Niku Kaiseki Rinzen

Niku Kaiseki Rinzen (肉懐石 凜然)

⭐⭐⭐

🐂 Yakiniku / 📍 Yotsuya

📓 Visits: 1

There are 4 course menus to choose from starting from JPY 9,900 up to JPY 30,000 and an a-la-carte menu if you prefer.  The cheapest course is more like a standard yakiniku course so I chose the 'Rinzen' course priced at JPY 13,200 which is more like niku kappo.  Menus are in Japanese only and no English is spoken.

The first meat dish was Kobe roast beef salad.  A pleasing start with the beef not being chewy.  8/10.  Next tartar of Kobe uchimono.  An excellent 8.5/10.  Next owan of shiro miso and gyutan.  This was lacking refinement in flavours and overall a bit sweet.  The tongue was very good but it all got cold very quickly due to blast from the a/c.  7.5/10.  Next kainomi and uni temaki.  This was generously-sized but the uni was inevitably second-rate.  7/10.  Next gyukatsu two ways: plain and aka miso.  Normally you'd get half this much but I was on my own so the chef generously served me everything.  The miso one was the best but I'm not a fan of gyukatsu: I could taste the oil and the meat didn't have much flavour.  6.5/10.  After a tomato palate cleanser sirloin shabu shabu.  The meat didn't have that much flavour.  6.5/10.  The main dish was fillet.  This was quite fatty and after the greasy gyukatsu and lacklustre sirloin I'd just about had enough meat.  7/10.  Miso soup was good, rice OK but not special.  Negima was very good.  To finish a fruity and mild curry (8.5/10) and a chewy bowl of reimen (8/10).  Dessert was vanilla ice-cream with dessert wine and salt.  Mixed together this was like zabaglione.  I was a bit simple and would have been improved with some fresh fruit.  8/10.

Beef was from Kobe and Ota.  The meal ran at a good place and the two chefs chatted a fair bit (in Japanese).  Most of the seating is in private rooms but I sat at the small 4-seat counter.  Overall this was good value for money but it just made me want to go back to Setsugekka, which is on another level entirely.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1309/A130903/13266624/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.95

📱 Booking: 🟩 Easy.  Same day or advance reservations by Tabelog or phone.

📍 Location:

2-11-19 Yotsuya.  6-7 mins on foot from Yotsuya and Yotsuya-Sanchome stations.  Dedicated street-facing entrance.
Map data ©2022 Google

📅 Visit May 2022

Shin tama-negi pottage
Kobe roast beef salad
Kobe uchimono tartar
Shiro miso, gyutan
Kainomi, uni temaki
Gyukatsu
Tomato
Sirloin shabu shabu
Fillet
Negima, rice, pickles
Curry
Reimen
Ice-cream, dessert wine, salt

💴 Damage: 14,400 incl. free drink via Tabelog coupon
⏱️ Time taken: 1h45m