Red Rock Harajuku

“Decent Roast Beef Don”

Have been wanting to try Red Rock’s roast beef bowl for some time now. Finally was able to go last week to see if all the hype is worth it. It is…

A short walk from Harajuku is Red Rock. It is in the basement of a building so if you are looking for it at street level, you will not find it. Worry not, there is a decent signage to point you in the right direction. We went there last Friday night, little after 7:30pm. It was a cold and rainy day…maybe that is why there was no line to wait on! But after we arrived, then seems like everyone came, and the line stretched up the stairs almost to the street level. Guess we were lucky as I have heard of line from hell where people wait HOURS to eat their roast beef.

When you arrive, hopefully without any line, go down the stairs and then you will find a ticket vending machine. Order your food here, get your ticket, and then when a seat is available they will come out, take your ticket, and seat you. I would definitely recommend going off hours because waiting on line sucks, regardless how good the food is!

Initially saw this on a TV show and saw a huge mound of roast beef over rice. So had to try it. Ordered the Roast Beef Bowl large- well so I thought. I also wanted the soup and salad but what happens with the order is the rice is on the side. So no towering beef over rice. Just beside the rice now.

So it came out shortly after we were seated, and looked scrumptious. The tangy yogurt sauce is yummy, as is the raw egg on top. Beef was perfectly tender and tasty. Not crazy good tasty like I was hoping for, but tasty nonetheless. Thing is, even though I got the “large”, it was not that large in my stomach. To be honest, I could have eaten another one or even 2 very easily. Anyway, it was pretty tasty, and portion size (for Japan), larger than you would expect.

We also ordered a Regular size and you should skip the regular and go for the large version. Trust me, you WILL EAT it all! And stay away from the “hamburg”. We ordered one and it was nothing special at all. Stick with what everybody else is ordering and that is roast beef bowls!

If there is a long line, I’d say skip it and try again another time. If no line, stop in for a bite. Lastly I’d say this place is best for lunch as opposed to dinner…especially if you can get in without having to wait on a long line!