My husband enjoys watching a Japanese show called "Solitary Gourmet". It is a show about a businessman that travels around Japan and stops to eat in various restaurants. Even though it is a drama, he eats in real restaurants and orders from their actual menus. If you like to watch people eat, this is the show for you. Have I mentioned that most Japanese TV does not appeal to me? For the most part, I find it incredibly annoying - talk show after talk show after talk show all discussing an adventure someone else is having or videos of accidents and eating. I would venture to say shows featuring people eating (not cooking, but eating) is probably the most common type of entertainment show here. It is just not my cup of tea. But my husband loves it. So, it is on in our house a LOT.
I've noticed my husband watching various episodes of "Solitary Gourmet" on Netflix. I've never watched a whole episode, but he seems to enjoy it. In Season 4, Episode 1, the main character goes to Kiyose. He finds a restaurant named Miyuki Shokudo, an older place with the menu on the walls and huge portions of traditional Japanese diner food. Shokudo means diner, so the restaurant is Miyuki's diner.
It was less than a block from the train station. It was pretty easy to spot with it's red awning in the front of the restaurant, as well as the line to get in. Even though the episode was filmed in 2014, since it is on Netflix people still flock to go here. The show has been so popular that the restaurant actually made a special set menu with exactly what was ordered by the actor.
There was a menu outside the door which allowed us to think about what we wanted to eat as we waited. Everything on the menu was less than $10.
We waited a good 20 minutes to go inside the cramped diner. If there was a single seat available at a table, that seat was filled with a single diner. They worked hard to pack everyone in as quickly as possible. As soon as we were seated, I realized people could smoke in the restaurant. I was not impressed. But I preserved because my husband really wanted to eat there.
My husband knew what he wanted, but still took a few minutes to peruse the menu that was posted item by item on little cards posted on the wall with pushpins. The wall was covered in menu items. I doubt they have removed a single item from their menu since opening in over 40 years ago.
We ordered a small omurice for our son. The omelet covered fried rice featuring ketchup never gets old in his book.
He decided to have the tonkatsu curry. Fried pork cutlet on a bed of rice, covered in a Japanese curry proved to be a huge caloric masterpiece. I really enjoyed my bite. But I don't think I could eat very much of it. It was so heavy! And it came with a side salad, miso soup, and pickles.
Knowing that I can't eat very much when I am near cigarettes, my husband ordered a braised fish for me. It was the softest, most flavorful fish. The broth was a combination of fish broth (dashi), sake, mirin, and soy sauce - the classic Japanese combination. I could have eaten so much of it! My son asked for taste after taste. My lunch came with hijiki (salad featuring small black seaweed), miso soup, salad, rice, and potato salad. It was supposted to come with natto as well (fermented soy beans), but she asked if I wanted it and took it back to the kitchen with her. Instead she brought be a lovely umeboshi - a pickled plum that I love. It is very, very uncommon for restaurants to allow for any modifications, so I was very thankful for the swap.
The portions were huge. Much bigger than I think I've ever seen in Japan. The flavors were incredible. And the atmosphere was... interesting. I was a little worried the building was going to burn down with us in it between all the over used electrical outlets, thick layers of grease on the walls, and packed room. But we survived with full bellies and stories to tell about the time we ate in a "Solitary Gourmet" restaurant.
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