Whale meat dinner at Kujira @ Shibuya, Tokyo

This is my second time visit to this restaurant serving whale meat. It was back in year 2011, that I have tasted whale meat for first time. This time around, I brought my friends who eagerly wanted to try out whale meat at Kujira in Shibuya Tokyo. This time round we ordered many types of whale meat with different cooking method. Kujira is one of the few restaurant in the world which still serving whale meat. Whale meat is very unique as the meat is quite succulent. Japanese believes that eating whale meat can prolong age and looks young. I not sure how true is the claim.

After your dinner, you may take a pamphlet which give justification about eating whale meat. According to the pamphlet, the world is in balance when whale is around as whale consume a lot of fish in the ocean. As a result, the source of fish will be reduced when whale is around. So a controlled whale hunting must be carry on and human should consume whale to control the fish resources in the ocean.

Taste:9/10(Delicious. We ordered sashimi, lightly roasted, teriyaki, fried and tempura whale meat. From all the 5 cooking method, tempura whale meat is the best as the meat is tender and blend well with the batter which gives crispy texture when eaten. The meat structure is tender and succulent when raw and smooth meat without smell when cooked).
Price:5/10(Near expensive. We ordered ala-carte portion of whale meat and choose which type we want to try. The dinner set is not worth it as the menu is fixed and you can't choose what you like to have. We have ordered whale meat in fried 842 Yen, sashimi 950 Yen, tempura 842 Yen, lightly roasted 950 Yen and teriyaki (Japanese sauce) 1058 Yen. Rice at 324 Yen per bowl. The whole dinner cost around 5,300 Yen for two persons).



Sashimi whale meat. This dish is eaten raw. Without smell with some blood taste. The texture is succulent. The white colour tendon is very chewy.


Lightly roasted whale meat. Almost the same as sashimi but slightly cooked.

Fried whale meat.

Teriyaki whale meat. Cooked in Japanese sauce.

Tempura whale meat.

Comparing each type of whale meat. From left: fried, teriyaki, sashimi, tempura and lightly roasted.

Pamphlet about justification of eating whale meat.

They have lunch set which is reasonable priced.

Coordinate/GPS: 35.659785,139.698586
Address: Dogenzaka 2-29-22, Shibuya. If you are from Tokyo Metro Shibuya station on Hachiko exit, just walk towards Shibuya 109. It is located on your left before reaching Shibuya 109.

Kujiraya whale meat @ Shibuya, Tokyo

The speciality in Kujiraya restaurant is their whale meat. This is one of a few restaurant in the world which sells whale meat. They have many types of whale preparation such as raw, slightly roasted, teriyaki and fried. For me whale meat is very unique as the meat is quite succulent. But the taste is not so strong. The structure just like raw liver. Dark red colour and very soft. Japanese believes that eating whale meat can prolong age and looks young. I not sure how true is the claim.

Whale hunting is quite controversy internationally as their number is small and near to extinction. However Japan is still hunting it as it is one of their delicacy since the Jomon period in 12th century. Japan hunt it on the basis of research but this can be argued as you can see these items being sell in Tsukiji fish market. There is research shown that whale contain high level of mercury and pollutants in their body which are not suitable for children and pregnant women consumption.

Taste:9/10(Delicious. The meat structure is tender and succulent when raw and its more like goat meat with out the smell when cooked).
Price:2/10(Expensive. A small portion of the meat cost 900 Yen. Lunch set cost 2000 Yen with comes together rice, seaweed, salad & soup).


Teriyaki whale meat set with seaweed and salad.

Slightly roasted whale meat.

Larger picture of slightly roasted whale meat.

Whale picture inside the restaurant. The restaurant is located below the street and you can see people walking at their feet level.

Do look out for this signboard. Kujiraya.

The menu that they have.

Coordinate/GPS: 35.659785,139.698586
Address:
Dogenzaka 2-29-22, Shibuya.
If you are from Tokyo Metro Shibuya station on Hachiko exit, just walk towards Shibuya 109. It is located on your left before reaching Shibuya 109. You may see on how of the signboard look like by referring to one of the photos above.