A note on the words: yoshoku is Japanese-style Western food — European dishes remade in Japan since the Meiji era until they became a cuisine of their own, and not to be confused with French or Italian cooking. Hamburg steak is a seasoned patty of ground meat served on a plate with sauce rather than in a bun. Omurice is a thin omelet laid over seasoned rice. Menchi-katsu is a ground-meat patty breaded and deep fried. Rolled cabbage is a cabbage leaf wrapped around a meat filling and stewed. Demi-glace is the dark, long-simmered brown sauce that yoshoku kitchens build much of their menu around. Meshi in this blog’s name simply means a meal.
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Grill Manten Boshi Azabu-juban Honten on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, Hangover Meshi here. This time I decided to go to “Grill Manten Boshi Azabu-juban Honten” in Azabu-juban for lunch. It has been a while since my last visit. When the urge for yoshoku suddenly hits, Grill Manten Boshi is a sure thing! And the fact that you can usually get in even on a whim is a big plus! So off I went.
That little garden-like space at the bottom of the stairs is as nice as ever.
Hugely popular!!! One plate, two pleasures ♪ [ One-Plate Mix ] 2,420 yen
[Original] Beef steak donburi (with red miso soup and pickles) 2,420 yen
Uncle Salad (for 2–3 people) 1,980 yen
The basic order really does have to be the One-Plate Mix!
◆ Omelet rice with demi-glace
◆ Chicken curry
◆ Seafood pilaf
◆ Dry curry
◆ Fried shrimp
◆ Crab cream croquette
◆ Menchi-katsu with demi-glace
◆ Hamburg steak with demi-glace
◆ Rolled cabbage gratin (tomato sauce)
◆ Seafood salad
You pick two from this list for 2,420 yen! When you come here for lunch, this is where you start.
The one plate does come with a salad, but I wanted more greens, so I added an Uncle Salad on the side! I went with the half size (1,320 yen).
First to arrive was the Uncle Salad.
This distinctive vegetable is the one called romanesco, I think! You do not see it often, so it feels fresh.
It may be the half size, but split three ways there was still plenty left over. The dressing is the Manten Boshi dressing.
Really delicious! A salad with so much in it that it feels like a bargain!
Here are the soup and the salad that come with the One-Plate Mix.
These look plenty good too!
What I picked this time: hamburg steak and rolled cabbage!
The rolled cabbage comes with bread. This rolled cabbage is really something.
The rich sauce, of course, but also the soft, sweet cabbage and the juicy meat. You could never make this at home!!!
And the hamburg steak is finely ground, juicy meat as well. The demi-glace sauce is really good too.
A carefully made hamburg steak that gives you the feeling of having arrived at a proper yoshoku restaurant — superb. Well, of course. When it comes to yoshoku, it has to be Manten Boshi!
And this one is the cream croquette and omurice. Looks delicious.
It had been a while since my last Manten Boshi, and I came away very satisfied. In fact, 2,420 yen for this feels cheap. Prices all around keep climbing, and back then I thought of this as a luxurious lunch, but by now it is a genuine bargain. I suppose that means they have worked hard to hold their prices, and from a customer’s side that is something to be grateful for! I found myself thinking I would like to come back here the next time I have a meal with company!
Grill Manten Boshi Azabu-juban Honten (Yoshoku / Azabu-juban Station, Roppongi Station, Akabanebashi Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
