Sensenteidon

Rating: Very good
Meal:  Dinner
Price:  800 yen
Payment:  Cash only
Dishes: Stamina buta-don (pork rice bowl)
English Menu:No
Smoking: Yes

hashioki

This small underground pork-bowl restaurant is located right next to Kami Buta, one of my favorite ramen restaurants, so while I have been tempted to try it before, the ramen has always won out.  I wanted to give it a try so I checked it out last night for dinner.

The "easy" menu

 The menu seems indicate an emphasis on rice bowl dishes, but it's very much a small mom and pop (or in this case, just mom) shop.  I was reaaaally tempted by the maguro karaage (deep fried bits of tuna), but I went for the pork bowl to get a flavor for their main deal.  There is no English menu, but there are some big pictures with their main dishes.  The real menu is all in Japanese with no pictures.

Buta-don

First I was presented with my choice of hasioki (chopstick rests) and there were many adorable ones to choose from.  I picked a tanuki (japanese raccoon dog) that was reclining.  The lady went into the kitchen to make the food (it was really just one lady doing everything, luckily there was no one else there).  I noticed the ash trays so it is possible you might have to deal with smoke if there are others.

Spicy tuna

The pork bowl arrived with miso soup and pickles side dish.  Wow, the pork was excellent!  The sauce was very flavorful and went with the rice excellent well.  I never thought to add any soy sauce because the sauce on the pork was nicely salty.  When I was partially done, the lady brought me a free ("sabisu" or "service") dish of raw tuna in kimchee sauce which was excellent and helped me finish the rice off as I had run out of pork by the point.





Overall I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and am really looking forward to returning to try that maguro karaage dish!