Standing in the street of Haruyoshi is a stylish, traditional Japanese house - which actually is “Motsuryouri Kawano”, a long-established motsunabe (stewed offal) shop that opened in 1953. Step in and you’ll see that the first floor has raised platform seating on both sides; there’s also private rooms with tatami mats in the back. The second floor has private rooms as well. There’s something nice about this calm atmosphere.

Here at “Kawano” the stewed offal comes in a soy-base or miso-based broth, but it’s different from what most people expect out of the dish. The soy base recipe has not changed since the very opening of the restaurant, and is comprised solely of offal meat and Chinese chives. The original owner, who was a bit of a drinker himself, created it as “an offal dish to pair with alcohol”. As for the miso base, the soup is a blend of Saikyo (a sweet, yellow variety) and three other miso pastes, stewed with offal meats, Chinese chives, cabbage, enoki mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, burdock root, onions, and konjac jelly. Apparently this dish was created to “enjoy soup that’s soaked into the smorgasbord of ingredients”.

The soy-based stew includes beef offal such as the small and large intestines, heart, and various tripes (such as the omasum, abomasum, and rumen), each carefully cleaned and prepared. Finish the stew with a round of champon noodles, specially ordered from a noodle maker that’s been working with the restaurant for a very long time. You can also order a full course meal that includes stewed offal, boiled kuromame (a dark variety of edamame), horse sashimi, fried chicken karaage, salad, champon noodles or rice soup, and dessert.