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PIT 03 / THE ROAD

From a Hilux bed to NishiikeMart.

Nishi-Ikebukuro. A brisket encountered in America. Texas BBQ, self-taught. Pop-ups from a custom smoker loaded on a Hilux. April 2024, a permanent spot at NishiikeMart. Just salt and pepper, about twelve hours over wood fire.

The custom wood-fired smoker against the stone wall, split oak stacked on the steel work surface beside it.

Inside a renovated old market building in Nishi-Ikebukuro called NishiikeMart, sharing the room with craft brewery CYCAD BREWING. Five minutes on foot from Kanamecho Station. Brisket, spare ribs, house-made all-beef sausage — seasoned with nothing but salt and pepper, smoked around twelve hours in a custom wood-fired smoker, then rested before service.

Custom wood-fired smoker

By local press accounts, the owner first met real brisket in the United States and taught themselves Texas barbecue. A custom smoker rode on a Toyota Hilux, cooking pop-ups across Tokyo. In April 2024 the shop went permanent inside NishiikeMart, the old market building in Nishi-Ikebukuro, sharing the space with craft brewery CYCAD BREWING.

The NishiikeMart frontage at dusk — potted cycads, standing tables, warm light
The service counter and bar stools, the open kitchen behind and chalkboard menus overhead.
A tasting flight from CYCAD BREWING, the craft brewery sharing the building — the brewery's own product, not PHAT Q's.
CYCAD BREWING, the craft brewery sharing the building — beer is the brewery’s own product