Must-Try Meat Dishes in Tokyo’s Izakaya & Bar (w/Photos)
Izakaya is a type of tavern where you can enjoy Japanese drinks and meals. Generally most Izakaya serve meat dishes, seafood and home-style dishes that go great with alcohol. It has being gaining popularity among foreign tourists as a place to experience a piece of culture of Japanese food and drinks. This article introduces some meat dishes you can have at Izakaya.
For other dishes, check >> Must-Try Dishes in Tokyo’s Izakaya & Bars.
Recommended Meat Dishes in Izakaya
Izakaya offers various kinds of meat dishes. There are different types of meat dishes as well as cooking methods including “karaage”, deep fried chicken, “yakitori”, chicken skewers cooked on charcoal grill, high quality “steak” and “Basashi”, raw horse meat. Some Izakaya offer local meat dishes, so you can experience different local meat culture. Each dish has an alcoholic drink that pairs nicely, enabling you to have a satisfying food experience.
Recommendation #1: About Karaage
Firstly, we recommend you to try “karaage”. Karaage uses chicken thigh meat or breast meat. It is made by marinating bite-sized pieces of chicken in soy based sauce, then applying coating, thereafter deep frying them. karaage is a staple dish in Izakaya and home. It is served in most of the Izakaya, but you can enjoy different seasoning and flavor they offer. It goes delicious with beer and highball that Japanese people love.
Recommendation #2: About Yakitori
Other typical meat dish you cannot miss in Izakaya is “yakitori”. Chicken meat is commonly used in yaktori, but you can also eat various parts of meat such as pork and beef. The bite-sized pieces of meat are skewered and roasted over a charcoal grill. You can choose between many different types of seasoning used in yakitori such as soy-based sauce or salt and pepper and many others. Yakitori is one of the most popular dishes and there are many specialty yakitori Izakaya and restaurants. We recommend you trying once!
Recommendation #3: Steak VS. Niku sashi
Next, we will introduce the “steak” and “niku sashi”. You may wonder why eating steak in Japan, but Japanese meat is recognized for its high quality, so you can eat a really good steak. Niku sahi is sashimi made with meat. The meat used is very fresh and has different umami flavor from cooked meat. Both of them are not typical Izakaya food, but are certainly attractive dishes. Which one would you choose?
Recommended Bar Hopping Tour in Shinjuku!
Why not join the Tokyo bar hopping Nightlife Tour that offers a visit to different Izakaya in Shinjuku area? Even if you are not familiar with Japanese Izakaya, a professional guide will take you to different local bars and Izakaya. Also, they accept your requests and find the Izakaya recommended to you.
