Manten Yoyogiten

They were so nice at this restaurant! We don't speak any Japanese (just some memorized phrases) but I came because I wanted to eat some offal and saw someone else mentioned an English menu (which I've taken a picture of). As soon as we walked in, we were welcomed in. The owner came by and gave us ...some blankets to sit on to cushion the wooden bench. We ordered the 8 item mixed assortment, skirt steak, and a few other that i don't remember right now. All items were given to us in a timely manner along with the grill filled with hot charcoal (binchotan, i think). The server helping us was always friendly and helpful in making suggestions even though she didn't speak a lot of English. I really appreciated her helpfulness a lot, and she even periodically came by to help us flip the meat we were cooking! I think that's especially nice about this bbq place because some Japanese restaurants might just ignore foreigners due to their discomfort speaking a different language. They also have us some dishes for free! (Some shiitake mushroom and radish salad) When we paid and left, the owner rushed out to see us off! Seriously, they are super nice to foreigners here and the meat was delicious! For non-offal eaters, i recommend the skirt steak. I wouldn't hesitate to return to this restaurant!

Visited April 2019

We read about this place in the TimeOut Tokyo review of best meat restaurants. It was the only one on the list doing offal. We do believe that if you kill an animal you should eat it "nose to tail", as Fergus Henderson from London's St John Restaurant insists. So we went to Yoyogi in search of a foo...d adventure. And we got that and some more. The place is smallish, smokey with the open-table-top wood-coal grills, and smells of delicious food. We had two stools at the bar. We were the only non-locals. The patron was probably a bit surprised to see us, but there is an English menu that is full of things that we do love, like heart, tongue, cheeks, tripe, sweetbreads, and other things we had never thought of as food. It was an amazing experience, so good we went two nights running. The patron and the staff are not fluent in English, but couldn't be more friendly. When we were absolutely full with food and happiness, we asked for the bill. Two small plates of soy milk panna cotta arrived. Reduced some of us to tears, that panna cotta did. So did the bill, about £40 for two (four pints and a large jar of sake included). On both nights the patron came to the street with us when we left to wish us farewell. It was one of the memorable eating experiences of a lifetime. If you like offal, don't miss it. If you haven't tried it, do!

Visited March 2016