Yokosuka Food Corner - Blue Street and Beyond: Tiger - Love and Beef

How can you not like a restaurant called Tiger - Love and Beef? Finding it may be a bit more difficult though. Although it is located on a heavily traveled alley near Yokouska-Chuo station, the sign is buried in a maze of other signs on a small alley full of activity.

Once you spot the sign, you'll have to take the small elevator too up to the 4th floor. And, except for the "Love and Beef" (which may have an enticing or repelling affect on you) there is no English. But Tiger provides a quality meal and is worth it if you can overcome these barriers to entry.

Tiger - Love and Beef. Since 2001

So this is where a little bit of kanji comes in useful, as 炭火焼 means charcoal grilled. At least you know your heading for a restaurant and not a "less reputable" place.

One type of bibimbap

Grilled beef and pork set lunch

Freshly ground wasabi included. The meat was all quality.

Standard bibimbap

Fresh salad with small potatoes

Interior

Tiger has a modern and clean appearance. As you can see, they have some hi-chairs so the kids are welcome. Overall it is a nice hideaway place for yakiniku.

manager and chef

better view of the set meal

I asked if they had some furikake for my rice and they did not. But five minutes later the chef showed up with some outstanding homemade furikake which beat the store bought stuff hands down! A very kind and thoughtful gesture.

The grill

The grill is in a pit surrounded by sand. Certainly a unique setup as far as yakiniku restaurants are concerned.

Kanji Sidebar:
炭火焼 - sumi hi yaki

This is a fairly easy and neat kanji sequence.
炭 - means charcoal and is really easy to remember. 火 means fire and appears in all three kanji. You can also see 山 which is mountain and 厂 which is the cliff radical. All of these are fairly intuitive just by the way they look. The fire looks like, well, a fire. Or you could think of it as a person running away from a fire with their arms up on the air waving. The mountain looks like a mountain and the cliff looks like a cliff. The way I remember charcoal is by an image of charcoal under a lot of pressure (say under the weight of a mountain) can make a diamond. Or without the weight you can simply burn it to make fire.

I won't get into yaki, but it should be well known and recognized. You'll see it at every yakiniku place. See the Key Food Kanji page.


Some counter seating - the astute observer will see the Asahi Super Dry Extra Cold (below zero) dispenser.


meat display case

All of the meat on display had excellent marbling. Some of the Japanese signs say Black Wagyu beef, sirloin, kalbi, and tenderloin. We asked the manager if the beef was one of Japan's special beef products like Kobe or Matsusaka - he said that it was not, and explained that Japan has many regions that produce very good beef and there is no need to buy these very expensive brand names. This way they can keep their prices down.

They have hinai-jidori chicken which is one of a few very coveted brands of chicken in Japan. Word is they are NOT fed beer, but a vegetarian and fruit diet. (so do some chickens get fed meat? it begs the question). Their diet includes clover, apples, and even tomatoes. Packaged and delivered on the same day, this is a chicken that is often served up rare, sashimi style, as you may have heard about in Japan. This brand of chicken is raised in the Akita prefecture area. It is free range of course.

Tiger yakiniku

They are closed on Mondays. Lunch is from 1130-1430. Dinner is from 1700-2400. They can be found on the blog map, and are located on a small alley near Yokosuka Chuo station.

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