Tokyo: Shabuzen Akasaka (しゃぶ禅 赤坂店)

I have heard about Shabuzen since my last trip in Japan. If you watch "Lost in Translation", Shabu Zen appeared in the movie but that one was Roppongi branch. Not just another kind of tourist-trapped restaurant, their meat is also quite well-known. So you can expect good meat for a meal as well. So this time I decided I won't miss it. Me, T and my American friend, J, made an appointment to meet each other in front of TBS building in Akasaka so we can dine at Shabuzen Akasaka.

the appetizer

It was Thursday night and we were early as usual (6 pm) so the restaurant was still empty. Between a choice of Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu, we decided to go for 90 minutes of all you can eat shabu shabu with domestic beef (imported meat is cheaper anyway). We ordered umeshu with soda (again) for drink and were served with an appetizer which is grilled beef with onion. It was absolutely yummy! Such a great way to start a meal.

all you can eat meat

vegetable and tofu

Dipping sauce; the white one is sesame sauce and the dark one is Ponzu

Then trays of meat and vegetable were started to serve at our table. You can request for meat and vegetable as much as you like which is pure bliss. J was kindly acting as model to show you how we work the meat in the boiling pot. She was joking how this is like some kind of food TV show. The restaurant provides two dipping sauce for the meat; Ponzu which is like vinegar thing and Sesame sauce. I am loving their sesame sauce so much that I am still dreaming about it these days (I know, obsession).


Aside from these, they will also provide some noodles to eat with the soup at the end of the meal but we were already full so we didn't bother about it. However, we wanted to try Japanese dessert so we ordered something Japanese dessert which I forgot the name already. It has vanilla ice cream with red bean paste and some jello and mochi. We also ordered extra Matcha (green tea) ice cream. They all were good but not like a must to order.

In the end, it was a good meal. I think between 3 of us, we paid ¥8,000 each for this meal. Might be a bit over the budget for some as you can eat Shabu Shabu at Nabezo or mo-mo paradise for less than ¥2,500 but I think it is worth the experience.

Shabuzen Akasaka (しゃぶ禅 赤坂店)
B1F, Akasaka Mita Bldg.
12-14-33 Akasaka, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 107-0052
Open: Weekday - 11:30～14:30 (L.O.14:00), 17:00～23:30 (L.O.22:30)
Weekend - 12:00～16:00 (By reservation only), 16:00～23:30 (L.O.22:30)
Website: http://www.shabuzen.jp/
Gourmetnavi (for coupon discount): http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g050004/


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