A note on the words: otoshi is a small appetizer served at the start of a meal, kanpachi is greater amberjack served here as carpaccio, and ezo-shika is sika venison from Hokkaido. Ichibo refers to the beef rump cap, prized for its deep savory flavor, while Inca no Mezame is a sweet, golden-fleshed Japanese potato variety. “Sumi Tokidoki Maki” translates to “charcoal, sometimes firewood,” referencing the cooking method used for their signature pasta dish where a charcoal-grilled meat patty is crushed into meat sauce and stirred through. A hamburg steak is a thick patty of ground meat, grilled.
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RODEO on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. This time, dining at “RODEO”, a well-known hideaway Italian restaurant in Naka-Meguro! I had really wanted to visit at least once. So many people kept telling me they wanted to go here, and finally the chance arrived! I made a reservation and headed to Naka-Meguro Station. It is quite a distance from the station, so it seems best to allow plenty of time. Making the most of it, I enjoyed strolling along the Meguro River for about 10 minutes, taking a slight detour as I walked over to the restaurant.
From the outside, it has a cool, austere feel with bare poured concrete. A true hideaway, ha.
Stepping inside, the stylish lighting and the charcoal grill behind the counter look fantastic!
Sumi Tokidoki Maki meat spaghetti — 3,600 yen
Ichibo — 4,980 yen
Ezo-shika — 3,060 yen
Since the meat dishes take some time, they suggested ordering them first.
Assuming we wouldn’t eat a massive amount, we picked two: 100g of Matsuno’s ezo-shika venison and 120g of wagyu ichibo!
For the rest, we decided to order casually from the a la carte menu.
Well, you have to start with beer.
An Italian beer, I think? Refreshingly light and very easy to drink.
The otoshi potato chips are fried right before your eyes. Freshly fried, so they are delicious.
This was incredibly good! The burrata is milky with an exquisite, pleasant saltiness. When I first ate Le Lectier, it was so sweet I wondered if it was a peach, but apparently it is a European pear. It pairs wonderfully with the cheese!
For now, white wine seemed right until the meat arrived, so we ordered a bottle!
Carpaccio of kanpachi with the skin side lightly seared. The plump, firm flesh is delicious.
Extremely tasty. The garlic comes through well, and to begin with the shrimp is wonderfully plump. Great with wine too.
And here is the centerpiece pasta!
I had been watching them grill a hamburg steak over the charcoal for the longest time. Looks amazing.
Then they broke apart the hamburg steak, mixed it thoroughly into the pasta, and showered cheese from above!
For a good while, the rain of cheese just wouldn’t stop.
It piled up this high! So much you couldn’t even see what was beneath! Then they portioned it out for us, and here it is.
Did they say the pasta was two-point-something millimeters thick, perhaps? An exceptionally thick pasta.
The delightfully chewy pasta with real presence is the best match with the rich meat sauce — which was originally that hamburg steak — and the cheese, ha.
This is insanely good, an absolute must-order!
Then, as the meat dishes began to arrive, we ordered a bottle of red wine.
And here is the main event, the venison!
Solid lean meat. The flavor of the lean meat is deep and delicious. Firm, lean meat with no excess fat at all. Goes so well with wine.
There is more fat here than with the venison. However, being a red-meat cut it is clean and very easy to enjoy!
Because the meat was slowly grilled over charcoal, it is fragrant, juicy, and succulent. Delicious! Stuffed with meat, our meal came to an end!
So in the end, three appetizers, one pasta, and two meats. That was more than enough to leave us completely full. After finishing a bottle each of white and red wine, the final bill came to a little over 10,000 yen per person, I think? Pretty solid value! The neighborhood itself is stylish, and enjoying a chic Italian dinner in a place like this once in a while is wonderful. I would definitely love to visit again!
RODEO (Italian / Naka-Meguro Station, Daikanyama Station, Ebisu Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.7
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
