Harijyu

I’m sure if the Japanese re-wrote George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Napoleon and Squealer would have added to their list of commandments (under “Four legs good, two legs bad”):

"No animal shall drink alcohol unless it's beer." or
“The more equal animals shall receive beer and massages on a daily basis”



Harijyu may be located at the mouth of Dotonburi, Namba but it was easy to miss. It specializes in sukiyaki and the presence of a in-house butcher was sign of good things to come. After we handed our shoes to a show steward (no worries about losing your Manolo Blahniks here, Carrie!), we were led upstairs into a private tatami room. The sukiyaki menu was simple as ABC, you could choose from 3 sets menus 6300, 8400 or 10500 Yen (per person).



That was probably the only thinking one had to do that evening as once the order was placed, a stewardess would progress with the setup and cooking. Without a need to exert any effort other than to receive, all I needed was some soothing music to feel like the cow I was about to enjoy.



Our kaiseki dinner kicked off with amuse bouche of Unidentified Tasty Objects. I relaxed, managed some small talk but kept my gaze fixated on our stewardess- could be because I had never seen anyone cook tofu and fatty beef in such a graceful manner. By swishing the beef slices gingerly in rich mirin broth for a few seconds, the fat-steaked patchy red beef turned ash grey, producing a denture-friendly texture that straddled between solid and liquid state.



What we had was Matsusaka beef. Arh yes, beer diet and massages, the cows lead a life that some humans visit Thailand especially for.





If we had to nudged the cow bell for every nod, shrug and sigh of satisfaction, there would definitely be a jamboree of jingles.