I’m still out here in Tokyo and on my heavy food tour missing and finally catching up with my East Coast (New York) brother, Jeremy (Deadly Dragon Sound) at his restaurant, Freeman Shokudo which specializes in smoked pastrami. The restaurant is anostalgic venture for Jeremy as he grew up on the Upper West Side eating the best pastrami sandwiches right in his own neighborhood during the 1970’s. As someone who has loved pastrami all of his life, Jeremy set out to make the perfect smoked pastrami that was reminiscent of the ones he had growing up and after hosting BBQ events in Brooklyn then closing his record shop, Deadly Dragon Sound, he made the trip to Tokyo where he opened up shop and so Freeman Shokudo was born.
For lunch, we started out with a couple of appetizers including the smoked sausage over sauerkraut and the smoked wings before diving into the main course and the star of the show, the smoked pastrami sandwich which was layers upon layers of smokey goodness. Following the pastrami, we were treaded to something special, the smoked mackerel which you won’t find anywhere else. What an afternoon and the perfect way to catch up with Jeremy and talk shop with someone who is extremely passionate about both pastrami and collecting and spinning reggae 45’s.