Seiyouken

Rating: Very good
Meal: Dinner
Price: 5292
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Miso and yuzu beef tongue slices, beef tongue steak, boiled beef tongue, pickled cucumbers, two cups of hot sake
English Menu: No
Smoking: Ashtrays were present

Menu is a bit challenging

Last night was rainy and cold, so I didn't make it down to Kenritsudaigaku.  Instead I went looking for a local spot I hadn't reviewed yet.  One of these is Seiyouken, down a skeezy alley with a bright cow licking itself on the sign outside.  This is a beef tongue specialty restaurant, with pretty much everything on the menu being beef tongue.  They were concerned that I know that prior to sitting down.

Sake and mandatory appetizer

As I've said before, beef tongue in Japan tends to be thinly sliced and freshly cooked, either broiled or pan fried.  Most of the items on the menu were variations on this with different toppings.  I tried the miso and yuzu flavors first, which were decent enough, if a little chewy, as to be expected.  I also ordered a "steak" which turned out to be a small, thick slice of tongue, lightly cooked on the outside, with still pink, slightly bloody inside.  It was more tender than the the thin slices, but still with a definite chew.

Miso tongue

I tried asking the chef if he had ever had Mexican beef tongue, which I explained was boiled for a long time (or short in a pressure cooker) until it became very tender.  After he got what I was saying he pointed to an item on the menu and said this was similar, so I ordered one.  He pulled out some frozen, thicker slices of tongue from the freezer and popped them in a pan with broth and brought them up to temperature.  This was then placed in a shallow bowl with some of the broth (I was instructed not to drink it as it was very salty) and salt/pepper sprinkled on top.  A dollop of wasabi was provided to spread on top of the two slices.  This dish was very, very good, with the wasabi (pretty sure it was fresh as it didn't have the horseradish tang of the fake stuff) providing a delicious counterpoint to the soft, tender tongue.  I was going to give them an Ok, but this dish changed things and I'm rating them a Very Good.  Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of this dish, but it didn't look like much...it was all in the taste.

Pickled cucumbers

Yuzu tongue

Tongue steak