On this Tokyo trip I have been going mostly around restaurants I had long wanted to try. The reason is that I have no friend to go restaurant-hopping with. At a place I know well I can just eat what I want and leave, but at a new place there are so many things I want to order that I rarely end up going when I am eating out alone. I suppose the life of a middle-aged guy is more or less the same everywhere. And I no longer have the stamina to eat two or three portions by myself like I used to.

So the place I went to was Mitsumasa, a skewer joint in Shinbashi. The atmosphere is a bit hectic, but the food is Michelin-star level. Really excellent. With a second stop in mind, I got there right at opening time.

Otoshi

Skewers call for beer. I ordered a glass and the otoshi came out first. It seemed to be onion and chashu pickled in vinegar and soy sauce, and it made a nice starter.

Kirin draft beer

You should drink it the moment it arrives, but sadly the head goes flat while you are taking photos. Anyway, I had worked hard that day too, so one beer was surely fine.

The prepped ingredients

The freshness was insane. I wanted to eat everything in sight, but there is a limit when you are alone..

Harami and liver

Shinbashi is a salaryman’s paradise. Imagine being able to eat skewers like this every day..

Close-up of the liver

Because it is so fresh, the liver is impossibly tender. Grilled over charcoal, the aroma and flavor really come alive too.

Shiro and stuffed green pepper

Shiro is intestine, a little squishy with a rich, savory taste. The stuffed green pepper, grilled with meat packed inside, is a dish where the sweetness of the pepper and the heartiness of the meat go really well together. A beer hall called Hanjan-ui Chueok in Sinsa-dong sells something similar, fried stuffed chili peppers, but it is on a whole different level.

Tsukune and tontoro

In a way, I think tsukune is something like Japanese-style charcuterie. There is no way it could taste bad~ The fat of the tontoro melts in your mouth too.

Since I went alone that day, I really could not eat much. I had to keep it light and move on to a second stop, so I got up pretty quickly.

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