Review: Butagumi

18 January 2015

I had a bit of a hangover on Sunday morning after that amazing dinner at Sanda [さんだ], and afterwards a cocktail tasting menu at Gen Yamamoto (to be reviewed later as part of a “drinking in Tokyo” piece). But I was awake relatively early, though I am surprised jetlag is not bothering me much this trip. Maybe flying west to start the trip is the secret…

I headed out relatively early and back to dreaded Roppongi. I hiked away from the annoying crowd in the rather warm morning and headed to the posh (and metro-less) district of Nishi-azabu. A long walk later I found where I wanted to go for lunch, Butagumi [豚組].

As I have been visiting the temples of beef the last few days, it was time to entice the porcine part of my appetite and go to the temple of pork in Tokyo. This tonkatsu place is a shrine to pork — nothing less. There’s a rotating selection of 40+ different porks; many are local unique cross-breeds with unique raising techniques and feeds, although many are enticed by the mangalica from Hungary or the pata negra from Spain.

I was seated in the upstairs section of this old traditional house, and these were my dining companions.

Yes, you see this *is* a temple for pork. I ordered something that I would never be able to find elsewhere in the world, the so-called “Golden Pig King” [金豚王] from Shizuoka Prefecture. It was one of the ones labelled (on the English menu) as “super rich and juicy” so I had to go with it.

I chilled and enjoyed a beer and a marinated cherry tomato snack before the item in question arrived. I had ordered the deluxe portion that was even juicier…

This was huge. A bowl of miso soup with baby clams, bowl of rice, and a large bowl of shredded organic cabbage also arrived, as did a selection of condiments. I skipped the mustard and a few others and took the menu advice of using the Himalayan pink salt.

Look how rich this is. Wow… The pork was melt-in-your-mouth good, spectacular flavour! Wow. I felt tears again…

The meat was cooked perfectly, and the shredded cabbage and rice complemented the very rich meat. Although a large portion, it was a perfectly sized portion as I consumed just about the bowl of rice with it. The crust is like nothing you’ve had, and it’s not drizzly or ruined by oil because of the mesh it is sitting on.

There is no way I can ever eat tonkatsu anywhere again. No way.

I left and smiled that I managed to get here early as they were turning away other walk-ins at the time as it was full and booked up. I was very lucky. Wow. Now to walk it off in a long hike in nearby Aoyama Cemetery…

BTW they opened a more scaled-down, simple version closer to Roppongi, but come here if you want the real experience!

If you love pork, you will love this place. It is a place of pilgrimage for pork lovers. I hear David Chang is beyond addicted to this place, and I guess there is something I have in common with him after all. Wow.

My eyes are wet again writing this…

Butagumi [豚組]
2-24-9 Nishi-azabu, Minato-ku
Tokyo, Japan