A note on the words: oden is a Japanese one-pot dish of ingredients simmered slowly in a light dashi broth — usually daikon, eggs, fish cakes, and konnyaku, though this restaurant’s version leans Western with tomato and cuts of aged meat mixed in. Dashi is the savory stock, typically made from kombu kelp and dried bonito flakes, that underlies most Japanese soups and simmered dishes. Gyutan is beef tongue, thinly sliced and either grilled or, as in this restaurant’s signature dish, minced into a tartare.
Shun Jyuku Sei on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hey, this is Hangover Meshi. When it comes to aged meat in Roppongi, the long-running “Shun Jyuku Sei” is the famous name, and I’d wanted to go for ages. Back then lunch was only on weekends or something, so the timing never worked out, but this time it finally did, and I figured I would book a table for dinner and head over! Except, when I checked the Tabelog page, something had changed, lol
Turns out the name had changed a little, to “Shun Jyuku Sei: Wagyu and Oden”! So they had started doing oden too. That sounded interesting, so I went ahead and booked.
The look of the place has gotten really stylish too!
It used to feel a bit harder to walk into, lol. Well, the important thing is whether the food’s good.
The easy way to try Atobe-style aging, including the signature beef tongue tartare and the butcher’s oden: 8,800 yen
A tasting course to enjoy Atobe-style aging, including the finest lean tartare and the butcher’s oden: 13,200 yen
A full tasting course of Atobe-style aging, including aged wagyu filet, the signature aged assortment, and the butcher’s oden: 16,500 yen
Since this was my first time, I went with the easy 8,800 yen course that includes the signature dishes.
Bagna cauda! Every vegetable is fresh and full of moisture, and delicious.
By the way, if any of this is left over, it gets transformed into a different dish at the end in a really nice way — more on that later ^^
And here’s the aged-beef sashimi! I went in curious, and one bite in — the beef flavor is surprisingly deep and full. It’s easy to picture as an upgraded version of beef sushi, but on its own it’s meltingly tender and delicious.
And this, apparently, is the signature beef tongue tartare.
By the way, what’s sprinkled over the top of the tartare is a spice blend. Taste it and it has this exotic feel to it — and it’s good.
By the way, for an extra charge, it looks like you can also have this as a lean-beef tartare instead.
And here’s the oden. Oden, well, it’s oden, I suppose. It’s a fairly Western-style oden, if anything — there’s tomato in it, and it feels more like a pot-au-feu. But the dashi comes through clearly, and it’s delicious. The meat falls apart, and it’s wonderful. So this is the kind of oden they mean. I had been picturing a very traditional Japanese-style oden, so eating this actually made it click for me!
And this is a cardamom shochu, or some kind of spirit, cut with soda. There’s a good, solid cardamom aroma to it, and once I started drinking it I got surprisingly hooked. I liked it enough that I kept ordering it for the rest of the night.
And now, the aged meat! Grilled tongue, lean beef, and pork.
I had assumed aging would make the texture super tender, but it actually has a good, firm bite to it. The flavor might be on the richer, more concentrated side. I see — this could well be delicious. Personally I would have liked it grilled a touch more, lol
So, this is what became of the bagna cauda vegetables from before. We couldn’t finish them, and the staff offered to turn the leftovers into something like a baked cheese dish, so we said yes — and this is what came back. Look at how nicely that’s been cooked! And it’s delicious too. I watched the “raw vegetables always go to waste” problem get solved with real ingenuity.
For the main course you can choose risotto or pasta, so I asked for a little of each.
The butcher’s bolognese is delicious!
For dessert you can choose between matcha ice cream and cheesecake. I was already full, so I picked the matcha ice cream thinking it would be the smaller option — it turned out to be a pretty generous portion.
If you go with the cheesecake, they torch it right at the table for you, lol
Looking back, the cheesecake might actually have been the smaller portion, lol
So, my first-ever visit to Shun Jyuku Sei ended up being after the renewal, but it was a genuinely good restaurant — the service was properly attentive, and I got to eat delicious meat in a comfortable space. I had expected something a lot more meat-heavy, but there is real style to it too, and plenty of vegetables — a nice balance. I would love to use this place for some kind of gathering again. Recommended.
Shun Jyuku Sei (Steak / Azabu-juban Station, Roppongi Station, Roppongi-itchome Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
