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Monday, February 11, 2013

SHIBUYA: Gonpachi wonderfully spacious ridiculously priced Yakitori

After a few great pizza's at Shibuya's UraCona we were trying to figure out where to end the evening and just by chance walked past Shibuya Gonpachi... Not the famed rather inconvenient Kill Bill branch of Nishi Azabu but it peeked my interest.

Didn't realize elegant Legato was in the same building.

Guess Carm Douro 2010 was the wine of choice here.

Nice long bar counter... We were seated in the waiting area around 10:30pm... restaurant was about 20% occupied and we sat... and sat... and guess the bartender forgot to let the waitress know about us.

Great "L" counter seating with direct view of the Yakitori Chef.



Wine bottles started at 1,980yen... not too bad.


But the shocker was the price of the Yakitori.  Easily costing 2.5-3x more than the majority of great spots in Tokyo and volume of meat was painfully low. OH! This spot has a devastatingly low foodie ranking of 3.02 points... meaning the local non-tourist crowd was not impressed.

Picked out my favorite Bonjiri (Chicken Butt), Liver and one other...

Supermarket Kyushu Young Chic "Bonjiri" in its pre-yakitori'd form.

Ordered Imo-Jochu but the hot tea was free I think.

Yakitori sticks unnecessarily placed in a fancy refrigeration display kinda like Sushi.


Closed with Engiri (mushroom) and Mini-Tomato wrapped in Bacon... ugh the cost performance was so low.  Makes me quite sad to see how much they can charge for Yakitori but then again the restaurant was so immaculately clean, super spacious, high ceilings and service from the chef/waitress was spectacular.

There are private rooms in the back for the celebs... but I suggest sitting in front of the Yakitori Chef.  The circulation system was very good so no smokey smoke on your clothes.


Nice view of tiny Tokyo tower from the glass elevator.  Overall if I was seeking comfort/spaciousness/spot on great service I'd go back to Gonpachi.  But for those who are hungry and not on an expense account there are so many other truly historic old skool Yakitori shops that hands down will blow away Shibuya Gonpachi in any taste/volume test.  One is DEFINITELY... Kushiwakamaru in Nakameguro!  Or if you are on a budget just hit up Torikizoku (280yen 2 stick franchise everywhere). 

Shop: Gonpachi Shibuya Branch
Address J: 東京都渋谷区円山町3-6 スペースタワー 14F
Address E: Tokyo, Shibuya-lu, Maruyamacho 3-6, 14F
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