A note on the words: shichirin is a small tabletop charcoal brazier used to grill the meat. The Jo Ippiki Course (“one whole cow” course) runs 19 cuts across salt, sweet tare sauce, and miso seasonings, rather than eating an entire cow. Tokujo Goten-mori is their platter of top-grade cuts served on a wooden tray. Horumon means beef offal in general, and is also the name of one particular cut on the miso round, which is seasoned in a rich miso sauce. Naengmyeon are chilled noodles served in a cold broth with apple slices and egg to cool down after the charcoal heat, while bibim naengmyeon are brothless cold noodles tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce.
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Akasaka Ozeki Honten on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
To all you drinkers out there, thank you for waiting! It’s time for Hangover Meshi!
This time I headed to Akasaka Ozeki, a yakiniku restaurant in Akasaka! It sits right in front of Yagenbori, and I had always wondered what kind of place it was. Turns out it was a yakiniku spot! I had made a reservation without even realizing it was right here, ha. And as it turned out, there was still a bit of distance before actually reaching the entrance.
Turn here.
That standalone house tucked in the back is the restaurant!
Arrived! The restaurant has a really nice atmosphere! Inside, it feels pleasantly packed and lively, which is great in its own right!
Proper charcoal-grilled yakiniku over a shichirin, a small charcoal brazier, is really great too! Now, let’s get started!!!
Now, once seated, let’s start with a beer!
Sooooo good!!
With an assorted kimchi plate ready on the table, we’re all set!
What makes this restaurant fun is that once you order, the meat comes out in sequence: salt, the sweet tare sauce, and the miso sauce!
And a grand total of 19 different cuts!!! Incredible!
First up is salt! Seven cuts: rosu, loin; shibire, sweetbread; giara, the fourth stomach; kashira, cheek and temple; karubi, short rib; hatsu, heart; and harami-suji, the sinewy edge of the skirt.
Let’s keep grilling away! As we eat through them,
the meat is sooo tender and delicious!
Placing it over the charcoal, fat drips down with a sizzle, sending up fragrant smoke.
There’s really no time to keep track of which cut is which anymore, ha!
Still, you can tell that every single piece is genuinely good meat. Being salted, you can truly savor the rich deliciousness and deep flavor of the beef. Honestly, isn’t this yakiniku just ridiculously good?!
Next comes the sweet tare sauce! Five cuts: ichibo, aitchbone; ranpu, rump; jo harami, prime skirt; zabuton, chuck flap; and jo rosu, prime loin.
Mmm, tender and so delicious! The sweet tare sauce adds sweetness and savory depth, making the meat feel like it has leveled up. With the intense charcoal heat, the lightly charred, caramelized sauce is wonderfully aromatic and flavorful.
Ta-da!
The top-grade meats arrive presented on a wooden tray.
Zabuton, ichibo, ranpu, and tokujo harami!
This is exquisite! Incredibly tender, and just look at that fragrant char! Bite into it, and the rich juices spread right across your palate. Grilling over a shichirin leaves you smelling of yakiniku from head to toe, but because the air around you is so fragrant, it tastes unbelievably good! Drinks are going down way too fast — it is dangerous!
Finally, it’s the miso sauce and horumon, beef offal!!!
Honestly, I had thought things were wrapping up with the top-grade meat and let my guard down, ha.
The contents are 7 cuts: horumon, the cut that carries the name; senmai, the third stomach; hachinosu, honeycomb tripe; yan, another offal cut; kopuchan, small intestine; liver; and kobukuro, uterus!
Successfully completed all 19 cuts with 7 cuts + 5 cuts + 7 cuts, ha! (Even though there were +4 cuts with the top-grade platter.)
This is an absolute highball thief! You just keep ordering drink after drink! The rich miso sauce pairs flawlessly with the offal. As a drinking snack, it is exceptionally good~~~!
We were already quite full, so we shared it among everyone!
The sauce is sweet and spicy. The noodles are springy and chewy, with the heat of the sauce slowly blooming as you chew. After sitting flushed in front of the heat of the shichirin, cold noodles are such a blessing! With no broth, the flavor was on the stronger side.
This is the regular naengmyeon. In a clear amber broth sits a tower with two apple slices, cucumber, pickles, and half a soft-boiled egg crowned on top, pinned together with a toothpick.
The broth has a gentle balance of tartness and sweetness, served without ice but thoroughly chilled. The noodles are thin yet have a firm chew, and the savory flavor of the broth pairs wonderfully with the sweet-and-sour apple!
Phew! I am completely stuffed!
Honestly, I highly recommend it! The quality of the meat is simply top-tier. Grilling it boldly over a shichirin and digging in, there is no way it would not be delicious! We were grilling and drinking with such momentum this time, ha, that I hardly kept track of the cuts, but there are 19 cuts after all! By the way, the top-grade platter is truly delicious, so I really hope you try it!!!
May you come across delicious food today as well!
Akasaka Ozeki Honten (Yakiniku / Akasaka-mitsuke Station, Akasaka Station, Nagatacho 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?
