{ Toritake — 鳥竹 }

2014, Feb 4

Toritake is an awesome Yakitori place located right by Shibuya station. It’s a hole-in-the-wall Izakaya kind of place and has three floors which are constantly packed with customers. Be prepared to wait a little during popular hours.

We’ve been here a few times cause we love how affordable and good the Yakitori is. Over the course of our visits, we’ve experimented with ordering our dishes with both the “tare” (sauce flavoring) and the “shio” (salt flavoring) and overall we tend to prefer the salt more since it really brings out the flavor of the chicken and takes the veggies to another level. Everything here is delicious and I highly recommend their stuffed green pepper (ピーマンの肉詰め). Yummm. The place is loud and happening during dinner hours with people of all ages and a variety of different nationalities represented among the diners. They surprisingly have an English menu and I’ve also heard great things about their lunch as well.

Just FYI, be prepared to take off your shoes if you sit on the basement-level floor or to sit next to people who are smoking.

Note: Closed on the second Monday of every month.

Address // 1-6-1, Dougenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-3461-1627
Website // n/a

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{ Hyoki — 瓢喜 }

2014, Jan 9

Happy New Year! 明けましておめでとうございます。今年もどうぞよろしくお願い致します。

Just got back from my two week long vacation to Brazil and I have quite a bit of work backed up but I’m happy to be back home. Brazil summers are very hot and humid just like Japan which I’m not a fan of but we attended the most beautiful wedding there and had a great time. Unfortunately I got the most mosquito bites ever and it sucks… Hopefully will get around to posting some photos from my trip in the next few weeks but for now, I’m very excited to share this awesome restaurant with you. Hope everyone had a fun and safe New Years. Wishing you all a wonderful 2014 ahead!

xo,
Maki

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I highly recommend this shabu shabu restaurant if you can visit here during lunch time between Monday-Friday since they offer an amazing lunch set for only 980yen!

This shabu shabu restaurant is pricey for dinner service, but their weekday lunch service is almost too good to be true. You need to take off your shoes when you first walk in but you then get to dine in a private room with tatami flooring. The staff are all women in kimono’s which really adds to the authentic and old-school Japanese vibe they have.

Pictured above is the weekly lunch set (which changes weekly) “butano kakuni” lunch set for 980yen. The other dish shown above is the “Pork hari hari jitate” lunch set for 980yen. The portions may look small in the photo but they are actually quite filling. It’s really quite amazing to get such a well-balanced meal with high quality ingredients for this price in Nishiazabu.

If you want a great Japanese lunch experience that is affordable, hands down this is the place to check out.

Address // Nishiazabu 1106, 1-10-6, Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-6804-5113
Website // http://www.hyoki.jp/

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{ Tokyoen — 東京苑 }

2013, Dec 6

Tokyoen is a yakiniku place that has a few different branches. We went to the one in Yutenji and had an amazing experience.

They have tons of different types of meat but we chose their most famous ones: the “10 second sirloin” and the “3 second sirloin”. As the names suggest, you only have to grill the meat for a few seconds and then dip it into several sauces of your choice and the meat literally melts in your mouth. The meat is oh so soft, we’ve never had anything like this. The “3 second sirloin” is more fatty than the “10 second sirloin” so we liked the “10 second” one more. We also ordered Kalbi and a few popular meats from the specials of the day. Everything was so good but we liked the Kalbi so much we had to get seconds. As for side dishes, we ordered the Kakuteki (radish that is pickled Korean-style), the Tokyoen salad, the vegetable kuppa (a rice soup dish), and Korean-style cold noodles. YUMMM. Finished it off with the Almond Jelly dessert for only 100yen. No wonder this place is so popular, we loved everything about this place- the presentation of the food (especially how the meat came out!), the ambiance, and the service.

The average price that people spend at this Yakiniku place is around 5000~6000yen per person. We ate a good amount but since we didn’t order any alcohol, our bill was much lower than what we expected (just under 4000yen per person). Not bad at all! Highly recommend this place for meat lovers, you won’t regret it. Make sure you make reservations.

Note: Closed on Tuesday. Restaurant opens at 17:00.

Address // 2-38-28, Nakacho, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-3793-3878
Website // http://www.toukyoen.sakura.ne.jp/index.html

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{ Hashida Honten — はし田本店 }

2013, Aug 30

Hashida Honten (はし田本店) is originally from Kyushuu and is located on the Keyakizaka side of Roppongi Hills. Their noodles are hand-made and they even use an old-school technique which involves stepping on them to get the perfect texture and firmness. Hashida Honten is also unique because they have a wine sommelier. You might wonder if udon and wine go well together but this may be your dream spot if you like them both. The restaurant is beautifully designed with a modern Japanese touch, and it’s one of my favorite hidden gems right now.

Pictured above is their “Shamo dashi (chicken broth) udon” (軍鶏だしうどん) for 1000yen. The soup is just so good, it’s a simple dish for people who really want to enjoy “udon”. The umeboshi (sour plum) is a nice palate cleanser as well.

Also pictured above is their “Shamo seiro and Chirashi-sushi Lunch Special” (軍鶏せいろとちらし寿司セット) for 1500yen. If you are hungry, this set will definitely satisfy you. You eat the udon tsukemen-style and the Chirashi-sushi that includes their dashimaki tamago is also yummm.

This udon restaurant is hard to find (Google maps is not exactly right on this location), you have to go to the Keyakizaka side of Roppongi hills and walk towards the back of the building near the Roppongi Hills Residences. Hope you get to try this place because it’s simply delicious.

Note: Lunch menu during the weekday has changed to only 2 options. 1200yen or 1500yen lunch sets. (Updated 2013.9.13)

Address // 3F Keyakizaka-dori, Roppongi Hills,
6-12-2, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-3405-0809
Website // http://hashidahonten.com/

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{ Kuumba du Falafel }

2013, Aug 6

I found a delicious falafel place! I’m not an expert on this style of food by any means but I really enjoyed it.

The restaurant has no signage and is in a random location, so you would never know what this place is from the outside. Kuumba du Falafel is a modern and cozy (only 8 counter seats) cafe with some really nice touches. I liked their ceramic white plates, choice of music, and the easy going atmosphere with lots of fresh veggies.

We ordered the ‘lunch special’ which includes a half falafel sandwich + lentil soup for 1000yen and the ‘full falafel sandwich’ for 1200yen. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but it was a significant difference in size. The half size is still pretty big and filling but since it’s a lot of veggies, if you are hungry, I would go for the full size. Everything was so good, including the lentil soup. I was impressed and I also overheard how yummy the falafel sandwiches were from other guests dinning there too ;) I will be coming back to try the falafel plate next time.

The counter space has lots of dried fruits and nuts which you can purchase to go as well.

Address // 23-1, Shinsencho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan (map)
Phone Number // 03-6416-8396
Website // n/a

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Tag Archives: 4 stars

{ Toritake — 鳥竹 }

{ Hyoki — 瓢喜 }

{ Tokyoen — 東京苑 }

{ Hashida Honten — はし田本店 }

{ Kuumba du Falafel }

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