After our massive walk today, and after 2 solid weeks of sushi and think slices of meat, we both really craved a big fat juicy steak, so I googled and low and behold, across the road and down the street was a little steak restaurant.  I read the reviews – translated them from Japanese, which made no sense, but they all gave them 5 stars, which is a universal language.  So we popped down there and it was the most interesting/bizarre experience.

Welcome to Ikinari

There are no chairs in this tiny restaurant, just tall benches.  You stand to eat your steak, which is probably a good thing for digestion?  But also, because it doesn’t make you want to sit around and chat afterwards, you just eat and get the hell out of there – genius for the restaurant for a good turn over.

We had a little bit of difficulty understanding how to order, not even google translate nor the plethora Japanese language apps I downloaded could help, but we got there in the end.  You order your meat from the chef at the back of the restaurant.  He has a big glass fronted cool room and once you’ve chosen your meat and told him how many grams you would like, he pulls out a big slab, cuts it and weighs it – he was pretty spot on with his estimations.  Then you tell him how you’d like it cooked, then walk back to your standing table and wait.

That’s all there is on the menu – steak, but you can order a side of salad or corn or onions and that’s it.

So we just strapped on our bibs and tucked in.

Kanpai!

Not even sure why you need chairs……

I am going to make a big statement here, it was the best steak that I have ever eaten – ever!