SHIMBASHI/HAMAMATSUCHO: Mandala 2nd. Curry Done Right!

New Office, new town...not one to be prisoner of the restaurants in the building.  Checked out Tabelog Shinbashi and I was ready to start exploring.  Mandala 2 was one of the first highly ranked lunch spots I found in the Shimbashi/Hamamatsucho area.  All Indian chefs, service was quick and extremely friendly...

Went for the Butter Chicken Lunch, there are a few choices and one selection for vegetarians.  Now if you ever want to know what a delicious dish of Indian curry tastes like then this is your spot.  Lines start at around 11:50am so I suggest going at 11:40 or around 1pm when the lunch crowd dies down.  But there will be a steady line thru the afternoon.

You can select between mild, hot and super hot curry seasonings, the Nan had the perfect balance of chewy and crispy, and you close with a small yogurt dish.  I seem to find myself here once a week but its definitely 

worth it.  

Restaurant: Mandala 2nd

Location: Between Shimbashi and Hamamatsucho Station.

Foodie Website: http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1314/A131401/13009273/

Gnavi Website: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g518600/

Address J: 東京都港区新橋6-7-2 ヤマトヨビル1F

Address E: Tokyo, Minato-ku, Shinbashi 6-7-2

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DAIMON: Ushi No Kura (1,000yen Yakiniku Lunch)... good stuff!

Met up with Mari for lunch at Daimon... whats there to eat in Daimon/Hamamatsucho?  

This was probably the best lunch I've had in the area.  1,000yen for Yakiniku lunch with Kalbi beef that was amazingly tender.

Lunch comes with Salad, small selection of veggies, rice, miso soup and drink.

I tried the Rossu and Kalbi Mix.

Mari went for the Kalbi... the quality of beef was excellent.

Chef in charge of the beef.  Weighing each piece.

Lunch Menu. 1,000yen plus 5% tax.

Overall excellent service, great food, very little yakiniku smoke and amazing value at 1,000yen.

Location: DAIMON (Oedo Line) / HAMAMATSU-CHO (Jr Yamanote Line)

Website: http://www.ushinokura.com/daimon/index.html 

They also have a shop in
Hiroo http://www.ushinokura.com/hiroo/index.html
Akasaka http://www.ushinokura.com/akasaka/index.html

Foodie Blog: http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1314/A131401/13046606/

Address J: 東京都港区浜松町1-28-13
Address E: Tokyo, Minato-ku, Hamamatsu-cho 1-28-13, Moon Street Daimon Building 5F.

http://www.ushinokura.com/daimon/access.html

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DAIMON (Hamamatsu-cho): Hijiri-Tei... Home Style Cookin~.

Daimon...Daimon.. what's good to eat in Daimon.  If you are new to a town and don't know where to go then why not check out Japan's top foodie site Tabelog for a few hints.  We decided to hit up Hijiri-Tei for a nice fish lunch but there were a other great choices on the menu.

Lunch Menu.

Three small dishes and a bowl of rice come with your lunch selection.

Mari picked the Minced Chicken meat balls with Tofu and little quail eggs.

I looked around before making my choice and all the Salarymen were eating the "Menchi-Katsu" so I went for that.  Great crispy breading and very juicy...

Choice of Miso Soup or Natto Miso Soup... no Natto for me~.

The atmosphere was very old skool Japan... counter seating for about 5 shoulder to shoulder, tiny tables that seat from 2-4 people, lots of Sake along the wall and a little old guy doing all the cooking.  I'd classify the food as home cooking and both dishes were very good... I'll definitely go again.

Shop: Hijiri-Tei.

Website:  http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1314/A131401/13013895/

Address: 東京都港区芝大門1-8-4 Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Shiba Daimon 1-8-4

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