Day 108: Don't Go Steaking My Heart
I had two missions to complete today:
- Eat steak katsu (otherwise known as gyukatsu - deep fried steak, kind of like a pork katsu)
- Buy a ¥1000 gift for an upcoming bonenkai party (bonenkai is an end of year party in Japan)
But first, gyukatsu. A couple of places do this around Tokyo, but Gyukatsu Motomura is the one we decided to go to. Tucked in the back streets of Shinjuku, this place gets long lines out the door during peak hours so we woke up "early" (ahem, 10am) and went in for an early lunch.
So even though I know the streets of Shinjuku fairly well, and even though we had Google Maps, we still struggled to find the place. In fact, we saw a line of people waiting and assumed it was the place. It wasn't. That place ended up being a Michelin starred sardine restaurant. And while we would have been a little shocked not to see gyukatsu on the menu it would have been a happy surprise anyway.
Even at 11.30am there was a bit of a wait.
There isn't much else on the menu besides gyukatsu and its accompaniments. But really, the gyukatsu is why you're here.
Ordering is simple (made even more simple with an English menu). You order your lunch which costs about $20 and cook your steak on a mini hot plate in front of you. The steak is wonderfully tender and, though I hate this term, is melt in your mouth delicious.
After lunch I battled the shops in Shinjuku trying to find the perfect present for the bonenkai. Three hours later I found myself a basketball ring which you can use from your toilet. Sounds weird? It was. And I have no photos to show of it so you'll have use your imagination. Or not... let's move on.
One day there was a house. The next day there wasn't. Things move quickly in Japan.
