I’m starting off this new year with a post about a meal in 2015 because, well frankly, it was really delicious. It was one of my more memorable meals during my Asia trip; to no one’s surprise the meal was in Japan where the “average” restaurant would probably kill it in SF or NYC in terms of how it tastes (or at least presented!)

Shortly getting off my flight, my cousins who live in Taiwan enthusiastically laid out a number of options…

Cousin: “What do you want to eat?”
Me: “I don’t know…what is there to eat?”
Cousin: “Oh, well there’s ramen/udon/soba, sushi, tonkatsu, yakitori, shabu shabu…<trails off>”
Me: “Om-gee, I LOVE Japan.”

I decided on meat, and was quickly taken into a brightly-lit mall and headed to the 14th floor where we got seated immediately. After checking out their menu (and trusting my cousin to order), we were brought a series of appetizers to whet the appetite.

A series of pickled vegetables also came with as well, to help with adding some variety against the myriad of fatty meats (it helped me feel less guilty too).

And now…onto the MEATS!

Beef tongue, which was actually quite tasty; lean and flavorful, super easy to consume quickly.

Want to pour a raw egg over premium Wagyu beef? YES PLEASE. It was as delicious as it looked – not only was the meat perfectly fatty, where it melted in your mouth, but the egg helped with melding the flavors of the meat to sauce together. This is the stuff that dreams are made of, people!

On the grill, we also ordered tripe and…something else (more innards?) Deliciousness ensued.

We ended up a choice of noodles or rice, and I chose noodles – it was a nice end to a meal full of grilled meats – mostly since the broth was slightly tart.

Japan has a plethora of delicious restaurants given what they produce there is incredible. I won’t be inundating this blog with the other meals in Asia, though this was a great way to round out the year in 2015. Now into 2016, looking forward to more great meals!

焼肉チャンピオン (池袋東武店)
東京都豊島区西池袋1-1-25
東武百貨店池袋店
レストラン街スパイス14F
http://www.yakiniku-champion.com/