Aoba Odakyū Shinjuku

Cuisine: ⁷⁄₁₀
Service: ⁶⁄₁₀
Décor: ⁶⁄₁₀
Value: ⁷⁄₁₀
Overall: ⁷⁄₁₀
This was between a three or a four stars, I ultimately chose four due to one simple question: Would I recommend this restaurant to others. YES!
Top floor of a department store on top of the Shinjuku subway station, right next to a viewing area overlooking the city below. We had an hour before leaving Tokyo for Mount Fuji, so we chose the first restaurant that looked good to us. We got somewhat lucky.
This dining establishment specializes in gyutan, which is grilled beef tongue. If you never had it before, then be daring and open up your horizon by trying one of the most delicious cuts of meat on a cow. For us Asians, texture is a crucial part of our dining experience, sometimes more so than flavor. The reason I believe is that we often mask some of the food’s shortcomings in taste with soy, vinegar, oyster sauce, etc as long as we love the texture. In this case, no need at all. Beef tongue grilled right is a bit crispy on the outside, tender, juicy and a but chewy on the inside, but full of robust beefy flavor. If you consider yourself an adventurous foodie, you owe it to yourself to give this one a try.
Most of the menu was setup in sets that came with a protein, rice, soup, and pickled vegetables. We ordered one set with grilled beef tongue/​kalbi combo and another with grilled pork. The kalbi and pork were both quite good, but if I had to do it again, I simply get more grilled beef tongue. It feels so good to have that tongue in my mouth. Thinking about it now makes my senses ache with desire.
Have I had better beef tongue before? Have I had better quality since? The answer to both questions are yes. But was this restaurant delicious enough (if you stick to their specialty) for me to recommend, it is also a definitive YES!