June 18, 2007
Jojoen BBQ (叙々苑 焼肉)
Sushi and seafood are nice and all but I have equal love for the red meat. Japanese aren't into big thick steaks like the Americans, but yakiniku is fun and tasty, too. I've actually been to this location at the Odakyu Dept. Store before when our Japan manager took us after a long day at the electronics show. SO's Nippon-phile cousin also recommended it highly as a must-go, so it seemed like a good choice for our last dinner in Japan. It is a chain and not inexpensive, but the meat was top-notch and if it's overcooked that's your own damn fault.
The brought us to a long bar-like table set against the big windows overlooking Shinjuku Station West, split into individual booths around the grills. Each table is also segregated for privacy, perfect for a post-shopping date or co-workers coming in from the Shinjuku office towers. Except the ceiling is covered with mirrors so a peek upwards lets you see exactly what the nearby tables are doing (mostly eating and drinking).
The simply salted cow tongue requires just a few seconds on the hot grill, then a quick dip in the lemon juice. You can also get marinated or salted meats of cow, pig, or lamb and there are a couple of other dipping sauces to go with them. A sparkling lemon sawa (freshly squeezed fruit juice added to club soda and soju) drink is a perfectly refreshing antidote to the heavy meat. The salad's great, too, with really fresh greens dressed with a flavorful sesame-based Japanese dressing.
Didn't get a chance to try the famously sweet and juicy Japanese peaches on our trip, so I figured a frozen peach sorbet held in a hollowed out peach would make an interesting alternative. Found that it didn't match up to the real thing, though, as I found the sorbet a bit too sweet and the round peach container made it hard to scoop. The Italians definitely do the best fruit sorbets, where they somehow manage to make it taste even more flavorful and refreshing than the actual fruit.
叙々苑 (Jojoen)
東京都新宿区西新宿1-5-1
小田急新宿西口駅前ビル8階
(8th floor of Odakyu Halc department store outside Shinjuku Station west exit)
03-3340-8989
Many other locations
Posted by mikewang at June 18, 2007 06:00 PM