Han no daidokoro bettei shibuya — Restaurant in Tokyo

NOTE: Location on Google Maps seems to be wrong, it's actually diagonally opposite the Taco Bell within the street (not at the corner of it).

Like the abundance of essential shrines and temples, Han no Daidokoro Bettei is a restaurant every traveller in Japan should visit (I would say that it's imperative that you visit). The food is nothing short of immaculate (absolutely melty meat and to die for sides) and the service itself follows suit or if even possible, is even better. All staff members speak English and English menus are available. The restaurant literally welcomes anyone from any country (they'll ask you which country you're from, announce it to all staff, and then welcome you all together).

I find that many foreigner friendly restaurants seem to lose their Japanese touch and feel (it doesn't really feel like you're in Japan eating Japanese food anymore) but Han no Daidokoro Bettei overcomes this and the food and atmosphere remains untainted as Japanese with a twist of Korean. I would highly recommend getting a seat at the counter if you are a party of two as it's magical to watch the chef's at work and speak with them. In terms of the menu, whatever you order, you cannot go wrong so save this restauarant for a night you feel like you're keen to blow some money (food is reasonably priced for what they serve you so make sure you get the expensive stuff because trust me, it's worth it). Reservations are probably a good idea (although I've seen people rock up, make a reservation for a seat within the hour or two) and it's easy to call them or simply swing by and make a reservation.

PS. I was served by Endo-san, if you're seated infront of him, you're...

Chose Han no Daidokoro because of positive reviews on TripAdvisor and Google. We ate early, so the restaurant was fairly empty and the service was really attentive. I was with my son who is nine and asked if we could split the Kobe course as he would not be able to finish a course by himself. The waiter said no, that we had to both have the full course. My son loves Wagyu and this was his birthday trip to Japan so I agreed, as I didn't want him to be disappointed having travelled so far.

The food here is very good, and although I didn't care for the soup, everything else was delicious. The issue is my son was basically full after a few courses and I got full finishing his portions. We ended up with a full plate of Kobe beef that we couldn't eat. (had we known the amount of food we'd probably would have skipped the first courses but didn't want to be rude) At least they let us take it home but it felt like a disappointing overall experience.

It seemed like the restaurant was more interested in getting their extra 25,000 Yen than providing the best experience for my son and I, which they did end up getting.

For me, it was less about the money, and more their willingness to let food go uneaten when it's fresh. My family is in Tokyo for two weeks and this has really been the only negative experience we've had. It's unfortunate because the food and service was great, just the policies putting money over customers leaves a stain on an otherwise...

Five of us had dinner at Han no Daidokoro our first evening in Tokyo. It took me a few minutes to realize that the restaurant is on the 7th floor. I had made an on-line reservation for a private room. We arrived on time and were seated immediately.

We elected for the "Recommended Course" which was about 13,000 yen per person (about US$ 90 at the time). The food, or I should say the meat, was wonderful. I didn't realize that this was a Korean-style barbecue restaurant where you grill your own food at your table. We each took turns grilling and that made the dinner even more fun.

We all agreed that the meat was the best we had ever eaten. I am not sure what all the cuts were, but all were delicious. We were surprised that one of the courses was a Kobe beef burger. It was sooooo good. By far the best burger ever.

One of the photos shows one of my sons holding up a copy of the restaurants certification to handle Kobe beef properly.

Even though we cooked our own food, the service was excellent and very friendly.

The building Han no Daidokoro is in is right next door to the Uniqlo store in Shibuya. The taxi driver didn't recognize the name of the restaurant, but immediately knew were the Uniqlo was.

I don't know if I will ever make it back to Tokyo, but if I do, I will definitely return to this wonderful...