beacon urban chop house

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北海道産タラバ蟹のクラブケーキ、レムラードソース。
From the 4200yen lunch course. Taraba crab cakes with remoulade sauce. Generous amount of crab meat inside. Tasty though the sauce is slightly salty. Peach tea is free and refillable.
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オーストラリア産サーロインステーキ (200g)。
マンゴークレームブリュレとマンゴーソルベ添え。
Australian sirloin, Angus, grade 1, long grain fed 200g. Not a big fan of steak…but this is very good! Asked for medium-rare and it was juicy and tender. Mango creme brulee topped with mango sorbet. Chunks of mango in the creme brulee, very good!

The restaurant is about 10 mins walks from either Shibuya or Omotesando station. The seats are spacious and comfortable, and not so crowded even on weekends. Lots of foreigners. The price is not cheap but the portion is big. Will definitely go back to try their hamburgers.

beacon (ビーコン・アーバンチョップハウス)
Add: 1-2-5 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 03-6418-0077

京くずし割烹 山城屋庄藏 (Yamashiroya Shouzou)

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丸十(さつま芋)の冷製茶碗蒸し 抹茶あんかけ。
鱧落としたての軍艦巻き、カボチャの煮揚げ、山口農家のだだ茶豆、穴子のにぎり、トマトの漬け、和牛のにぎり。
From the 4500yen dinner course.
Cold satsuma potato chawanmushi with matcha ankake(starchy sauce).
Hamo Gunkan-maki, Anago nigiri, wagyu nigiri, fried pumpkin etc.
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炙り新さんまの造り 肝醤油仕立て。
新銀杏たっぷりの飛龍頭 松茸と刻み鱧のうすくずあんかけ。
Aburi(seared) sanma.
Ganmodoki with matsutake mushroom and hamo etc.
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旬魚とスルメイカの麹漬け。
きずし マスカットの甘酢添え。
Fish and dried squid.
Kizushi – vinegared mackerel.
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新米 宮崎産コシヒカリ。玉吸い。水茄子、茗荷の梅肉和え、沢庵と胡麻の和え物、胡瓜の古漬け、ふりかけ。鯛のあら煮。
ライムとマンゴーのスムージー、定番ほうじ茶アイス。
Hojicha ice is so good! The lime and mango smoothie is nice too. We tried this really yummy sparkling nihonshu(pic here).

The restaurant is on the 2F/3F of a building right next to Shibuya station but the interior is so atmospheric and dark and quiet that you really wake up with a start when you step out of the restaurant into the busy streets. In fact, when we came out, someone covered in blood was being carried into an ambulance….^^;;;

京くずし割烹 山城屋庄藏 (Yamashiroya-Shouzou)
Add: 2-3F Dougenzaka, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 03-5489-0039

梅蘭 (Bairan)

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0708140004梅蘭やきそば、¥893。
Bairan yakisoba. Fried noodles with onion, beansprout, chinese chives, pork, perfectly made with a crispy egg crust on top. Slightly spicy and very delicious! I should have taken pics of the noodles underneath…but too lazy! The original shop is in Yokohama. This branch in Shibuya is very conveniently located on Dougenzaka and has very good service(for a shabby chinese restaurant!).
梅蘭(Bairan)
Add: 2-9-1 Dougenzaka, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 03-5489-0866

bel mare (ベルマーレ)

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Salad, bread or rice, main dish, half-portion pasta and drink, 1250yen. Bread is garlic bread, which is warm and pretty massive. Main dish is salmon saute in green(pesto) sauce. Quite tasty! Two options for the pasta and I had the scallop “Genovese”(pesto sauce). It is definitely not half-portion! Rather normal pasta but not bad. For drinks, other than coffee and tea, there is also blood orange juice. I was so stuffed that I didn’t need dinner at all….
Today’s lunch menu(J) here.
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Went back again for the same course. Puttanesca with squid, tomato, caper and olive.
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Main is pork saute with lemon sauce. The lemon sauce is a little too sour and the pork a bit dry, but it is okay. Garlic toast today is focaccia bread. Also includes a salad.
Another lunch menu(J) here.
bel mare
Add: 24-2, Sakuragaokacho, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 03-3476-3681

KAIKAYA (開花屋@神泉)

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桜海老と水菜のサラダ。くるまえびの甘エビ味噌炒め。
Sakura prawn and mizuna salad. Kuruma-prawn in prawn sauce.
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鮮魚のカルパッチョ。雑魚(ざこ)のグリル。
Fresh fish carpaccio with garlic, olive oil, balsamico and sweet basil. Grilled fish with garlic, olive oil and lemon.
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マグロのかまのスペアリブ。
“House Special” tuna spareribs.

I have heard about this place for years and have always wanted to try it but somehow never got around to it. Finally! All the food are very good! Quite heavy use of olive oil and lightly salty to eat alone, but with a bowl of rice, you simply can’t stop eating. The restaurant is very tiny and crowded. The waiters are friendly and patient even though they are so busy. Sort of an izakaya but we didn’t order any alcohol and just had tea and it was okay. We sat at the big table sharing with other people and the guy sitting next to us wouldn’t stop smoking so that was a bit tough. But if you sit at the counter, maybe you can avoid the smoke to some degree. The homepage has Japanese and also English with the whole menu translated to English. Indeed there were two tables of foreigners(other than us) the day we went. Three of us shared all the food, plus a bowl of rice, less than 2000yen each. Very cheap! The nearest station is Shinsen, but it is just 15 mins walk from Shibuya. Some reviews in English here.
KAIKAYA

La Tida (ラ・ティーダ)

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ジーマミー豆腐。 ゴーヤーチャンプルー。
Ji-ma-mi Tofu(Peanut tofu). Goya chanpuru.
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スヌイ(もずく)のてんぷら。 アーサーサラダ。
Mozuku seaweed tempura. Seaweed salad.
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0704290060豚三種と根菜の煮込み(ラフテー・ティビチ・ミミガーと季節野菜の煮込み)。焼きティビチ(豚足)。沖縄そば。

Pork in 3 styles: Pork belly, pork feet and pork ears, simmered with vegetables.
Grilled pork feet. Okinawa soba.

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サーターアンダギーアイス 黒糖シロップかけ。紅芋のアイス。
さんぴん茶(ジャスミン茶)のクレームブリュレ。2種類のグレープフルーツのシークワーサーゼリーよせ。

Okinawa donut ice-cream with black sugar syrup – taste like cookies’n cream. Red taro ice-cream.
Jasmine tea creme brulee – very good! 2 kind sof grapefruit and sikuwasa(Okinawa’s citrus fruit) jelly.

All the food we ordered were very good. The pork feet and pork belly were nice but quite heavy – better not order more than one item of the fatty pork. Shared between 3 people, plus tea, about 2800yen each. Very good value!
Menu(J): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
La Tida
Add: 4-9-13 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 03-3441-1961

Irreel (イレール)

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10種類の野菜と地鶏ささ身のプレッセ 沖縄産シークワーサーソース。
Lunch menu B, 3990yen.
Presser of 10 kinds of vegetables and chicken breast meat in Okinawa shikuwasa(Okinawa citrus fruit) sauce. Hmm the sauce is too sweet.
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マッシュルームの温かいフラン。 春キャベツのスープ。
Mushroom flan. Red wine sauce and truffle bits on top. The sauce is like demi-glace, a bit yoshoku-feel but delicious.
Spring cabbage soup. With quite strong pepper and shiso in it. Very washoku-feel…but I like it.
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シャラン産鴨胸肉のロースト コリアンダー風味 干しイチジクのピューレ添え。
Roasted duck breast, with coriander and dried fig puree. This is very very delicious!! But…only one slice!?! ^^;;;
Warm banana pie and Earl grey ice-cream. A bit normal.

Have been to this place 3, 4 years ago and have forgotten what I ate EXCEPT the main dish which was soft and juicy beef steak with cheese on top – absolutely amazing and impossible to forget. This time again, the main dish is the most delicious. The interior is renovated and much more stylish than before. I still remember last time the fire alarm went off and didn’t stop for a loooooong time while the customers continued eating…^^;;

There were actually 3 different appetizers and 3 different desserts available, but because we were a big group of 8, we weren’t allowed to choose. So the staff simply decided who was going to get what. A bad arrangement cos people tend to wish they had someone else’s food. ^^;;

Lunch menu(J) here.
Irreel
Add: ABC ANNEX building 3F, 3-29-16 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 03-5475-6127