Tag Archives: 3.5 stars

{  Ginza Sushidokoro Marui  }

Ginza Sushidokoro Marui
Ginza Sushidokoro Marui
Ginza Sushidokoro Marui
Ginza Sushidokoro Marui
Ginza Sushidokoro Marui

Found a pretty good sushi lunch spot in Ginza. Located in a back alley behind the Matsuya Ginza Department store, this is a hidden but popular place amongst Japanese businessmen and OLs. It’s easy, good, and affordable. We came here on a weekday right when the restaurant opened and we were 3rd in line. The line was a lot longer when we came out after eating though.

Pictured above are the “Zukeana Chirashi/づけ穴ちらし” (1200yen) and “Tokusen Chirashi/特選ちらし” (1500yen). The Zukeana Chirashi comes with Anago + Tuna but all sorts of yumminess is hidden underneath the rice plus it even includes a soup and all this for only 1200yen. The Tokusan Chirashi comes with a whopping 16 pieces of sushi + soup for only 1500yen and it was quite filling- I almost couldn’t finish my lunch. This is a nice option for those of you who are already in Ginza and feel like eating sushi for lunch.

Lunch Hours // 11:30am – 2:30pm

Address // 3-8-15, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-3564-8601
Website // n/a

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{  Hoshino Coffee — 星乃珈琲店  }

Hoshino Coffee -- 星乃珈琲店
Hoshino Coffee -- 星乃珈琲店
Hoshino Coffee -- 星乃珈琲店
Hoshino Coffee -- 星乃珈琲店
Hoshino Coffee -- 星乃珈琲店

Hand-drip coffee shop Hoshino is located throughout Japan but one of their stores is located directly above the Shibuya Scramble. If you sit by the window, you get a view of the cross-walk while sipping on some delicious hand-drip coffee. Visit between 11am – 3pm and you can get your drink for 300yen if you order any food along with it.

The Souffle Double Pancakes are 680yen (a single pancake is 530yen) and it comes with your choice of maple, honey or black syrup. The souffle pancakes were so fluffy, thick, yet tasty. (The pancake takes about twenty minutes to be made). I really enjoyed their hand-drip coffee as well. If you are looking for a place to take a break right by Shibuya Station, this may be a good option. The coffee shop is separated into smoking and non-smoking sections which was nice.

Address // Shibuya 109 Men’s 2F, 1-23-10, Jinnan, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (map)
Phone Number // 03-3477-8038
Website // http://www.hoshinocoffee.com/

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{  ZEN ROOM  }

ZEN ROOM
ZEN ROOM
ZEN ROOM
ZEN ROOM
ZEN ROOM

Our friends and I went to get Taiwanese-style hot pot in Jiyugaoka and had a delicious meal. They call this “Yakuzen-nabe” in Japanese which literally translates to herb-style hot pot. It uses all sorts of herbs and minerals that are supposed to be good for your skin and body and is very popular amongst women.

We were a party of four so we got two hot pots which cost 1780yen each. You choose two flavors for your soup base: “chicken broth soup/疲労回復 烏骨鶏スープ”, “soy soup/美肌豆乳スープ”, or “spicy detox soup/デトックス火鍋スープ”. Not sure if you can tell from the photos above but we both selected “soy soup” for our first choice, and chose “chicken broth soup” for one of the pots and “spicy detox soup” for the other so we could try all flavors. They all tasted completely different and we really enjoyed all of the soup bases.

The Hot pot set comes with 18 different kinds of ingredients and the server explains what each one is as as they place them in the pot to cook. We had never heard of most of the ingredients before but everything was good and we really enjoyed our lunch. We ended our meal by adding noodles for an extra 220yen. (You can add brown rice for an extra 330yen or add more soup for 300yen as well). Although it’s in Japanese, they explain all the ingredients and health benefits of this hot pot here if you are interested.

It may seem like a lot of food but all of us weren’t quite FULL after our meal so we were able to fit in some dessert afterwards. Luckily for us this awesome town of Jiyugaoka had so many cute cafes and treats to choose from ;)

Weekday Hours:
Lunch // 11:30 – 16:00 (L.O15:30)
Tea Time // 14:00 – 16:00 (L.O15:30)
Dinner // 17:00 – 23:00 (L.O22:00)

Weekend Hours:
Lunch // 11:30 – 17:00 (L.O16:30)
Tea Time // 15:00 – 17:00 (L.O16:30)
Dinner // 17:00 – 23:00 (L.O22:00)

Address // 2-25-17, Midorigaoka, Meguroku-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-3717-2566
Website // http://www.zen-room.com

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{  Hashidaya Honten — はし田屋 本店  }

Hashidaya Honten -- はし田屋 本店
Hashidaya Honten -- はし田屋 本店
Hashidaya Honten -- はし田屋 本店
Hashidaya Honten -- はし田屋 本店

Chicken + egg + rice = Oyakodon

Come here to get the best kind. Hashidaya is located about 5min away from Shibuya station. We came here for lunch and the first floor was already packed so we went up to the second floor.

Their famous Oyakodon (名物親子丼) is 850yen (pay 50yen more to add chicken broth soup), and the Chicken Nanban (チキン南蛮定食) was 780yen and includes miso soup and rice. Everything was delicious and the place kept bringing in customers non-stop.

Hashidaya serves more of a traditional Japanese-style cuisine that specializes in chicken for dinner time. If you want to try their Oyakodon though, come here for lunch!

Lunch Hours: 11:30am – 3pm
Dinner Hours: 6pm – Midnight

Address // 3-15-4, Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-5774-4105
Website // http://www.hashidaya.com/shibuya/index.html

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{  Clinton St. Baking Company  }

Clinton St. Baking Company
Clinton St. Baking Company
Clinton St. Baking Company
Clinton St. Baking Company
Clinton St. Baking Company

I have been searching for a hearty delicious breakfast joint for a while and I finally found one. Clinton Street Baking Co. came from NY and made it’s opening debut at the end of August 2013. This place has a long line out the door as almost every popular Japanese pancake place does, but since it’s in a slightly random location there could be days that you will get lucky to have a shorter line. The first time we came here was during the opening week and the lines weren’t too long so it only took about an hour to be seated. The second time we visited was around 11:30am and the line was ridiculously long so we gave up. The third time was a little earlier around 10AM on a rainy day and we only had to wait about 15min. I think this place became such a popular spot so quickly due to it’s delicious pancakes.

Pictured above are their Blueberry Pancakes + Banana Walnut Pancakes with warm maple butter for 1500yen each. Also pictured are the Huevos Rancheros (1500yen) as well as the Eggs Benedict (1600yen). We’ve also tried their chocolate scone (250yen) as well as the corn bread (250yen). Everything was so good with the single exception of the Eggs Benedict. Sadly I was very disappointed with the uber dry scone under the eggs (instead of the usual english muffin). However, their pancakes and Huevos Rancheros were both absolutely delicious. We also noticed that compared to the first time we visited, their service and kitchen flow got so much smoother which was an improvement. Come here if you want a hearty breakfast and some seriously delicious pancakes.

Their online menu: Link

Address // 5-17-1, Minamiaoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-6450-5944
Website // http://clintonstreetbaking.co.jp/

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