A note on the words: motsu means offal, and motsuyaki is offal grilled on skewers, while motsu nabe is a hot pot built around the same cuts. Ago-dashi is a stock made from dried flying fish. Otoshi is a small appetizer you’re charged for — it’s the cover charge, not a scam. Mozuku is a fine, thread-like seaweed, usually served in a lightly sour dressing. Among the skewer cuts, harami is the diaphragm, sold in the United States as skirt steak, tan is tongue, reba is liver, shiro is pork intestine and nankotsu is cartilage. Gari is the sweet pickled ginger you get with sushi. Saikyo-yaki means marinated in sweet white miso and then grilled. Tsukune is a ground-meat patty or ball, here shaped by hand. Dote-ni is offal simmered slowly in miso.
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Miroku, Azabu-juban on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hey, this is Hangover Meshi. This time I headed to “Miroku,” a motsuyaki place in Azabu-juban. The prices are reasonable and it’s a really easy spot to use! Every once in a while I get a serious craving for grilled offal. Sometimes only that will do — not yakitori, offal. I just booked a table and headed straight over. This time they showed us to a table right at the back. The place has an upstairs too, but this was my first time in the back of the ground floor.
Dote-ni: 780 yen
Prime tongue sashimi: 780 yen
Grilled reba (liver): 190 yen
Shiro (pork intestine): 190 yen
Tan (tongue): 250 yen
House-made hand-shaped tsukune: 380 yen
Motsu nabe in ago-dashi and soy: 3,500 yen
We weren’t doing a set course this time, so the plan was simply to order a la carte as the mood took us.
Mozuku seaweed in vinegar!
Straight off the grill really is the best!
Gari and tomato. I like that they take the trouble to peel the tomatoes. The gari is clean and sharp, and it goes very well with a drink.
It looks like octopus, but it’s squid, lol. I wondered how saikyo-yaki would work here, but the seasoning is saikyo-yaki through and through.
I suppose they marinate the squid in the saikyo-yaki sauce. It works in its own way — very good.
Crisp water spinach and plump shrimp wrapped in the bright sourness of black vinegar — delicious!
And then the motsu nabe. Being ago-dashi and soy, the first thing you notice is how good the stock-forward broth is.
And then the odd part: the fat from the offal ends up tasting light and clean thanks to the dashi, the garlic and the garlic chives ^^
I ate a fair amount and was completely full! Very satisfying.
So this time the style was to order a la carte, firing off whatever we felt like eating. A set course with all-you-can-drink is good too, of course, but when you just drop in and want to eat, this way might be better. There was no all-you-can-drink, but the bill was kind to the wallet!
Miroku, Azabu-juban (Izakaya / Azabu-juban Station, Akabanebashi Station, Roppongi Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.4
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
