Yakiniku And More Yakiniku For New Year

Just as how we celebrated Christmas, we didn't have plans for the New Year. IKR!?

So what should we do? Where should we go? What should we eat?!

Dec 31 - Yakiniku at Shinjuku

While everybody was busy cooking and baking many goodies, preparing for the fireworks, and drinking from the afternoon on the 31st, we were still in bed until 6 PM. 😂 This is probably the very impromptu holiday I had ever had in my life - this had never happened to me before, knowing me as a person who always has a plan for everything.

A few restaurants popped into our discussions of where to eat the last dinner of 2022. Unfortunately, all of these restaurants we talked about were already closed by the time we left the house or were about to close.

We reached Shinjuku past 8 PM and we were just mindlessly looking for a restaurant that was still open til late. We wanted sushi but found none. Our 2nd option was yakitori and we found a good place but we weren't sure about it. While standing outside the yakitori restaurant, our eyes got caught by photos of yakiniku in a quiet alley nearby that immediately we decided we would be dining there.

The restaurant is called Yotsuba-Tei (よつば亭) and occupies the 2nd and 3rd floor of a small building we didn't know the name of, located in the streets around Shinjuku station and Shinjuku Sanchome station. It's a bit hard to find but if you know where to go, you'll find it.

I like how we had privacy in the restaurant. I'm not sure how it looks on the 3rd floor but on the 2nd, all groups were separated into mini-rooms. The only thing I didn't like about our experience was how the orders took time - including the drinks we ordered. Usually, restaurants in Japan provide quick service, especially for the first drinks.

While waiting, we were served this dish that made me remember how menudo or kaldereta from the Philippines tasted. It had a similar taste. Boyfriend didn't like it though so he skipped this. Instead, he ate a lot of the assorted vegetables we got.

It's been a while since I had なんこつ so when I saw this in the menu, we ordered it. なんこつ唐揚げ (read as nankontsu karaage) is fried chicken cartilage.

My favorite, 上カルビ (read as Jo Kalbi) or Special Boneless Beef Short Rib (as translated from this website) was the best and arrived first on all the meat we ordered. We got タレ (read as tare) or sauce for all the meat we ordered.

My boyfriend likes ホルモン (read as horumon) or hormone so we always order one whenever we go to yakiniku restaurants. I didn't like internals that much because hormones are chewy, not my type but I still ate a little.

Aside from the meat we ordered, we ordered お茶漬け (read as *ochazuke). It's a dish where you pour green tea or hot water over steamed rice that is mixed with different seasonings like adding nori (seaweed), etc. You can read more about ochazuke in Wikipedia.

It's new year so drinks were necessary (or I was just making an excuse to drink). Guess what I ordered?

They look similar, right? Mine was Ginger Highball, a mixture of ginger ale soda and whiskey while my boyfriend had tea. 😂

Jan 1 - Yakiniku at Nakano

We were too tired to cook and wash dishes so we ended up eating out again, though I wasn't sure if we could find something good because restaurants closed early or don't open at all on the first day of the year. Nakano City in Tokyo felt like a ghost town with few people walking around 9 PM. We found Gyu-kaku (牛角) which is famous all over Japan for its yakiniku.

We had a bad experience in Gyu-kaku in one of their branches in Osaka. It was my first Gyu-kaku and the place felt sticky, messy, and not clean but I remembered the meat being tasty. After that trauma, I tried to avoid Gyu-kaku but since we were so hungry this time and couldn't find another restaurant that was open, I courageously agreed and went with it.

Surprisingly, this restaurant was so clean and so posh. It's the opposite of what we had experienced. The meat was still tasty, and the overall vibes of the place were just so nice, perfect for starting the year.

Each table has an iPad where you can order. I know what you're thinking, in some countries this iPad will already be gone 😂 We ordered the first drinks though through talking to the staff so they could bring it right away. We availed the non-alcoholic drink-all-you-can option because one or two glasses wouldn't be enough for us. Guess what we ordered? A lot of black oolong tea and a glass of grape juice.

Our orders arrived a few minutes later. They all looked delicious and well, they all tasted delicious, especially with a warm steamed rice!

I'm being true to my goal so I got myself a ceasar salad. I ordered half but I almost didn't finish it because it's really a lot.

They had a sukiyaki option so we tried it. After grilling this, we soaked it in egg batter before eating. It wasn't the usual sukiyaki but it was good! I might try it at home the next time we will have yakiniku at home.

4 plates of meat weren't enough for us so we ordered more beef, this time we chose salt for the last 2 meat plates. I didn't know the names of the meat anymore because my boyfriend just kept ordering and ordering. Surprisingly, he didn't order hormone.

My boyfriend was already so full by the time we cooked the last 2 meat plates so I had to eat a lot of his portions. I ended up stuffing myself when I should be dieting! 😅

It was almost around 11 PM when we left the restaurant but for sure, we would be back. I already liked this place!

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Comparing The Restaurants

If we would compare which one was the best, I think it's Gyu-kaku, the yakiniku restaurant we went to in Nakano. My boyfriend also thought the same so I think we would come back to this place often.

Criteria	Yotsuba-Tei in Shinjuku	Gyu-kaku in Nakano
Food taste	8	9
Meat variety	8	8
Restaurant interior	8	10
Service	6	10

In addition, Gyu-kaku in Nakano had the non-alcoholic drink-all-you-can option for less than 1,000 yen (or less than 7 USD) and eat-all-you-can options starting from 3,000 yen (or 23 USD) so if you're a heavy eater, this might be a good option for you to get.

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It was a very spontaneous New Year for us but we had so much fun. We love eating so we're so glad we explored these restaurants and found new favorites. I guess from next time, we should cook at home. 😂

I hope you had a good New Year's with your friends and loved ones, just as I did.

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Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！

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^{All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.}