My friends and I have decided to have a Christmas Party where we'll be exchanging gifts. Actually, it's just an excuse to gather and eat together. The week prior to this we gathered and ate and then made a decision to gather again - what else for but to eat. 😅
We've already tried different cuisines together so we're not so sure what would be the best for this special occasion. @thinkeringbart was put in charge (actually I assigned him LOL) to look and reserve a place to eat but he was busy and all he could think about was the last resort of going to Yama-chan, a famous restaurant for serving teppanyaki and peppery chicken wings. A friend didn't want that because it's not his mood, and since it's now cold in Tokyo, he wanted to have shabu shabu. The preparation of looking and reserving a restaurant for 8 people only took less than a week and with my help, we got a spot!
Onyasai Shabu Shabu is a shabu shabu chain in Tokyo, with many branches in different places, even 3 in Shinjuku, but we opted to dine at Ebisu in Shibuya-ku. We noticed that the Google Maps rating for the branch in Ebisu is high so we decided to have our party there. It's also an opportunity to roam around Ebisu and see the illumination at the nearby Yebisu Garden Place.
The restaurant is so very near the train station (and also very near my workplace LOL). Even when I've been here few times, I didn't notice this until the day we went. I think it's because it's located on the basement floor, that's why you won't notice right away.
It's hard to get seats for a big group like us so we're lucky to be able to reserve online. And we're situated in their private-like room, good for hosting a bigger group. There were tables too where you don't need to take off your shoes.
In this private-like room, you need to take off your shoes to enter this area. Restaurants with seats like this are for me so traditional and I like it because the feels is so Japan. Just that my only regret that day was wearing sneakers that weren't easy to wear and they didn't really have a seat for wearing and taking out your shoes. They have a shoe cabinet though, and of course they provide slippers for you to use when you go to the toilet.
There are different all-you-can-eat courses on their menu but you can opt for non all-you-can-eat. Given we're so hungry that night, we got the Onyasai Course All-You-Can-Eat. It's that 3,480 yen (without tax) on the menu. We also got the softdrink all-you-can-drink for an additional amount. We decided not to get the alcoholic all-you-can-drink that night because we'll just drink later in another place.
The food came fast. The mechanics was that after the first round of food would arrive, we can order additional items on the tablet they provided per table. But before the first round arrived, we were already busy ordering for add ons. 😂
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The first round would be the veggies platter and different kinds of meat. We immediately put all the veggies in the soup and ordered some side dishes.
Our soup were Wagyu Beef Dashi (牛テールと香味野菜の和牛だし) on the left and Sukiyaki (たまり醤油と黒糖のすき焼きだし) on the right. On the other table, they got some spicy soup and Sukiyaki like us. We were separated into 2 tables, so 4 of us shared one pot.
Kampai~ (Cheers!) It's always a must before eating. We've become accustomed to Japanese culture of drinking first before eating. 😅
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I couldn't remember anymore what we ordered but we ordered a lot of dishes. It's all-you-can-eat so we made sure to fill our bellies that night. I couldn't count how many containers of meat we ordered because after it arrived, we put it in the soup right away and eat. The meat was cut so thinly, so perfect for shabu shabu. The marble on the meat was okay. It's still very tasty!
I didn't have any favorites but the mochi we accidentally ordered was interesting. Actually it was me who ordered, and I just ordered anything that I thought would be tasty. We were so efficient in our roles - I was in charge of ordering, others in cooking, another for dishing out. 😂
We wouldn't miss ordering meatballs in any Shabu Shabu restaurant. It's in a bamboo tube, and they had 2 kinds: one with cheese and one without. We got both and both were good!
The meat and vegetables options were good. I've been to another Shabu Shabu restaurant in Osaka before and that's still my top 1. Onyasai is probably my top 2. I haven't been to a lot so I could only compare a few restaurants. I super like their service here because it's really so fast. After ordering, the food would arrive immediately. There's no room for breathing. 😂
15 minutes before our time ended, we were already full but my friends on the other table were still eating their pile of meat and veggies. Honestly I could still eat but I chose not to, it might be difficult to move if you're 100% or more full. And there's room for desserts!
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I got tiramisu while my friends got coffee jelly and parfait. While our table was enjoying the desserts, the other table was so full they were just sharing their desserts. 😂 Desserts are part of the course menu we got but it's not all-you-can-eat, only for 1 round. My tiramisu was good! Just enough to wash away the meat in my mouth and replaced by the sweet and chocolatey flavor.
Overall, we totally enjoyed dining. For around 4,300 yen (~30 USD) each, it was totally worth it. I even want to come back with my partner or with other groups of friends.
Did I say this was a party and we'll be exchanging gifts? Of course, we didn't do that. 😂 We're totally preoccupied by eating and we didn't have time to think about other things.
Going out of the restaurant, we were greeted by this message on the wall saying thank you for coming today. Ohhhh I really want to come again!
If you're planning to dine in here, make sure to reserve especially if you're a big group. You can reserve online or call the restaurant.
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
With love,
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.
