I visited Arakawa Yakuouji Temple and then headed towards Shioya Station, enjoying the bustling streets along the way. I stumbled upon a popular shop and decided to try their food. I ordered their famous Menchi Katsu (198 yen + tax) and Chicken Cheese Basil Roll (130 yen + tax). The shop was a bit crowded, but the staff efficiently prepared my order. Surprisingly, the payment was done at a self-checkout counter, which indicated the shop's popularity. I paid 354 yen and found a quiet spot to enjoy my food. The Chicken Cheese Basil Roll was filled with cheese wrapped in basil and chicken, while the Menchi Katsu was substantial with a generous amount of meat and onions. The crispy coating added a nice texture to both dishes. Overall, the experience was satisfying, and I would recommend this shop to anyone looking for delicious fried food in the area.

Nishijima Meat Plaza, a famous butcher shop at Arai Yakushi, is known for buying whole animals, so you can get high-quality meat at a low price. The shop is always bustling with customers, whether it's a weekday or weekend. Recommended items include their meat sold by weight, as well as their fried foods like fried chicken and croquettes, which are delicious. On this particular day, there was a long line for their roast beef. While the slightly fatty taste may be a bit much for some in their 40s, the high-quality roast beef with its sweet fat was delightful. I enjoyed it very much.

Crunchy and freshly fried croquette measuring 10.5×8 cm! The simple and delicious sweetness of potatoes and the richness of lard make it irresistible. And all this at a bargain price of 90 yen. The store offers a wide variety of meat, side dishes, and fried foods. It's bustling inside, with a volume that you wouldn't expect from the outside. It's great! Starting from Arai Yakushi-mae Station towards Nakano Station, this is a great place to start your walk, and also a good spot for a quick nutritional boost.

12th January 19.1.12 Today, I had my final medical check-up in the morning. My recovery is going well, and I will now be receiving treatment at the dentist. First, I took a break and celebrated by having a hamburger at Bambi in Yotsuya. Then, I took the Chuo Line to Nakano Station. Feeling good, I decided to walk to see if I could find a nice shop near Arai Yakushi. I stumbled upon a shop on the shopping street south of Arai Yakushi Station that caught my attention with the words "Arai Yakushi specialty nikuman" displayed outside. They had a steamer with original "Iruma Pork" nikuman inside. I had to buy it! I went inside and placed my order, but was told it would take another 10 minutes to steam. So, I decided to wait and looked around the shop. Today, they had a sale on Matsusaka beef, and there were many delicious cuts of beef on display. After 10 minutes, I resisted the Matsusaka beef and stuck to my plan of buying the nikuman for 130 yen each and also bought two croquettes from the butcher for 100 yen each. When I got home, I reheated them and enjoyed them. The nikuman with Iruma Pork was sweet and delicious, despite being small in size. It was worth it for the taste. Rating: ★3.5. The croquettes from the butcher had minced meat in them, but they were mainly potato-based and had a sweet flavor that suited my taste perfectly. It was a good buy! Rating: ★3.5. Next time, I would like to try buying not only side dishes but also meat like Matsusaka beef. Thank you for the meal.

Cheap. In the evening, they offer discounted prices for bulk orders. Delicious cream croquettes, steamed rice dumplings, spicy fried meat, and savory sauces.

"Menchi Katsu =========== "

I walked from Nakano to Arai Yakushi-mae Station (Seibu Shinjuku Line) and was planning to buy yakitori somewhere around Arai Yakushi-mae Station. As I was walking towards the station, I came across Nishijima Livestock = Meat Plaza Nishijima in front of the Kanto Bus stop "Arai Yakushi-guchi - Nishijima Chikusan-mae." It is a long-established meat shop in the shopping street of Arai Yakushi-mae, established in 1934. Since the bus stop is named "Nishijima Chikusan-mae," it seems like everyone in the local area must know about it. There are already 10 reviews on Tabelog. I occasionally visit Arai Yakushi-mae, so this time I went inside for the first time. Unfortunately, they didn't have yakitori, but they had freshly fried croquettes for 100 yen each. I couldn't resist and bought one to take home. It was still warm when I got back, so I ate it before my family could, and it was delicious. The surface was a bit soft, but it was a large and very tasty croquette. I love croquettes! (2018/08/19) --------------------------------------------- *2018/8/22 Update: It was featured on the TV Asahi program "Jun Sanpo" on August 22, 2018. It was also previously featured on "Jun Sanpo" in February 2017.

A hardworking butcher shop. The minced cutlets are delicious! Last summer, I heard a rumor when buying a bunch of beef for a barbecue party at home, so I visited the shop for the first time. The shop's selling point is that they butcher everything in-house by buying a whole cow, and it was indeed delicious. In addition to that, they have a variety of side dishes like croquettes and spring rolls displayed in the store, which added to the good reputation. On this day, I visited the shop in the morning after a short bike ride, and bought two large minced cutlets made from domestic beef, which were juicy and delicious, along with croquettes, two pieces of fried chicken, and a meat bun. When I got home, my wife, who is picky about food, refused to eat any and made it all her lunch, saying I had eaten too much. I wanted to blame her, but I held back and finished the satisfying lunch.

I received some meat and brown rice, so I decided to have yakiniku for dinner. I don't usually buy such good meat myself to eat at home. I tried grilling it with just salt and pepper, dipping it in soy sauce with wasabi, marinating it a little in sauce before grilling, and eating it with doubanjiang. I also tried grilling it in sauce and eating it with beaten eggs. I enjoyed it in various ways since I received a lot of meat. The meat was delicious even with just salt and pepper, very tender and melts in your mouth. The most delicious way was marinating it in a sweet sauce, lightly grilling it (rare), and eating it with beaten eggs. Thank you for the meal. m(__)m

- First Visit - This is a local butcher shop located in front of Arai Yakushi. The showcase is filled with various types of meat. I visited this shop for the first time because I saw it featured on TV, where they were praised for sourcing high-quality meats, including top-grade Matsusaka beef. There were so many different brands of meat to choose from, it was overwhelming. The friendly staff approached me as a first-time visitor and when I asked for a recommended brand, they replied, "If it's domestically produced beef, they're all pretty similar." Hmm, maybe I didn't ask the right way? Oh, they mean that all the meats are delicious no matter which one you choose! I then tried asking about the characteristics of specific brands, but I was told again, "If it's domestically produced beef, they're all pretty much the same." (shocking) Is that really okay for a butcher shop to say...? (sweat) I couldn't bring myself to buy expensive meat with that kind of response, so I ended up just buying croquettes and minced cutlets. The croquette had a sweet seasoning, and the minced cutlet tasted ordinary. The staff were friendly and the atmosphere was nice, making the shop seem approachable, but with those responses... (although I understand they didn't mean any harm). If all the meats are said to be similar, then the famous certification documents displayed on the wall must be crying... It feels like a waste... However, it seems that the shop is loved by the locals, as there were quite a few customers visiting. Maybe for regular customers, it's not such a big deal. They apparently offer discounts on days with the number 8, so keep that in mind when you go shopping.

I pass by the butcher shop every day, but I've never been inside. I always see them carrying trays of meat from a nearby factory (or slaughterhouse?) to the shop, which takes about 20-30 seconds. Even in light rain, they don't cover the trays with plastic wrap, but I'll just ignore that. Today, I had soba for lunch so I wasn't very hungry, but I decided to try their side dishes. I was debating between the menchi and croquette, but the croquette tray was empty. When I asked, they said they had just finished frying a new batch, so I went for their famous croquette without hesitation. It was piping hot. It only takes me 2-3 minutes to walk home from here, but I couldn't resist trying the freshly fried croquette as I walked. The potato was fluffy and delicious even without any sauce. Thank you for the meal.

I visited this place located at the corner of Arai Yakushi-guchi intersection, heading south from Arai Yakushi Station. The inside of the shop is quite spacious, and it seems that they sell both fresh meat and prepared foods. It was lunchtime, so the prepared foods were selling well. Near the entrance, there is a fried food section, where I tried the "pumpkin croquette." The coating was crispy with a sharp edge. There were also small pieces of pumpkin skin mixed in. The sweetness of the pumpkin was prominent and it was delicious.

[Visit on August 28, 2016] Location: About a 3-minute walk from Arai Yakushi-mae Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line. When you walk towards the center from the station, you will find this shop. Visited around 4 pm on a Sunday. I had passed by the front of the shop before, but this was my first visit. It seemed like they were having a sale that day, as there were more customers than I had seen from the outside. They had various types of meat for sale, some already processed or fried, so I focused on those. I purchased some croquettes, minced cutlets, fried chicken, and skewered fried items. The fried chicken was priced at 95 yen for 2 pieces, sold by weight. The skewered item was 150 yen. I had them that night without reheating, and the fried chicken was juicy and delicious even when cold, which I personally enjoyed. The skewered item had onions and minced meat inside, but it was mostly onions and didn't quite suit my taste. Nevertheless, the fried chicken had the taste you'd expect from a meat shop. It was a satisfying meal.

Seibu Shinjuku Line, when I was walking from Arai Yakushi-mae Station towards Ume Shouin (Arai Yakushi Temple) ... I saw a steamer for meat buns set up at the butcher's shop with the words "Human Pork" written on it. What?! Are they using human meat and pork minced meat as the filling for the meat buns? Or is "Human Pork" a type of pork? But upon closer inspection... it was actually "Iruma Pork". (Oh, I see...) Since I was already there, I decided to buy some (it would make for a good story...) ■ Meat Plaza Nishijima Looking at the reviews for this shop, I found that two people had written reviews mentioning that this shop is the family business of Misako Nishijima, who sang the hit song "Ikegami Line". In Nakano, there are various unwritten rules (passing the baton, repeating, nominating, first come first served, etc.), so if two people mention the same thing, I have no choice but to continue... (In that case...) Everyone! This shop is the family business of Misako Nishijima, who sang "Ikegami Line". What?! You don't know "Ikegami Line"?! Back to the topic. How does the meat bun with Iruma Pork taste? ◆ Yakushi specialty Nikuman ¥130 The soft and fluffy dough is filled with ingredients such as pork, bamboo shoots, shrimp, and shiitake mushrooms. Overall, it has a sweet taste which I like. Unfortunately, I couldn't really tell the taste of the "Iruma Pork" that was presumably raised healthily in Iruma City. I've had croquettes made with Matsusaka beef before... (Oh, delicious! This is truly a croquette made with Matsusaka beef♪) But this meat bun didn't have the same impact, it just seemed like an expensive croquette. It's a shame to mix a branded meat into minced meat. I don't really want to think about it, but I wonder what human meat tastes like? For those who are curious... you can try human meat at "this shop" in Ikebukuro.

Um, it's a butcher shop. Not a yakiniku or steakhouse with the name "meat shop", but a serious butcher shop that sells pork cubes, etc. Today, I decided to have some fried food from this shop as a snack with a canned beer. First, there was a special menu for Children's Day called "Children's Menchi Katsu" (tax included 100 yen). I remember that the usual menchi was a bit more expensive, so maybe they made it cheaper so even kids' pocket money could buy it. I feel a bit guilty as a middle-aged man over 40 taking advantage of this service. When I tried it, it seemed to have a lot of pork fat, resulting in a fluffy and juicy finish. As someone with a delicate stomach at this age, the fat is a bit strong for me, so I hope for the emergence of an "uncle menchi katsu" with lean meat and onions as the main ingredients in the future. Hmm, since the children's menchi katsu is a menu for Children's Day, I think the uncle menchi katsu should be for Labor Thanksgiving Day. Menchi katsu on Respect for the Aged Day is a bit forced, so how about a "longevity tsukune" for that day? Next is the croquette (tax included 100 yen). It retains the warm texture of the potatoes, with a gentle sweetness. To use it as a beer snack, I recommend adding medium-thick sauce. If you really must, Worcestershire sauce is also fine, but be careful not to overdo it as it may mask the taste of the potatoes. I actually wanted to eat fried horse mackerel (tax included 160 yen) this time, but out of respect for the butcher shop's reputation, I focused on reviewing the menchi katsu and croquette. If I really wanted to prioritize the butcher shop's pride, I might have bought the Omi beef sirloin displayed as 1380 yen for 100g and reviewed it, but that would turn it into a review of the ingredient rather than the dish, so I refrained. I just declined because I can't review raw meat that hasn't been cooked, not because I was hesitant financially. I'll make a note of that here.

Near Shin-Arai Yakushimae Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line, there is a long-established butcher shop called "Nishijima Livestock." The general sales department of this shop is located around the midpoint between Yakushi Station and Yakushi Temple. This shop holds a special significance for me as the hometown of the legendary singer Nishijima Mitsuko, who sang the famous song "Ikegami Line." In my opinion, this fact is as impressive as Peggy Hayama being from Momonji Elementary School. Now, let's get to the main topic - their 100 yen croquette. When you get one freshly fried, it's so delicious and fluffy, it's amazing. On the 8th of the month, it might even be 80 yen? Well, regardless, whether it's for your mother, an older lady, or yourself, it's worth treating each other with these croquettes once in a while. Personally, I think they go perfectly with beer more than rice. This review is from last week, but as I write this now... I have a sudden craving for "Meat Plaza Nishijima" in Nakano-ku Arai 5-16-2.