Where to Dine - Tokyo - page 135

floor of Mediage on Odaiba ( & 03/3599-4801; station: Odaiba). All are open daily
from 11:30am to 3:30am or later.
6-4-1 Ginza. & 03/3572-5005. www.boheme.jp. Pizza and pasta ¥550-¥1,480; set lunches ¥900-
¥1,300. AE, DC, MC, V. Daily 11:30am-5am. Station: Hibiya (5 min.) or Ginza (10 min.). Behind Mosaic, on
a corner.
Manpuku YAKITORI This yakitori restaurant differs from the others under
the Yamanote tracks in that it offers tables along a covered passageway where you can
watch office workers bustling by. Decorated with old posters inside and out, it has a slight
post-World War II retro feel; its sign even boasts retro dining. Manpuku offers an
English-language menu of yakitori, braised tofu with meat, noodles, and other pub grub.
The food isn't the greatest, but prices are cheap and it's often packed.
2-4-1 Yurakucho. & 03/3211-6001. Main dishes ¥504-¥1,134; set lunches ¥810-¥1,449. No credit
cards. 24 hr., except 1st and 3rd Sun when it's closed 1am-6am. Station: Yurakucho or Hibiya (1 min.). On
Harumi Dori, underneath the elevated Yamanote tracks btw. the Sony and Yurakucho Denki buildings.
Monsoon SOUTHEAST ASIAN With ethnic music and a mock Southeast Asian
decor, this restaurant offers dishes from China, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia,
Indonesia, and Japan, including satays, Thai hot-and-sour soup, steamed dumplings,
noodles and rice dishes (such as Nasi Goreng and pad Thai), curries (you choose the
curry—red, green, or yellow—plus the meat and rice), and much more. While the food
is mediocre, the decor is interesting, the staff is friendly, and it's open late. This restaurant
is actually one of four restaurants ensconced under a freeway in a nifty dining complex
called G-Zone. Each of the restaurants, part of the Global Dining group, offers English-
language menus, inexpensive food, friendly and polished staff, and late opening hours
(see also Zest Cantina, p. 157; La Boheme, p. 134; and Gonpachi, p. 162).
You'll find other Monsoons at 7-3-1 Minami Aoyama ( & 03/3400-7200; station:
Omotesando); in Shibuya at 1-6-8 Jinnan ( & 03/5489-1611; station: Shibuya); in
Ebisu at 4-4-6 Ebisu ( & 03/5789-3811; station: Ebisu); in Nishi Azabu at 2-10-1
Nishi Azabu ( & 03/5467-5221; station: Roppongi); and on the fourth floor of Mediage
on Odaiba ( & 03/3599-4805; station: Odaiba), all open 11:30am to 3:30am or later.
1-2-3 Ginza. & 03/5524-3631. www.monsoon-cafe.jp. Main dishes ¥900-¥1,380; set lunches ¥850-
¥1,580. AE, DC, MC, V. Daily 11:30am-3:30am. Station: Kyobashi (exit 3, 2 min.) or Ginza-Itchome (exit 7,
1 min.). On Chuo Dori, at the northern edge of Ginza.

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9 Shabusen SHABU-SHABU With an improbable location on the
second floor of a fashion department store just a stone's throw from Ginza 4-chome
Crossing (the Harumi Dori-Chuo Dori intersection), this is a fun restaurant where you
can cook your own sukiyaki or shabu-shabu in a boiling pot as you sit at a round coun-
ter or at your private table. It's also one of the few restaurants that caters to individual
diners (shabu-shabu is usually shared by a group). Orders are shouted back and forth
among the staff, service is rapid, and the place is lively. There's an English-language
menu, complete with cooking instructions, so it's user-friendly. The special shabu-shabu
dinner for ¥4,147, with appetizer, tomato (“super dressing”) salad, beef, vegetables,
noodles or rice porridge, and dessert, is enough for most voracious appetites. You'll find
a branch of Shabusen in the basement of the same building ( & 03/3572-3806 ).
Core Building 2F, 5-8-20 Ginza. & 03/3571-1717. Set dinners ¥2,310-¥5,880; set lunches ¥1,155-¥3,150.
AE, DC, MC, V. Daily 11am-10pm. Station: Ginza (1 min.). On Chuo Dori, next to the Nissan Building.