My First All You Can Eat

Posted on May 1, 2007 by Adam R.

After spending a lazy week in Tokyo staying in laid back Asakusa-bashi, my wife tells me we are going to visit her Aunty and Uncle in Shiga prefecture.

After a decent train ride we meet them and they recommend we stop for lunch on the way back to their home, I say ok. They ask me if I have had tabehoudai before and I said no, tabehoudai is all you can eat so I am looking forward to loading up on some nice food. On arrival at this restaurant called Stamina Taro, I have a preconceived idea of what will be on offer to eat. Inside the door we are at the reception counter and before I know what is going on my Uncle in-law has payed for all four of us.

We are shown to a table and take a seat, he explains we are only allowed to stay for one hour so are on the clock so to speak. This place is set up as a yakiniku design restaurant where you cook your food at your own table, and select your meat and vegetables from the back wall of the restaurant. He tells me to go for it and as I stand up and walk towards the back of the place, I see heaven. Wall to wall meat on what looks like big metal pizza trays, sauce in ceramic pots that are approximately 10 litres capacity. Along with this there is everything you could want from sushi, rice, miso soupA traditional Japanese soup made by disolving fermented soybean paste (miso) in soup stock. There are many optional ingredients such as seaweed, tofu, onions, mushrooms, and potatoes. , salad, noodles, ramen, fried foods, desserts and fruit. Yama beer is one-hundred and ten yen a glass and soft drink is included in the price.

The selection of meat is daunting including seafood and reminds me of a butcher more than a restaurant. I load my plate with beef, pork, lamb and chicken and a huge slurp of yakiniku sauce. Back to the table and the flavour is my new addiction, this is some of the best BBQ I have ever tasted. After a much anticipated visit to the fried food section I have a mountain of gyoza, torinokaraage, tonkatsu and harumaki on my plate. Another beer and another plate of meat and vegetables, dessert is now a far fetched dream as there is no room left for another morsel.

Onaka Ippai is most suitable term that comes to mind, that means I am full. This a is major understatement and as we drive off I ask what was the price just for the food, 1600 yen for all you can eat I am told as a large smile comes across my face and my eyes widen. In the great words of Arnie " I'll be back".

Stamina Taro is chain store and locations can be found on their website: http://edo-ichi.jp/