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Rice bowl with a mountain of roast beef served in Tokyo bistro

Master Blaster May 11, 2016
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Good roast beef is a little hard to come by in Japan, and now we know why: This place is using it all themselves.

Mr. Sato headed down to the second basement of a building in Shinjuku to investigate a lead on some big eating. After all, if food is being served anywhere in obscene portions then it is his duty to eat it and afterwards inform the public.

However, as he approached Saka’s Bistro? Mr. Sato began to feel he was sent on a wild goose chase. The restaurant had a quaint yet somewhat dignified vibe unbecoming of a place that would serve heaps of meat. Even its apparently unresolved name, which comes complete with a question mark, suggested that this restaurant wouldn’t be pushing anything let alone the limits of reasonable portions.

A sheet of plain white A5 paper outlined Saka’s signature dish Roast Beef Don (roast beef rice bowl) for 950 yen (US$8.73) with an option to increase the beef and rice by three times for an additional 1,000 yen ($9.19). Interesting, but there was no indication of what the regular amount of beef was, and so no way of knowing if “three times as much” would be anything special.

Mr. Sato went in and placed his order. After a short wait while nursing his iced tea (an extra 100 yen [$0.92]), his heart skipped when the Roast Beef Don was served. It was huge!

There was so much meat that the pile of beef almost appeared to be rising up from the plate, as if reforming itself back into a sentient creature.

It was breathtaking and reminded Mr. Sato of the majestic peaks of Huangshan in China, albeit with lettuce and green onion mixed into it. Either that or a really dirty nipple.

Including the huge pile of rice below it, this was a massive meal. Mr. Sato being well experienced in such matters easily sized up the triple Roast Beef Don to be about one kilogram (2.2 pounds). It was so big that he didn’t quite know how to approach eating it. Should he begin gnawing away at the pillar of meat?

He ultimately decided to start dismantling the meat tower and enjoy the juicy thin slices of beef with Japanese-style seasonings. Then Mr. Sato began digging into the rice. Everything was well-flavored and the meat was very delicate and savory all the way through.

And just when our reporter thought he had seen it all, in the middle of the rice he discovered a soft-boiled egg for an extra little protein boost.

Usually one kilo of food is within Mr. Sato’s capacity, but he had underestimated Saka’s Bistro? and wasn’t prepared for such an onslaught of beef this day so he ended up leaving some of the rice behind. Not to make his waste in vain, he would like to advise everyone to work up a big appetite or assemble a team before taking on a Triple Roast Beef Don.

Information

Saka’s Bistro? & Wine Bar Waigaya
B2F Kurihashi Bldg., 3-13-5 Shinjuku, Tokyo
東京都新宿区新宿3-13-5 クリハシビル B2F
Hours: 11:30am to 3:00pm and 5:30pm to Midnight
Saturdays and Holidays: Noon to MidnightOpen 7 days a week