Sponsored by SQUARESPACE
This is what it's like behind the scenes
At a local Japanese Restaurant
♫ Intro Music Playing ♫
So today i'm in Oimachi Tokyo
And i'm doing something a little bit different
I'm taking you behind the scenes at a local Japanese restaurant
so it's going to be in a little bit different style
than the videos that I normally do
so let me know in the comments whether or not
you guys like this type of video If so then I'll do more
that said before I start
If you guys want to see what I'm doing on the daily
Then definitely check out my Instagram account
If you guys want to help support the channel definitely check out the Japan merch
and if you have any questions about japan or your japan travels
Then check out my Discord Community
Alright let me take you inside
So here we go with a new series "Japan behind the counter"
Where I take you behind the counter of local mom and pop style Japanese restaurant
And first on our list is 'Bulldog'
A traditional Japanese western influence style restaurant
that usually has customer lines almost longer than its history
just a three minute walk away from Oimachi station
This shop was opened post-war in 1949
In what was considered a black market area
but evolved over time
and now it's situated in this historic hidden backstreet alley known as
"Higashi Koji Shotengai"
Amongst other bars and restaurants with a similar history
so we're starting this video just as the store opens
This is the owner - Suzuki san
or as everyone refers to him 'Sensei'
Which means teacher in English
He's a second generation shop owner as it was passed down from his father
What time do you open today ?
Oh Thank You !!
He gave me an ice cold tea
That's so nice of him ☺
Rainy days are not so great in general for the restaurant business
Especially in Tokyo
since most people commute by train
Sensei.. How much does rain make a difference ?
Before the store opens, food vendors come
to deliver the shop's regular orders
There are about three to four vendors
who come to deliver various food and ingredients
in the morning
but some also come in the afternoon
Oh !! Here's some of the meat delivery
Two hours before the store opens
sensei starts to prepare the shop
usually there are other staff right at the open
but since its raining today the shop expects less customers
so it's only him to start off
♪
First thing in the kitchen he prepares the rice
How much rice are you gonna make today ?
Okay... I guess he decided
sensei how much rice do you make on a busy day ?
No. I have a Wife !!
Oh. He has some advice for me
Cool !!
I appreciate the lesson sensei
What's that ?
Can I ask you a question about the food ?
sensei definitely has a one-of-a-kind personality
which I'm sure helps attract many of his customers
to be honest I think I'll be hard-pressed
to find someone like him in future videos
Now he's making a special demi-glass sauce
and warming up curry for his workers
sensei so what's so special about your food ?
Okay !!
He says that he makes all the efforts
to make customers happy
in terms of taste and price
if he didn't he wouldn't still be in business
and what he does is nothing special
so he prefers not to discuss his food today
So what do you think about ?
Let's get back to the food
Apparently he's only using six heads of cabbage today
But normally he uses 20
♪ Music Playing ♪
Cool !!
Two other chefs are here now
just before 10 a.m to help with the food prep
Both seem to have worked here for a long time
♪ Music Playing ♪
He's mixing eggs and flour
What are you making now ?
Bulldog's most popular menu item is the Menchi Katsu
Which is a Japanese breaded deep-fried ground meat patty
But they also serve many other fried items
So they need to prepare a lot of batter before the day starts
and now... sensei is making the shop's white sauce
Okay !! Here comes another life lesson
Ah. It's Music ?
He used to be a guitarist in a progressive rock band
when he was young which apparently greatly influences
how he runs his business and
what's led to his success over the years
Sensei, you've got lot of paintings
But, why do you have them here ?
Before he was running the shop
when he was in a rock band
he was in a long distance relationship
he was sending his girlfriend his own paintings as gifts
and after sending many paintings
she called him one day and told him that she had gotten married
The painting that is up on the wall
were the ones he never got to send
While sensei continues to share his life philosophy
another chef prepares the meat used for the Menchi Katsu
Oh wild !!
They use Nakaya Panko
The old wooden box was for the flour and panko
The system looks so efficient
That miso is for the miso soup served during lunch
Seems like they're mixing different kinds of miso
That's a lot of chicken
What's it for ?
I see.. He is stir frying the chicken for the Omurice dish
Now, he mixes ketchup in the rice
common for an Omurice dish
In fact, it's their second most popular menu item
so they need to prepare quite a lot
♪ Music Playing ♪
Oh !! The servers are here !!
♪ Music Playing ♪
What's that ?
Finally. It's time to fry the Menchi Katsu
15 minutes before the restaurant opens
The chef starts frying their famous Menchi Katsu
anticipating that most customers will order that
On an average day they sell about 50 dishes
The chef press the meat right before frying
and flattens it on the bed of panko with his hands
It's so BIG !!!
♪ Deep Frying Sound ♪
How much meat do you use ?
Alright !!
And this one ?
So that means that these are the regular lunch sized Menchi at 130 grams
and these giant ones are for the single dish orders at 300 grams
more than double the size of their lunch time sale
♪ Deep frying sound ♪
But look at that size
It's the size of my iPad
I can see why their giant Katsu is their signature dish
How many pieces do you fry before opening ?
The rain has let up a bit
So I want to quickly step outside real quick
and give a shout out to our sponsor for this video SQUARESPACE
If you don't already know
squarespace is the number one way to build your online presence
In fact I use it for my site Tokyo Zebra
Here are just some of the reasons why I love using squarespace so much
Whether you're starting your passion project or building a business
squarespace has all the tools to get it done
While also looking ultra sleek and professional at the same time
They support numerous portfolios and gallery designs
which you can customize and even password protect so the right people see your work
Use its fully integrated blogging tools and commenting features
such as threaded comments, replies and likes to help engage your community
and my favorite..
built-in analytics to see how your visits unique visitors
and page views trend over time
so go to squarespace.com today for your free trial
and when you're ready to launch go to squarespace.com/paolofromtokyo
and get 10% off on your first domain or website
All right let's go back inside
♪ Music Plays ♪
Finally the restaurant is open for lunch time !!
and just as the store opens a customer enters despite the weather
Hi !! Do you come here often ?
What's your favorite ?
Oh why ?
Just before the lunchtime rush, another life lesson
Damn !! He never told me the rest
I guess I'll never know
Before noon the seats are almost filled even though it's raining today
I can see now how busy the kitchen can get on a nice day
Time to get busy
That's the Chicken Katsu
and now a moment of silence for this fried goodness
Okay. Now, I got to ask
What's that ?
In addition to serving customers in the shop
They also make delivery orders
Using services like UberEats which is quite popular in Japan these days
It's just after the lunchtime rush so let's ask sensei some questions
When was the store opened ?
So how old were you when you became the owner ?
Did you think you would be a chef when you were a kid ?
So what's the hardest part about being an owner ?
Was it hard to manage the restaurant during COVID ?
What's your favorite food ?
♪ Jazz Music Playing ♪
What's that ?
around 2 p.m between lunch and dinner hour
staff have a lunch break and eat Makanai food
which is a special staff meal that's usually not on the menu
and today sensei is cooking for everyone
it looks like a giant Menchi Katsu and fried shrimp with tartar sauce dish
Oh and with a fried egg on top
It's probably fair to say
that many restaurants in japan close between lunch and dinner
But Bulldog is open straight through
so while staff eats lunch, sensei covers the shift
After lunch the Chef's prepare for the dinner time
which has a slightly different menu
In Japanese it's called Shikomi
What's that ?
What kind of meat is that ?
Oh he's adding flour into the pot of boiling butter
What's that ?
So..there you go
This is japan behind the counter
at a local Japanese restaurant in Tokyo called Bulldog
If you want to visit the restaurant
I'll be sure to leave a link in the description
But be warned
Come early as chances are there's going to be a line of locals outside
Especially on a sunny day
Now I'm gonna close it out here
So if you guys like this video help me out and hit that like button
also since this is a new video
let me know what you thought in the comments
If you guys want to see more videos about Japan or anything related to Japan
Hit that subscribe button and the bell button
and I'll catch you guys in the next one