If you walk just five minutes from the Hachiko exit of Shibuya station you’ll find yourself at Chitose kaikan. “Niku Yokocho” is a theme park so to speak that spans across two floors and is made up of 24 different vendors selling meat. “Shibuya Yokocho” first opened back in 2010 but in 2015 seven new meat vendors opened up on the 3rd level to make up “Yokocho-banare” All of this delicious meat can be bought here at a low price and enjoyed by all ages, from the young non-drinking teenager to the business man (salary man) who just got off from work.
We sent our reporters Kumiko Funayama, Ai Matsumoto and Hikari Shiina on a mission to find out the most delicious meat available at “Niku Yokocho”.
The inside of the building has a retro theme from the Showa period of Japan. As soon as our three laid eyes on the place they were filled with excitement! And now it was time to fill up on meat too!
Their first stop, which was located on their right upon entering the building, was “Shirotareya”. Listed on their menu was Hakata’s local delicacy, motsu nabe and kushiya smeared with Shirotareya’s secret sauce. The girls each ordered some beef, beef hormone meat and skewers of lamb kushiya. After ordering, the meat was cooked right before their eyes so they were able to enjoy the taste of freshly grilled meat.
Their second stop was “Nikutennokuni”. This vendor is famous for its tempura meat (deep-fried meat) and sushi. Tempura is one of Japan’s traditional dishes and uses a mix of water, egg and flour as its base for deep-frying a variety of vegetables, fish and other foods. Here our girls decided to order some chicken tempura which was listed on the menu as “toriten” and some tomato-filled meat. The tomato was so refreshing that one person could easily gobble one up on their own. And it’s great to know that many of the vegetables used are organic and the oil used to fry them is canola oil.
The third stop was “Teppanyaki Yappa”. Here they cook cone-shaped beef and pork, seasonal vegetables and tamogayaki on an iron plate. Here you can enjoy dishes that have been made by chefs that have been trained at some of Ginza’s most high class Teppanyaki restaurants at a reasonable price. The girls ordered steak here but even the side menu offered meals that shined with sheer perfection.
Their forth and final stop was “Niku CHIKA”. Located at the basement of a row of supermarkets, this vendor’s name was based off its location and similar to that of a butcher shop, customers can choose from a variety of meat showcased, with orders being taken from just one slice of meat. You can eat as little as you want, so at the second place we stopped by at you can use this meat there. Their speciality is the yaki sukiyaki. It’s covered with sweet marinade and quickly grilled and after being dipped in egg it’s ready to eat! “Niku CHIKA” also has an all-you-can-eat option and is very popular with many visitors.
On this visit, our reporters were only able to check out just four of the vendors in “Niku Yokocho” but there are actually another 20 more of them. At “Niku Yokocho” you can also get your meals delivered to you, so I would make the most of it and try a variety of meat-based dishes while you’re here!
Photos by kobadog
Translated by Cheryl Coyle
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Niku Yokocho ShibuyaMAP
A university student who loves literature and art. On weekdays I usually take part in works something related with Manga's promotion and designs. On weekends I spend my time with drawing illustrations or visiting some exhibitions. I love cities of Harajuku and Ikebukuro in Tokyo and Barcelona in Spain. I hope to live in Edinburgh in some day.
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