⚠️ This restaurant is currently closed.
Arabikidaze (アラビキダゼ)
⭐⭐⭐
Hamburg / 📍 Ebisu
📓 Visits: 7 (2021-2023)
Arabikidaze opened in May 2021 and, pejoratively, is a rip-off of the excellent Hikiniku To Come (review here), even down to the pricing. The only thing on the menu is three 90g, 100% beef burgers and rice. Originally the set was JPY 1,300 but prices went up within the first month and in since February 2022 extra burgers are 100 yen more. In 2022 there was a 100 yen increase in the set and another in 2023 so it's now JPY 1,600 for the set with additional burgers charged at 400 yen. "Arabiki" means "coarsely ground" and the "daze" is from Bar Daze in Harajuku, which is owned by the same people.
Pick up an egg and a glass of water as you enter, sit down and wait for the food to arrive. There's no English menu but staff will only ask you one question: if you want the "drink set" or the "lunch set" for +200 yen or +400 yen which gives you a choice of one non-alcoholic or alcoholic drink, respectively. On all my visits the grill man has been the same. He can speak some English if you're really stuck and the wait staff can't.
At Hikiniku To Come the burgers are served pretty rare, they break apart fairly easily under your chopsticks and you can grill them a little more to your liking on the coals in front of you. At Arabikidaze the burgers are generally served more well-done but as there's only one grill man when he gets backed up on orders the burgers tend to be served less well-cooked. On my second visit the second burger was blue in the centre so ever since, and as there's no d-i-y grilling here, I've asked for my meat yoku-yaki (well done). Even still, one of my burgers on my next visit was still underdone for my liking, which did somewhat spoil the experience. Compared with Hikiniku To Come the meat is juicier, the flavour is better, there's more of a whack of pepper and a much better crust. The burgers look smaller but the meat is denser (arabiki, ne) and, providing it's properly cooked, I challenge you to cut through these with your chopsticks! There were a couple of bits of gristle in my burgers but I can forgive that for the superior taste. The only place I can think of that serves beef with more umami than this is Nakasei (review here). If it wasn't for the inconsistencies in cooking I'd be rating this restaurant 4.1 - it really is that good.
As opposed to Hikiniku To Come there's no ticket system. The restaurant is very small with an eight-seat counter and a table at the back for four, which, in total, is about half the number of seats at Hikiniku To Come. Spacing is tight and if there are seats free at the back table you'll need to share. They don't let people in before 11:30 but they'll already have some burgers on the go so it's about a 1 minute wait for every position in the queue (e.g. 8th person waits about 8 minutes) for the food to arrive if you're in the first group. Once you're in service is great. The burgers are served one-at-at-time and the staff were pretty good about noticing when diners at the table were ready for their next burger but you can shout 'okawari' for immediate service. This isn't a place to linger but I didn't feel any pressure to shovel my food down as fast as possible like in some ramen shops.
I've been to Arabikidaze at least seven times now (I've started to lose
count) and on my most recent visits, including weekends, there have
always been seats free.
It can get quite smokey inside and there's nowhere to hide your belongings from the fumes. In summer A/C was on full blast and it was a little cold where I sat. The door is kept open for ventilation as well so it's cold in winter if you end up by the door.
In the evening there's an, otoshi, cover charge of 500 yen and more food options.
It doesn't have the same nouveau-Paleolithic atmosphere as Hikiniku To Come but the food is better. 1,600 yen for 270g of meat of this quality is a bargain - much better value than any hamburger restaurant and much better than a cheap steak. I said Arabikidaze was a rip-off but it's actually an improvement.
Queues too long at Arabikidaze but still want a fix of meat? Kintan is across the road and The Kintan Steak is in Ebisu Garden Place.
📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1303/A130302/13259157/
❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.99
📱 Booking: No bookings.
📍 Location:
Map data ©2021 Google
📅 Visit March 2023
Hamburg set 1600
💴 Damage: 1,600
⏱ Time taken: 30m
📅 Visit June 2022
Hamburg set 1400
💴 Damage: 1,400 (cash only)
⏱ Time taken: 15m (queuing: 0m, eating: 15m)
📅 Visit May 2022
Hamburg set 1400
Hamburg +400x2
Miso soup refill +100
⏱ Time taken: 30m (queuing: 0m, eating: 30m)
📅 Visit February 2022
Hamburg set 1400
💴 Damage: 1,400 (cash only)
⏱ Time taken: 25m (queuing: 0m, eating: 25m)
📅 Visit January 2022
Hamburg set 1400
Hamburg +300x2
Miso soup refill +100
💴 Damage: 2,100 (cash only)
⏱ Time taken: 40m (queuing: 5m, eating: 35m)
📅 Visit June 2021
Hamburg set 1400
Hamburg +300
💴 Damage: 1,700 (cash only)
⏱️ Time taken: 35m (eating)
📅 Visit May 2021
Hamburg set 1300
Hamburg +300
💴 Damage: 1,600 (cash only)
⏱️ Time taken: 30m (eating)
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