We Are Japanese - Washoku En

Restaurant Review by T. G.

Today, I'd like to introduce Washoku En, which is a Japanese style restaurant. Japanese food is expensive. but if you are Japanese, you may sometimes want to feel the Japanese style. The way to do it is to go to the restaurant Washoku En.

Washoku En is a restaurant where you can taste real Japanese food. The atmosphere in the restaurant is nice and fashionable. The staff wear Japanese style clothes. There are many tables, so you can enjoy a meal with many friends.

The menu is abundant. There are many kinds of appetizer, fried food , boiled food, vegetables, fish, meat, broiled food and sweets. The rice pot is cooked carefully for over 40 minutes, so please order it as soon as possible.

My favorites are miso and boiled asparagus (￥1150), broiled fin of stingray (￥780), saikyo miso grilled fish (￥1050), along with a the chocolate green tea roll cake Dainagon (￥580). As a course menu, you can choose a ￥4200, ￥5250 or ￥7350 course. These courses are for 3 people.

This restaurant has three locations, but I go to the one at Tokyo Dome City Meets Port. It is near Kourakuen. It’s near the JR Suidobashi Station and subway Kourakuen Station. You can get there in just 3 minutes from these stations.

Washoku En; Tokyo Dome - City Meets Port
Address: Tokyo Dome - City Meets Port, 5th Floor
                Tokyouto Bunkyouku 1-2-61, 〒112-0004
Hours: Mon~ Fri 11:00～15:00 (L.O.14:30)
            Sat~Sun. 11:00～16:00 (L.O. 15:00)
            Dinner Time 17:00～23:30 (L.O. 22:30)
Access: JR Chuou Line, Suidoubashi Station, Higashiguchi; go straight for 1 minute
             Toei Mita Line, Suidoubashi Station, A2 exit; go straight for 1 minute
Phone: 03-5842-3835
Website: http://www.byo.co.jp/

Akakara – Spicy Nagoya-style Nabe

Restaurant Review by. Y. S.

I'm Korean, so I don't know much about Japanese local food. I was happy when a Japanese friend took me and another Korean friend to a Nagoya-style nabe restaurant in Shibuya. This restaurant is Akakara, which means 'red and spicy' in Japanese.

We went there around 8:00 pm on a Tuesday, but there were too many people, so we had to wait more than an hour. The atmosphere of the restaurant is lighthearted. At first we ordered ‘akakara nabe (￥1039) which is the representative dish of this restaurant. It is Nagoya-style nabe and we can select the level of spiciness from 0 to 10. Level 0 is not spicy and 10 is very spicy and we selected level 2. After a minute the clerk brought us a pot and he heated it. After about ten minutes, he told us we could eat. At first I ate soup and it tasted sweet and a little spicy. It reminded me of Korean soup which I love. And there were many vegetables and meats in the soup and it was very delicious. There are also many additional menu items (￥300~500), such as meat balls, kimchi, noodles and so on. If soup is not enough, you can get more free. Also there were many other Nagoya-style foods, and we ordered 'fried chicken wings' and 'grilled sesery (セセリ)'. They were very delicious too and good match for beer..

 Another good point of this restaurant is that there are many drinks. You can drink alcohol, such as beer (￥514), chu-hi (fruit soda spirits), highballs, cocktails, shochu, makgoli (all ￥451) and so on. If you don't like alcohol, you can drink tea, juice and soft drinks (￥336~378). Furthermore, you can eat desserts like sweets and ice cream. One of them is a Nagoya-style desert which is hot sweet potato and cold custard. I was too full to eat it, but it looked so delicious.

After we ate all foods, drinks and desserts, we were very happy, so we forgot waiting for more than 1 hour. My first time to have Nagoya food at Akakara has made me want to go to Nagoya. You can go to Akagara by walking for 7 minutes from the Hatchiko entrance of JR Shibuya station. If you want to eat Nagoya-style nabe and food, I recommend you go to Akakara.

Akakara ('赤から'渋谷本店 - 赤から鍋とセセリ焼き)

Address: First basement of Takayama Building 1−20−16, Jinnan, Shibuya-ku, Tōkyō-to 

東京都渋谷区神南１－２０－１６　高山ランドビルＢ１

Phone: 050-5815-6187

Hours: 15:00~23:30 (Last order: 23:00)

URL: http://www.akakara.jp/

Exciting Curry! - Himal Kitchen!

Restaurant Review by Y. S.

I'd like to introduce one of my favorite restaurants, Himal Kitchen. It's a curry specialty store, so we can eat authentic curry there.

Generally speaking, the taste is not so special, but I go to there three times a week. There are three reasons. First of all, in addition to curry and nan bread (￥400), they have chicken pakoda（￥650）, which I love

.

Second, we can choose the level of spiciness. If you feel the curry is too hot for you, you can change the taste the next time. I think it's very interesting. We can try it easily if our curiosity gets the better of our fear.

Third, there are all kinds of beer. For example, there are beers from Nepal, Hawaii, India and so on. The price is ￥500 for all of them. If you like to drink beer, you will definitely like this type of restaurant, like me.

To go there, exit the Oguchi Station east gate. Go straight, and look for a hospital. When you see a hospital on the right side, turn left. It's a five-minute walk from the station.

Himal Kitchen

Address:  10-15 Kaminoki Town, Kanagawa-ku, Kanagawa

Phone:  045-432-0288

Hours:  11:00～15:00; 17:00～23:00; open all year round.

Access:  About 5 minutes from Oguchi Station, JR Yokohama Line

Chef Mickey - Meet Mickey at the Restaurant!

Restaurant Review by M. K.


Where do you eat dinner at Tokyo Disneyland, especially if you stay at night at a hotel near Disneyland? Many people go to a restaurant in the park, and some people eat at a restaurant in a hotel. If I stay a night at a hotel near the park, I must go to one restaurant. It is “Chef Mickey”!

Chef Mickey is a restaurant in the "Disney Ambassador Hotel," and the restaurant style is buffet. The Ambassador Hotel is in the Disney resort, and it is near Maihama Station. Every time it is crowded, but everyone enjoys it. The cost is a little bit expensive, but it is the same as in the park.

This restaurant is a buffet, and it has so many dishes. These are over 50! You can eat Japanese, Chinese, Italian, and more. You can eat many kinds of dessert too. These dishes are so delicious. Especially I like noodles (udon and ramen) and Italian food. Water, tea (green, black, and oolong) , and coffee are free, and there are free refills! And your time is unlimited, too!

You can go there at breakfast, lunch, or dinner time, but it is very popular, so you should get priority seating tickets before you go there. You can get them online or at the restaurant directly. If you cannot get tickets, you must wait a long time before you eat.

Especially, why is this restaurant so awesome? Because you can meet Disney characters there! Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto are there. They are wearing restaurant original clothes and they come to every table. You can take a picture with them. You can get their signature, and you can hang out with them, too! They come to your table not just once, but they walk around, so they come three or four times.

It is so hard to take a picture at the park with a character, but at this restaurant it is very easy. And you can enjoy it absolutely, and you are always satisfied. You should try it!

Chef Mickey
Address: Ambassador Hotel 1F, 2-11, Maihama, Urayasu-shi, Chiba
Breakfast: 7:00 to 10:00
Lunch: 12:00 to 14:30
Dinner: 17:00 to 22:00
Phone: 0570-20-0303 (same day booking); 047-305-1111

Do You Like Ethnic Food? - Monsoon Cafe

Restaurant Review by K. A.

Recently I met my friend and we happened to find a nice restaurant. We had some delicious food there, so today I will introduce Monsoon Cafe.

If you like ethnic food, you should go there. There are a lot of ethnic foods from Thailand, Vietnam, China and more. I am sure that you will enjoy having these foods and you will say, "I have never had such delicious food!"

I had Goi Cuon, which is Vietnamese style spring roll, deep-fried shrimp and avocado with chilli mayonnaise, and Chicken Gapao, which is spicy basil rice with fried egg. Every food I had was a little spicy, but if you are not good at spicy food, it will still be OK. And I drank a Virgin Breeze. It is cute and sweet. You should try it.

The cost may be a little expensive, but if you go to there at lunch, you can eat cheaper than at dinner. So I recommend lunchtime.

This restaurant's mood is calm, exotic and clean, like the Orient. If I am in there, I feel like I'm in a foreign country.

You should go to Monsoon Cafe with your family or friends!

Monsoon Cafe
Address: Campari Bld, 4F, 1-6-8 Jinnan Shibuya-ku Tokyo
Phone: 03-5489-1611
Hours: 11:30-27:30 (last order 27:00)
           lunchtime 11:30-15:00 (Mon to Fri)
           brunch 11:30-17:00 (Sat and Sun and holiday)
URL: http://www.monsoon-cafe.jp/