Monday, June 25, 2018

竹末 (Takesue in Sumida-ku)

竹末東京プレミアム


Whoah! Meat alert!


I was here with a local newspaper following me for the day, so I'm not sure if the counter covered with beautiful, sous vide meats was meant to be like this. Regardless, feast your eyes.


This place is a bit of a mystery. There is a rock vibe to the whole thing. The original shop hails from Tochigi, a prefecture not far to the north of Tokyo. Further research on their website points to Eikichi Yazawa, one of Japan's biggest and baddest rock stars. Takesue, and their group of sister shops in Tochigi, are obsessed with the guy, and it is his passion that they seek to mimic with their own.


The menu has a shio and a shoyu, but my money is on the more unconventional ヤシオマスの塩そば, a shio ramen made with a kind of Japanese trout, or the 鶏ホタテそば, a chicken and scallop bowl.


The trout ramen has a creamy, fishy flavor that is similar to salmon. On the fishy side, so be warned.

The base soup is mostly made with chicken. It's a simple base that lets those outrageous slices of pork and beef chashu shine.


Very near the Tokyo Sky Tree, but enough off the path that it still feels undiscovered.



Website here.