Shirubee 汁べゑ 渋谷店

Shirubee is the ultimate hidden izakaya, one of the coolest izakayas in Tokyo! If it wasn’t because of our local friend that brought us here, we wouldn’t be able to find it even if we had Google Maps.

Once you get to the nearby area, there will be a flight of stairs. You’ll have to go up the stairs, cross the hallway and a steel door would be on your right hand side. Once you open the door, cross the bridge right beside the train tracks and you’ll see this tiny sliding door. Slide the door open and you’ll find this 2 story izakaya hidden behind the busy streets of Shibuya!

Shirubee is known for their sauces and has a decent selection of sashimi and cooked izakaya dishes. They have traditional Japanese dishes like oden and chicken karaage. But also serve fusion dishes and added their own twist to it. There’s 2 other locations in Roppongi and Shimokitazawa, but the Shibuya location has the higher rating and coolest entrance!

Address \\   1-11-5 Jinnan Shibuya Tokyo
Phone Number \\  03-3463-1010 (Takes reservations)
Hours \\ Monday – Sunday: 5:30pm – 10pm (Last order)
Average Price \\ Lunch – ￥4,000 ～￥4,999, Dinner – ￥3,000～￥3,999
Payment Method \\   Credit Card Accepted
Rating \\   3.55/5
Website \\   Shirubee (Japanese only)

Robot Restaurant ロボットレストラン

Robot Restaurant has gotten super popular after Anthony Bourdain featured it on his show Parts Unknown and now it’s packed with foreigners.. Prices has gone up over the years too. When I went in 2014 it was ￥6,000 per ticket and additional ￥1,000 for the bento box meal option. But don’t get the meal option because the bento box isn’t that great. I think the prices has now gone up to ￥8,000 per ticket.

It’s advised to go 30 minutes before the show starts to enjoy the waiting room. From ceiling to wall to the floor, everywhere is bling-ed out! Super shiny and flashy. There isn’t much of a plot to the whole show. The best way to describe it, is a Japanese manga (comic) in real life with robots and girls singing in skimpy outfits. I was randomly asked at the cashier if I wanted to go on stage to fight a robot, they gave me a bag of souvenir gifts and the best seat in the house, so why not? It’s a pretty random but interesting show. It’s a little expensive now but if it’s your first time in Tokyo and have a little extra cash to spare, it’ll be a pretty cool place to check out.

Address \\ 1-7-1 Kabukicho Shinjuku Tokyo
Phone Number \\ 050-5869-5074 (For reservations only)
Hours \\ Monday – Sunday: 4pm – 11m
Payment Method \\   Credit Card Accepted
Average Price \\ ￥8,000 ～￥8,999
Website \\ Robot Restaurant

Senso-Ji Temple 浅草寺

Senso-Ji Temple is one of the must visit temples in Tokyo. It’s packed with tourists so I recommend to go early on a weekday. Aside from the beautiful temple and the Thunder Gate where everyone’s waiting to take a picture with, there are a TON of souvenir shops at the Nakamise Dori! There’s traditional Japanese sweets, t-shirts, chopsticks, magnets and the list goes on. I’ve heard the night view of Senso-Ji Temple is beautiful too but we haven’t had time to go back at night. So if you’re in the area, definitely check out the night view!

Address \\ 2 Chome-3-1 Asakusa, Taito, Tokyo 111-0032, Japan
Phone Number \\ 03-3842-0181
Hours \\ Monday – Sunday: 6am – 5pm (October – March opens at 6:30am)
Admission \\ Free!
Website \\ Senso-Ji Temple

Museum of Yebisu Beer ヱビスビール記念館

Another popular thing to do in Tokyo is visiting beer museums! Museum of Yebisu Beer is a 10 minute walk from Ebisu Station and surrounded by the beautiful Yebisu Garden. It’s ￥500 per adult for the group tour and you can certainly register once you get there. But the tour is Japanese only.

Between Tuesdays to Fridays, first tour starts at  11:10am and last tour at 5:10pm. There’s a tour group for every 10th and 40th minute of each hour. As for Saturdays and Sundays, there’s a tour group for every 10th, 30th and 50th minute of each hour, the last tour is at 5:30pm.

Personally, aside from the 2 free beer tasting at the end of the tour, there’s no reason to sign up for the tour as it’s in Japanese and we don’t understand it. You only get to tour the museum but you don’t see the actual factory or brewing tanks. So if you’re cramped for time, you can skip the tour and go straight to the Yebisu bar for the paid tasting and shop at the souvenir store. The bar serves some beers that’s not common in the markets like Yebisu stout. You don’t need to register for the tasting bar so you can save ￥500!

Address \\  4-20-1, Shibuya Tokyo (Ebisu Garden Place)
Phone Number \\ 03-5423-7255
Hours \\ Tuesday – Sunday: 11am – 7pm
Average Price \\ ￥500 Admission Fee
Payment Method \\   Cash Only
Website \\  Museum of Yebisu Beer (Japanese only)

Hosakaya ほさかや

Hosakaya gained a little popularity after Anthony Bourdain visited on one his show No Reservations. It’s tucked away in a not so popular area amongst foreigners, Jiyugaoka Station.

Hosakaya is known for serving freshwater eel, unagi everything! There’s only one chef standing by the little charcoal grill making these unagi skewers. Oh and by the way, there’s no English menus. So we got up and walked over to the chef and just pointed at some skewers we wanted to try.

They only serve unagi, so other than the typical unagi meat, they serve every part of an unagi like liver, fin, skin and more. So if you’re feeling adventurous and want some local vibes, could swing by at night for a few skewers and bottles of beer! Or if you just want to stick to the typical unagi meat, they serve unagi bowl at lunch for ￥1300! Jiyugaoka is a really local area and there’s a lot of izakayas around the neighbourhood so it’s a great place to explore!

Address \\ 1-11-5 Jiyugaoka Meguro Tokyo
Phone Number \\   03-3717-6538 (Cannot make reservations)
Hours \\   Monday – Saturday: 11:30am – 2pm, 4:30pm – 9pm
Average price \\   Lunch:￥1,000 -￥1,999;     Dinner: ￥2,000～￥2,999
Payment Method \\   Cash Only
Rating \\   3.58/5
Website \\   Hosakaya (Japanese Only)