moretimeoffguy

Also interested in dinner restaurants in the Shinagawa area. Anything else new? Brew pubs, western food (if feeling home-sick), etc. The only rotary sushi chain restaurant I've eaten at was Genki sushi. She liked it--we ate at one in Honolulu. I'm not a sushi guy--I go for chicken (breast meat, not the other bits), rice, gyoza, miso soup, beef nagima, etc. Staying at the IC Strings part of the week. Possibly at the Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo Autograph Collection later in the week (have a second reservation there in case my wife and I don't like the IC Strings). Both hotels seem to be equidistant from Shinagawa Station, just one on the east side, one on the west IIRC.

jib71

15 minutes walk from your hotel:
https://www.tysons.jp/tyharbor/en/

evergrn

How about Tsubame Grill? Hamburg is a classic japanese dish. It seems most Americans have not heard of it, but I'm certain most Westerners would love it.

https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1314/A131403/13001545/

Sakura Tower is great btw. Don't let the Prince (= mediocre) name fool you. It's a very nice, peaceful hotel with a nice garden (shared with two other Prince hotels which are not as nice).

lobsterdog

There's a new craft-beer bar and retail shop called Antenna America inside the new food court at the Atre shopping mall connected to Shinagawa Station. It's inside a food court so it gets kind of noisy there, but it's a decent place to grab a beer if you're in the neighborhood and you can get cans and bottles to go.

mjm

What is called "Hamburg" in Japan is in fact Salisbury steak. Been making it for years and it has been around in the US for well over a hundred years. Meatloaf us a bigger version of the same concept. Depending in your family recipe it can have exactly the same ingredients in fact. Some families top a meatloaf with ketchup or tomato soup before putting it in the oven instead of the traditional brown gravy after it is cooked, but Salisbury steak is primarily with a brown gravy sometime containing mushrooms.

Hamburg which is an abbreviation of the word Hamburger because they love abbreviating words. In addition to describing the dish served without a bun and accompanied by veg or rice, it is also used to describe the product at hamburger places by those ordering although it may say the whole katakana a version on the shop menu. (e.g. when ordering you may hear: "ハンバーグ一つとフライドポテトのＳサイズ。”)

lobsterdog

I never really appreciated Hamburg steaks until a year or so ago, when I traveled around to numerous restaurants researching the best Hamburg steaks in town for a book project. I do like Tsubame Kitchen's version - it's like a fattier, juicier, more umami-rich meatloaf basically, and there are a few different options for gravy. (Vimon, Limelight and Will also do very nice versions.)

Hamburg steaks were quite popular in the US during the 19th century, and in Germany as far back as the early 18th century. The name apparently comes from the city of Hamburg, and the hamburger (sandwich) was an evolution of the original Hamburg steak.

The dish became very popular in Japan during the 1960s, and it's one of the staples of yoshoku cuisine along with fried-rice omelettes, cabbage rolls and hashed rice.

mjm

If you are near the Hills sometime at lunch, 37 Steakhouse does a quite decent one too. And I know an FTer who works nearby ;-)

lobsterdog

Ha, thanks for the tip!

evergrn

Interesting. I've had meatloaf in the US, but I never drew a connection to hamburg. I've never been a fan of US meatloaf, whereas I grew up eating Ishii hamburg and homemade ones at home and always liked those. Hamburgs as I know them have richer flavor yet does not feel heavy afterwards and have rather different texture than the so-called meatloaf in the US. I don't know if it's because they put more veggies and breadcrumbs in it or there's just more umami-rich ingredients. Plus it's the accompanying sauce that takes the hamburg to another level (typically demiglace sauce or sweet wafuu sauce). I too like Tsubame Grill.

mjm

Meatloaf is a family tradition and each family does it differently. Breadcrumbs, egg, etc are not used by all. Mixing pork and beef also not done by all. Many add oatmeal which makes it heavier again. My mom loved tomatpo soup, I cannot stand that. Brown sauce comes in all shapes and sizes too from the yuck to the yum. As I grew up with meatloaf in the US I saw the Japanese hamburg steak for what it was immediately. As it is really a US food item I always found the Japanese ones to be a bit like Japanese wine. Sort of playing at what is done far better elsewhere. But then I started trying some of the better places, places that are really passionate about it. And oh yum! I think I would even go so far as to say my favorite hamburgers, Top 5 list if you will would include 3 Japanese places. No longer just a US thing is for sure. People that try meatloaf in a diner in the US or Japanese hamburg steak here at most of the small shops and chains will likely get the wrong impression. It takes a skilled hand to make such a simple dish is my conclusion.

evergrn

That all makes sense. We are all used to the concept that we grew up with, whether it's meatloaf in the US or hamburg in Jpn. I'll be honest, I've only had meatloaf a handful of times because it hasn't appealed to me due to its size, shape, appearance, sauce and/or probably pre(mis)conceived ideas. Maybe I will try meatloaf again one of these days and then realize that it's similar to hamburg and enjoy it.

I will say that hamburg is likely far more prevalent in Jpn than meatloaf is in the US. In addition to multiple Japanese chains dedicated to hamburg (Tsubame Grill, Bikkuri Donkey, Bronco Billy), you will find hamburg on the menu of every single family restaurant chain and is one of the more common items in konbini bentos, ekibens and especially kids' set menus.

mjm

An interesting impression. I think times have changed in the US for the worse. By this I mean there are many more fast food outlets than mom and pop cafes/diners. As a kid the opposite was true. Japan is still unfortunately evolving in that direction. I will cherish the small one off shops as long as I can here. They are, for my money, a far and away better choice than any fast food item. Save CocoIchi perhaps Today I bet if you asked a typical 18 year old in the US how to make meatloaf they may well be stumped. Going to college it was one of the few things I could make though. Of course that was many moons ago. I think I would agree that what the Japanese spin on meatloaf (hamburg) is more widely available here than is a slice of meatloaf in the US. Meatloaf is more of a home item now and with all the variations on diets in the US may not even be meat anymore.

MattEvan

When I worked in Shinagawa this was my good to spot (yakiniku, kind of hidden in the alley next to Yoshinoya): https://www.yelp.com/biz/%E7%84%BC%E...B8%AF%E5%8C%BA

moretimeoffguy

Thanks everyone!

jtm1631

I will be in a similar situation but dinner will be on a Sunday night. I'm assuming some of the smaller izakaya will be closed on a Sunday.

How difficult will it be to find somewhere open on a sunday in this area?