It’s worth going against the tourist flow to grab a bite here.
When travelers to Tokyo talk about “Shibuya,” they’re usually talking about the streets and centers to the north of Shibuya Station. That’s the section of the neighborhood where you’ll find the Shibuya Scramble crossing, the statue of faithful dog Hachiko, the Center-gai shopping street, and the Parco department store, with its Nintendo and Pokémon specialty shops.
However, there’s also some great stuff waiting to the south of the station, the less famous and less crowded part of Shibuya, including a fantastic place to try a beloved Japanese dish that you won’t often find in overseas Japanese restaurants: tamagokakegohan, or raw egg over rice.
The Tokyu Plaza Shibuya shopping center is just a block away from Shibuya Station’s west exit (which actually lets you out on the station’s southwest side). Up on the eighth floor of the Tokyo Plaza is Dashihayashi, a teishoku (set meal) restaurant that’s been getting a lot of buzz for its delicious food, beautiful presentation, stylish interior, and, yes, great tamagokakegohan.
We got there right as the restaurant opens for the day at 11 a.m., and we weren’t the only ones, as several other diners were also headed to the entrance as early as possible. Dashihayashi has a long, rounded counter for solo diners, so there’s no need to feel self-conscious if your friends aren’t as adventurous as you are about trying tamagokakegohan and you’re here by yourself.
Rice and eggs aren’t all that Dashihayashi has to offer, though. There are eight different set meals to pick from, starting at a reasonable 1,200 yen (US$7.75). After mulling over our choices, which included simmered wagyu beef, sashimi, and tatsutaage fried chicken, we decided on the kakuni (braised pork belly), which is Dashihayashi’s most popular dish with customers, for 1,780 yen.
But even before our main dish came, the waitstaff served us an earthenware pot of steamed white rice, which they placed next to a plate of fresh eggs and a wooden box containing bonito flakes.
The rice is a special kind, carefully selected by a long-established Kyoto rice merchant for its gently sweet flavor and texture, fluffy without being sticky. Dashihayashi serves their rice first because they’re proud of its quality and want you to enjoy some even before getting to the other flavors in your set meal, and so we selected an egg from the plate, cracked it onto the rice, and sprinkled on some bonito flakes.
The combination was outstanding, especially after we added a quick drizzle of dashijoyu, soy sauce with a dash of bonito stock, for extra flavor. We could have eaten three bowls of the stuff, and we’re not just saying that because of how good it tastes, but also because as part of Dashihayashi’s set meals, you also get unlimited refills of rice and as many eggs as you’d like.
That doesn’t mean, though, that Dashihayashi is trying to use limitless tamagokakegohan to distract you from sub-par main dishes, as we could instantly see when our kakuni arrived.
The thick cut of pork was beautifully presented, and more importantly, soft and succulent. The taste, sweet without being cloying, and texture had us blissfully alternating bites of meat and mouthfuls of rice.
Dashihayashi’s kakuni is perched atop a slice of simmered daikon radish, with a stewed egg keeping them company on the plate. A segmented side-dish plate contained miso paste with ground pork and sliced eggplant. And of course, at any point while you’re eating, you can ask for a refill of rice, grab an egg, and make yourself some more tamagokakegohan.
So while it’s understandable that most people’s first instinct is to head out of Shibuya Station and immediately head north, don’t forget about the south side.
Restaurant information
Dashihayashi / 出汁林
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Dogenzaka 1-2-3, Tokyu Plaza 6th floor
東京都渋谷区道玄坂1-2-3 東急プラザ渋谷6F
Open 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 5 p.m.-11 p.m. (weekdays), 11 a.m.-11 p.m. (weekends, holidays)
Photos © SoraNews24
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