other chef - I think his name is on the name card.

All the veggies we got, fried in butter. Excellent : )

When they took the meats out, our hearts skipped a beat. Check out the marbling.

En route to heaven

I had it done medium. PERFECT.

And then they topped it with fried garlic pieces.

And lastly, they fried the rice with the beef fat. Extremely tasty.

And the bean sprouts too. Great idea, but so unhealthy!

Amazingly tender, luscious and to die for.

What the building looks like on the outside - you need to climb up the stairs to the 2nd floor

And this is where you find it.

Steak Satou, Tsukiji, Tokyo

I had heard about this steak house from various internet forums and decided to give it a try one afternoon after feeling tired of raw fish. Thankfully it was pretty easy to find, and I made sure that I went there just about 11.45am to be sure of getting a seat for 1 during lunch, since I had no clue how to make reservations in Japanese. 

Thankfully they had an English menu - I suppose the prices during lunch were also a lot more reasonable compared to dinner.

This leaflet also landed on the table, and I managed to make out that it was a special menu for their 25th anniversary. Well, I wasn't going to head back there during my trip, so I decided to just go for it, and save the regular menu items for another visit back to Tokyo. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, except that I was pretty sure there had to be a steak in there somewhere in there. No clue about the cut or the weight!

 Then, in one gorgeous moment, this descended in front of me.

"Consomme...Uni" said the waiter. That was good enough for me. I was so excited and yet so upset that I was eating alone with no one to share that moment of exhilaration with. 

Solid fresh pieces of uni on top, with uni cream below. It was amazing, it was gorgeous, it was absolutely divine.

Then came these 3 slices of roast beef - they were all right but definitely not very exciting at all. Could have saved it for another day for a sandwich with mustard.

This salad was pretty normal too - nothing to complain or rave about.

Then when the sauces were placed in front of me, I started getting excited again at the prospect of the teppanyaki steak coming

Pepper and salt

And the dude cooked it like, far far away! I mean, aren't they supposed to slice everything with a flourish in front of you, and tossing up bottles and knives in the process?

Ah well. Can't complain that I didn't walk out smelling of fried beef. Anyhow, this landed in front of me.

A slice of beautifully fried tenderloin. It looked and smelt amazing.

Kinda between medium and medium-well. No complaints here. The beef was super tender, and I enjoyed every bite of the soft inside against the almost crisp surfaces. Probably one of the best teppanyaki meals ever.

Vanilla ice cream to end everything off. Just nice.

What it looks like from the outside, and....

The shop sign, and phone number if you want to make reservations. Or just rock up before 12noon like I did.