A note on the words: carpaccio is raw fish or meat sliced thin and dressed, and toro is the fatty belly cut of tuna. Capellini is the finest of the long pastas, and peperoncino means a dish built on garlic, olive oil and dried chili. A paillard is a piece of meat pounded thin and grilled fast. Kuroge wagyu is the black-haired Japanese cattle breed, and the tenderloin is the fillet that runs along the spine. Free flow is the term used in Japan for a drinks package in which refills are included. Meshi simply means a meal, which is where this blog gets its name.
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Union Square Tokyo on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. Right, tonight’s dinner is Union Square Tokyo, the steak place on the first floor of Tokyo Midtown. They have a course that comes with free flow drinks! Good news for anyone who drinks a lot. So I booked and off I went.
We took a table around the middle of the room.
2024 SAKURA Dinner course, five dishes in all, 11,000 yen
UST Tasting Menu, 15,000 yen
Four-dish share course, 8,800 yen (I looked just now and it was not listed, so has it gone? ha)
What I asked for this time was the four-dish share course with the drinks package. Looking now, the course has vanished from Tabelog, so it may be gone. Probably best to call and check before you go. The share course is four dishes served on large plates to share out. I wanted to eat steak, so the plan was to use the share course for the drinks and go a la carte for the rest.
So, we opened with sparkling for the toast!
The first dish was bluefin tuna carpaccio. A vinaigrette of smoked soy sauce and black vinegar, with avocado laid over the top. The melting bluefin goes beautifully with the sauce. The oil in the avocado turns it into something close to toro, which is delicious as well!
What did they call this? Something like a pizza. Asparagus and cheese on that fluffy base is an irresistible combination!
It is a free flow, but the staff’s eye for what you need is unbelievable.
They are extremely gracious about it too, and I was moved. At a place like this you
actually want to pay the service charge!
Anchovy peperoncino in tomato sauce, a lovely pasta with a faint lift of lemon acidity. Mm, thoroughly satisfied!
And the main course was grilled pork. On a cauliflower and jasmine puree, with something like a malt vinegar sauce.
The meat is thick but very tender! Full of flavor, and the fat is delicious! The toasty sear on the outside is right, and the sauce is good. As a main this alone would be plenty. Except that obviously I wanted steak as well! So
in we went! Kuroge wagyu tenderloin, 400g! Five thousand yen a slice, no less.
It hardly needs explaining. Very tender and juicy! Meat packed with the flavor of lean beef.
I had them do it medium rare and the cooking is perfect. Simply delicious, and a decent volume with it. If you come to a steakhouse you have to eat steak!
Feeling like I could still eat! So we added the chicken paillard. Grilled Daisen chicken breast from Tottori with a Greek salad on top, which somehow feels healthy! This chicken is very juicy and good too. Being salad-like, it goes down in no time.
Well! One way and another I conquered pork, chicken and beef completely. It may not be there any more, but the style of a free-flow course where you add whatever mains you like is superb. I want to call and, if that course is still going, use it again! The service is frankly divine, so it would also work for an important business dinner. It was more service than the service charge asked for!
Union Square Tokyo (American / Nogizaka Station, Roppongi Station, Roppongi-itchome Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★★☆ 4.0
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
