THE LOKUN TEACHER
My Initiation into Beef Tongue
Beef tongue is usually grilled. At some restaurants, through a glass panel, you can actually see them cooking the pieces over a charcoal grill. They come in thick or thin slices. They’re usually seasoned with just salt and pepper or miso. Personally, I prefer the miso marinated ones as I find that they’re more tender due to the natural tenderising properties of miso.
If you’re trying beef tongue, Gyūtan (牛タン), for the first time, it is important that you’ve a good experience. My hubby had a positive first experience which started his love affair with beef tongue. He tried to introduce beef tongue to me, but his initial attempts all failed.
Then, in February 2023, we flew to Sendai for 2 nights. There were a few popular beef tongue restaurants on level 2 of Sendai Station. We walked into the first beef tongue restaurant on that stretch of restaurants. He ordered beef tongue for himself and some beef slices for me. I tried one piece of beef tongue. It was indeed crunchy, not at all chewy! Since then, I’ve taken a liking to beef tongue too.
I like the beef tongue restaurant at Sapporo Station best. Look for Stellar Building. Take the lift to level 6 where you'll find all the fine restaurants. Turn left from the lift and at the end, in a corner, is the beef tongue restaurant.
We had at least 10 meals there during our winter wonderland vacation in February 2023. There was variety in their menu and their food was good. Their beef tongue set came with a matcha mochi and I loved it. The sweetness of the red bean filling was balanced by the intense matcha mochi and bitter matcha powder. It was a nice way to end the beef tongue dinner. Besides their beef tongue set, we also ordered their curry puff, ham and cheese croquette, beef stew, beef tongue skewers and even oyster croquettes, but on different meals. I think we almost tried their entire menu!
Describe your image
Describe your image
Describe your image
Describe your image
After consecutive failed beef tongue meals during our April/May 2023 trip, I insisted on beef tongue speciality restaurants. I believe if they specialise in beef tongue, they must be better at cooking it. This means they do not sell other parts of the cow except beef tongue! Another way is to look out for the word “Sendai” in their restaurant name. The latter is not full proof!
At Osaka, there was a beef tongue franchise from Sendai at the food court. We went. Sad to say, both their beef tongue and edamame shake failed big time. It would be terribly unfair for people to assume that Sendai beef tongue and edamame shake were that standard. You really need to go to a good Gyūtan restaurant. I’ve eaten my fair share of tough chewy beef tongue. Beef tongue isn’t exactly cheap, and I get really irritated if they aren’t worth eating after paying that price.
There was a beef tongue specialty restaurant at Umeda Food Hall at Osaka Station. I enjoyed their beef tongue. We ate at the same restaurant twice. The beef tongue set was served with barley rice, beef soup and pickles.
Another restaurant that I like was located at Nagoya Station. The restaurant was manned by 2 young chefs. We ordered the premium thick cuts that came in 4 and 6 pieces. It was a satisfying lunch before we caught the Shinkansen for Tokyo.
At Tokyo, my hubby managed to locate the beef tongue restaurant that he first ate beef tongue many years ago. He was ecstatic that the restaurant was still around. Their beef tongue set was really yummy. No wonder he was hooked after his first sample of beef tongue.
We went to a beef tongue restaurant at Ueno but I didn’t enjoy their beef tongue. It was supposed to be thick premium cuts but there were sinews. It was disgusting having to spit out the sinews throughout the meal. There is no other elegant way except to swallow it; I just couldn’t!
Good beef tongue restaurants aren’t easy to come by. When we find one, we tend to return to the same restaurant. As such, my food journey in Japan is rather limited. Due to my immune disorder, I can’t eat raw food like sashimi and my tummy rejects oily food like tempura. As for ramen, I like Hakata ramen and not miso-based ramen. I just simply love Japanese beef tongue and dessert!