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Matsumoto no Rairaiken

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

tontekiYokkaichipork steakgarlicsince 1977

Photo: z tanuki / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) · original

Matsumoto no Rairaiken sits in a part of Mie's food scene that doesn't need a translation to be understood.

Yokkaichi tonteki is a thick slab of pork, scored into a shape locals call a glove, seared hard and finished in a black sauce of soy, sugar and a great deal of garlic, served with whole fried garlic cloves and a heap of shredded cabbage. It is not a refined dish and it is not trying to be.

The style is traditionally traced to a shop called Rairaiken in Suzuka, and Matsumoto no Rairaiken in Yokkaichi was opened by a cook who trained there for about ten years. It is three minutes from Ise-Matsumoto Station, opens for lunch and dinner with a long break between, and closes on Mondays, Tuesdays and public holidays — a combination that catches out a lot of visitors.

Plan your visit

Hours

11:00 AM – 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Closed: Closed Mondays, Tuesdays and public holidays

Time to allow

45–60 minutes

What it costs

¥1,200–1,800 per serving

Best season

Year-round

Getting there

Directions

Matsumoto 2-7-24, Yokkaichi. About a short walk from Ise-Matsumoto Station on the Kintetsu Yunoyama Line. Closed Mondays, Tuesdays and public holidays. Phone. The dish is a thick scored pork steak in a garlic and soy sauce with fried garlic and shredded cabbage.

What locals order

**Closed Mondays, Tuesdays and holidays.** Three closure conditions, which between them rule out a lot of trips. Check the calendar. **Three hours shut in the afternoon.** Two till five. Arriving at three gets you a locked door. **Eat the garlic.** Whole cloves come with it, fried. Refusing them is missing the dish, and planning the rest of the day accordingly is sensible. **The cabbage is not a garnish.** A large amount of shredded raw cabbage under the meat, which is what makes the portion survivable. **Suzuka has the older shop.** Rairaiken there is credited with the original. Yokkaichi is where the dish became the city's own.

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