SIde Note: The Real Philly Cheesesteak!

The eating adventures with my cousin continues!
This week on Ibaraki Eats, I will be breaking my rule. I know I try to keep this blog only about Ibaraki, but I believe everyone should know about this place. Plus, this is a side note.
My cousin and I have been taking a few trips to Tokyo and enjoying the sights and food it has to offer. One place my cousin found was in the neighborhood of Nihonbashi. My cousin wanted me to have a real Philly Cheesesteak before we went back to Ibaraki, and that is how we found ourselves at Philly Tokyo.

A few days earlier...

I should back up a bit. A few weeks ago, during the Matsuri Tsukuba, I found a food tent near the Tonarie building that was selling Philly Cheesesteaks. I wanted to give this tent a chance, so I bought a normal cheesesteak sandwich from them.
For those unfamiliar, a Philly Cheesesteak originates from Philadelphia, America. It comes with shaved beef, melted cheese (Provolone, American cheese, or cheez whiz), sauteed onions (sometimes mushrooms), and it is all between a hoagie roll. It is a delicious sandwich that everyone should try at least once in their life.
This sandwich was not that. I try not to go negative on this blog, but this sandwich was so bad, I need to warn my fellow Ibarakians about it. I am not sure that the people running this food tent have tried or know what a Philly Cheesesteak is. This sandwich had beef, which at least they got right. Everything else was a disaster. The terrible old-tasting bread with whatever sweet sauce they used to cook the beef did not go well together at all. Don't even get me started on the mystery block of cheese they were using. As you can see from the picture, the sandwich barely has any cheese on it, which was a good thing since this cheese tasted terrible. I still can't figure out where the cheese came from. This sandwich left a sour taste in my mouth throughout the whole festival. My cousin wisely decided not to try this "sandwich," but he felt my pain. He looked up some places in Tokyo that had a great Philly Cheesesteak. Fast forward a few days, and that is how we found ourselves in front of Philly Tokyo.

Philly Tokyo

Philly Tokyo is a Philadelphia restaurant and bar located in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. The quickest way to get there is to either walk from Tokyo Station or Nihonbashi Station. The question is, what would you like to take, the JR or the subway? From either station, it is around a five-minute walk. Once you round the corner of the street that Philly Tokyo is on, you can't miss it. It is the small restaurant with a lit-up sign at the front that says "Go Birds."
My cousin and I visited Philly Tokyo after an all-day outing in Tokyo. Unfortunately, Mrs. Ibaraki Eats could not join us for this food adventure. I did let her know that I would be taking her to this amazing place sometime in the near future.
When my cousin and I walked in, the place was full of customers and very festive.

Inside

Walking into Philly Tokyo is quite an experience. Philly Tokyo is more Philadelphia than the city of Philadelphia. Everywhere you look in the restaurant/bar, you see Philadelphia memorabilia. There is even a rerun of a past Philadelphia Eagles game playing on TV. What I love the most is how the orange mascot for the Philadelphia Flyers, Gritty, is all around the restaurant. Being surrounded by so much Philly stuff is quite an overload to the senses, in a good way.
My cousin and I sat on some barstools near the kitchen and checked out the menu. Philly Tokyo was full of customers that night from a bunch of different countries. The place was lively and had a friendly and loud atmosphere, which I love in a bar.
I completely forgot to take a picture of the menu. What I can tell you is that the menu has a long list of craft beers, a good selection of appetizers, Philadelphia specialty foods like tomato pie and soft pretzels, but most important of all, they have Philly Cheesesteaks.
We ordered a few beers, a tomato pie, and of course, a Philly Cheesesteak.

Tomato Pie

What is a tomato pie? A tomato pie is a Philadelphia specialty. The simplest explanation is a pizza without cheese. In my opinion, that is a pretty good explanation, but there is more to tomato pie than that. Tomato pie is a square cut tomato sauce focaccia-like tasty treat that is loved by the people of Philadelphia. The bread is usually a thicker, spongy type of bread compared to a pizza crust. The tomato sauce is spread all over the top of the bread with some oregano sprinkled on top. It is usually served at room temperature, so no worries about burning your lip.
The tomato pie looked very inviting, and I couldn't wait to try it. Biting into that tomato pie was very delicious and soothing. I don't know why, but having that tomato pie felt like putting on your favorite sweatshirt during a cold day. It just felt nice. The bread was warm and fluffy with a little bit of a crunch. I thought there would be an overabundance of tomato sauce, but I found it to be just right. Not too much, but not too little.
This was a nice little appetizer before the main event.

Philly Cheesesteak

The moment had finally come! The owner of the restaurant handed us a beautiful-looking Philly Cheesesteak from the kitchen that was in front of us. It looked glorious. My cousin and I could not wait to dig in. The owner most graciously cut the sandwich in half so we were able to share it. I grabbed my half of the sandwich, and it was piping hot. It was full of enticing beef slices and had all this amazing cheese on top of the sandwich. The bread felt right in my hand and held everything together perfectly.
I took a bite of the sandwich and burned my lip from all the hot, melting cheese and equally hot beef. At that point, I didn't care that I burned my lip. What was happening to my taste buds was even more important. The beef was amazing and very meaty. What impressed me the most was how the melted cheese made its way perfectly through the small cracks and openings of all the beef slices. The grilled mushrooms and onions played an integral part in this delicious beef and cheese saga. They brought in these new flavors and helped hold the cheese together inside the sandwich. The cheez whiz on top was excellent, and the hoagie roll was exceptional. The roll did throw me off a little at first since it had seeds on it, but that was only a momentary second from my whole time of Philly Cheesesteak nirvana. This has to be the best Philly Cheesesteak in all of Japan. Every bite was a trip down the meat and cheese highway of bliss.
I loved this sandwich, and if I didn't have a train to catch, I might have ordered another. After we finished our sandwich, my cousin and I took a picture with the owner, which is customary at Philly Tokyo. I thanked the owner and told him that I would be back soon. Then, I left for Tokyo Station with the memory of that horrible Tsukuba Festival cheesesteak erased from my memory and replaced with Philly Tokyo's heavenly cheesesteak.

So if you have never had a Philly Cheesesteak before or have had one and are looking for an amazing one, may I suggest Philly Tokyo? Who knows? You might see me there. Introducing my wife to a real Philly Cheesesteak while enjoying my own sandwich.
Enjoy!

For more information on Philly Tokyo, check out their Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/nihonbashi_philly?utm_medium=copy_link