Even if you’re into weird foods and like trying new and exciting things, you’ll still probably find the menu at this Japanese restaurant too hardcore. With dishes like cooked crocodile feet, grilled piranha and battered, deep-fried whole salamander, this place makes frog legs seem like baby food.
Located in Yokohama’s Noge district, Chinju-ya (rare meat monger) Restaurant is certainly not for the faint-hearted. In the six years he has been running the place, chef Fukuoka has taken pride in serving customers the rarest and most unusual meats from across the world. using his international connections, he can apparently get his hands on anything from axolotls and isopods to black scorpions and even camel meat. Their twitter feed ‘@Noge_chinjuya’ is frequently updated with their latest and greatest imports.
Their Christmas special, for instance, was ‘reindeer steak’, and before that they had ‘minced meat of badger’ served in a ‘dry curry’. Other dishes offered in the past include whole cockroach platter, soft boiled boar foot, whole piranhas, and bear meat stewed with chicken eggs. The menu varies per season and per availability of the meat, so if , for example, you get a craving for fried crocodile meat, you should call Chinju-ya to see if they have it before buying a plane ticket to Yokohama.
And if you thought dessert provides some respite from all the weirdness and grossness, you were mistaken. The apptly named ‘contaminated pudding’ – an otherwise tasty-looking treat infested with worms – is just one of the bizarre desserts you can try.
Photo: @Noge_chinjuya
The drinks menu is more of the same, with the star here being the snake sake served from a big bottle with an actual venomous snake immersed in the popular Japanese spirit.
Photo: Japanistas
As horrible as a place like Chinju-ya may seem to the squeamish, the unique restaurant is a actually very popular with locals and tourists alike, despite the spicy prices of the dishes. A roasted frog, for example, will set you back about $90, while a deep-fried salamander costs $190. Patrons seem to think the experience of feasting on these rare meats is more than worth it, though.
Photo: Hatenablog
Sources: Japanistas, The Mirror, RocketNews24