A note on the words: motsu is offal, motsuyaki is that offal grilled on skewers, and motsu nabe the hotpot built on it, a Fukuoka dish. Shiro is the large intestine and tare a sweet soy-based glaze. Otoshi is the small dish brought unbidden at the start of the evening, effectively a cover charge, and nametake is enoki mushroom simmered down in soy. Agebitashi is food deep-fried and then steeped in a dashi-based broth. Yukhoe is the Korean dish of seasoned raw meat. Chuhai is shochu with soda, and a lemon sour is the same drink with lemon; a highball is whisky with soda. Zosui is rice simmered in what is left of the hotpot, and champon noodles are the thick Nagasaki noodles often used the same way. Teppanyaki is cooking on an iron griddle. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
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Za Motsuyaki Ishin, Shinjuku O-gado, on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
I want something good to eat today too. This is Hangover Meshi. This time I decided to try a motsuyaki place at Shinjuku West Exit: Za Motsuyaki Ishin, Shinjuku O-gado. It says O-gado in the name, but it is a good deal further toward the Metropolitan Government building than the O-gado underpass itself. You go down into a basement to find it, and the place was doing very good business. Even at our reservation time the previous group had not come out, so we waited outside a while. They gave us tea while we waited. Though if they are going to give us tea, hot sake would have made the wait entirely satisfactory.
So after a wait we were seated about ten minutes late.
Premium Ishin special beef motsu nabe full-satisfaction course [with two hours of all-you-can-drink], 7,000 yen including tax
Ishin special beef motsu nabe full-satisfaction course [with two hours of all-you-can-drink], 6,000 yen including tax
Beef motsu teppanyaki full-satisfaction course [with two hours of all-you-can-drink], 5,500 yen including tax
Three courses to choose from. For a moment I thought a la carte might do. But this was a gathering to thank someone, and we might drink a great deal, so: all-you-can-drink included, and the best one. The Premium Ishin special beef motsu nabe full-satisfaction course it is.
First, a domestic lemon chuhai. I have been drinking these very often lately, and I am gradually growing tired of highballs and beer.
The green peppers that come as a palate cleanser are all you can eat, apparently.
Fresh green peppers chilled hard and eaten raw are very good indeed. They go superbly with miso, too. Incidentally, if the bitterness of green peppers is the problem, the white parts inside are what is bitter, so removing them cleanly should reduce it.
Something like an agebitashi, perhaps? Oysters really are better cooked, I think. Good.
The moisture and savor of the mushroom burst out. This one may be delicious.
They come out one after another at a great pace. And the portions are enormous.
For the motsu nabe you can choose soy, soy-milk miso, and some sort of hot one; this time, at our guest’s request, soy-milk miso.
Seared bonito and salmon, I think? Small plates keep being added even while the motsu nabe simmers.
This is for two. Divide it amicably with the person beside you.
You could choose between zosui and champon noodles, if I remember. This time, champon noodles.
The end
The sheer quantity is the point. It helped that we had a big eater with us, but honestly the non-premium course would be plenty. In fact the clearly visible difference from the premium is only the horse sashimi yukhoe and the dessert — though I imagine the details shift subtly elsewhere. If that is the 1,000 yen difference, I thought the ordinary course would certainly do. Also, in a busy season you wait a fair while even with a booking (the people who came after us waited a good deal too), so turning up five or ten minutes late might be about right.
Za Motsuyaki Ishin, Shinjuku O-gado (Motsu nabe / Shinjuku-nishiguchi Station, Seibu-shinjuku Station, Shinjuku Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.3
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
