Wednesday, November 24, 2010

steak house hankuro

Yesterday, was a National Holiday, so we went to visit the grave of Satoshi's grandma.

The wind was blowing from the North and it was really icy.

MIL will be moved to a bigger hospital today and we wanted to ask grandma to watch over her.

Plus, I had never been to her grave and wanted to know where it was.

From the graveyard, we walked to visit MIL, and saw this nice red MINI along the way.

You may notice a wheel up in the right corner of the photo. This is a type of parking elevator they have for cars especially since people don't have a lot of space to park their cars side by side or spaces for garages.

It was close to lunchtime, so before visiting MIL, we decided to have lunch and popped into Steak House Hankuro.

I'm not sure how long this place has been in business but I would guess at least 20 years.

Steak is the specialty of this shop but also serves old school "western" style fare and also has 50's music playing.

Seating is limited to the counter and we were lucky to get there just as the owner was opening.

I was amazed at how organized the owner/chef was and how he could work in such a tiny space.

I ordered the Daily "B" lunch...the mains change daily and today was chicken rice with pork katsu (cutlet)...800 yen (about US$8)

Chicken rice is usually found in a dish called "omurice", chicken rice covered with a fluffy omlette. I have a picture of omurice here.

Another version you may find uses demi-glace sauce instead of ketchup. This version can sometimes be rather rich, a little heavy, but just as delicious.

This chicken rice was nicely flavored, a little ketchup, cheese, lots of chicken. I'm glad it wasn't overly ketchupy as some western-style restaurant's chicken rice sometimes are.

The katsu was thin and crisp and I think the sauce was homemade, it had a nice tang to it.

This also came with a hot bowl of akadashi miso soup (red soy bean paste).

Satoshi had their limited special: hamburger with fried shrimp....1000 yen (about US$10)

They only serve 5 of these plates a day, so Satoshi was happy he was able to try this.

Satoshi liked everything on his plate.

The hamburger had a different sauce (I think homemade demi-glace) from the katsu and was a little on the salty side.

His meal also came with some tsukemono (pickles), white rice & akadashi miso soup.

We were glad we got to try this place and definitely will be back when we are in this area.

We hope with MIL moving to a bigger hospital, her treatment will be quick and that she won't have to spend the rest of the year in the hospital.

We ended the day by seeing another MINI, a good sign for sure.

Steak House Hankuro
46 Higashi Oono-cho
Kita-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.451.0952

9 comments:

Jude said...

Glad to hear the MIL is making good progress. This place looks so great - I actually love tiny places where you can't believe the limited kitchen could churn out total yumminess - it's like an art! I love the mini shots too :)

KirkK said...

Hey Kat - So is your MIL improving? BTW, it seems that there are more Mini's per person in Japan then anywhere else I know of.

K and S said...

yeah I think she is getting better but slowly, Jude & Kirk! Thanks! definitely can see a lot of older MINIs here.

Take care you two.
Kat

Rowena said...

I'm with you on hoping for a speedy recovery for mil now that she's moved. In any case, the next time you visit her, you'll have someplace to stop in for a bite. When I read steakhouse I thought you were going to mention wagyū beef or something like that.

K and S said...

not sure what types of steak he had on his menu Rowena, but I wouldn't mind trying some when we go back :)

Take care.
Kat

K said...

Yum, both dishes look delicious! There's that extra fun that comes with knowing places only serve X amount of dishes per day, haha!

K and S said...

yup K, the limited edition thingy is very popular :)

Take care.
Kat

Deb in Hawaii said...

Lunch looks good and I am happy your MIL is getting better--hopefully the move will improve her progress too.

K and S said...

me too Debinhawaii :)

Take care.
Kat