With my flight home coming at 930 am the next day, I knew I had to wake up at 5 am to catch the train to the airport.  That meant my 2^nd to the last day in Tokyo was technically my last day.  I was tremendously full from the tsukemen I had with Sherilyn and Ruby, but as we parted ways, I was determined to eat more and cram as much I could!

My next stop for a “merienda” would be a place I wanted to eat in the moment I arrived.  Unfortunately, on my first day, I forgot my map and I spent an hour walking aimlessly trying to find it.  Funebashiya Honten, a humble restaurant, in front of a Uniqlo store, two blocks away from the Shinjuku JR Train Station East Exit, has been around over 100 years and they serve only one thing: Tempura.  In my book, if you do one thing great for a prolonged period of time, you’ve got to be crazy good.  My book was riiiiiiiight.

I was seated at the counter, and they served me my tempura set one piece at a time.  First came the shrimp, asohos and cuttlefish.  Immediately, the first thing I noticed is how light the batter was.  It’s crunchy at first bite and then the batter just melts away in your mouth, leaving the perfectly-cooked seafood for you to taste.  What sorcery was this? I did not taste a hint of flour; just a crunch and tasty seafood.  The next two pieces were an intermission of vegetables (kabocha squash and green bell pepper) and both were surprisingly tender and sweet. The final two pieces were a fitting end.  Another fish was as great as the first three pieces and the final piece, the kakiage, was the bomb.  We usually get kakiage that’s mostly vegetables, but the one they served me was bursting with succulent shrimp.  Together with rice, pickles, 3 kinds of salt and tempura sauce, I now had an excellent idea why Funebashiya has been the place for tempura for over a century.

My final stop would take me on a ride a bit outside the city but I was sure it was going to be worth it.  At a town called Kichijoji, was Steakhouse Satou a simple teppanyaki joint atop one of the better-known butcher shops in town.  The menu was simple; you just had to pick which beef dish you wanted.  Now that sounds like nothing great, but then again, this joint served Matsuzaka beef.  Wagyu is the name synonymous with prime steaks and in Japan, Kobe is the best known region.  However, there has been a great debate as some believe Matsuzaka does better.

Regardless of what you believe, the steak Satou served me (they simply called it, “Number 1 steak.”) was mind blowing.  Cooked perfectly medium rare, it was tremendously juicy, tender and very beefy.  Each beef cube was like a cube of nata de coco, where juices just burst into your mouth as you bite.  I love the fact that the young chef at the helm seasoned the unmarinated steak with just salt and pepper, which gave the beef flavor a chance to shine.  It was served with teppanyaki vegetables, unlimited rice and garlic chips.  What I loved on the side, though, was how the chef cooked up the fat from the sides of steak to make them into almost beef chicharon.  Evil little bites, those pieces were.

At the end of that day, I had no interest in eating any more.  I was satisfied, not because I ate a truckload of food, but more so because I got experience a wide range of textures and flavors that will definitely inspire me as I sit down to plot more recipes for Curiosity Got the Chef.  Now that’s how you spend a vacation!