Magari Araiya Shibuya

⚠️ Since September they have indefinitely paused service.

Magari Araiya Shibuya (MAGARI 新井屋 渋谷)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍝 Pasta / 📍 Shibuya

📓 Visits: 2

Araiya Shibuya is a yakiniku restaurant by night but since April at weekend and holiday lunchtime only has started serving a single item of meat spaghetti.

In addition to desserts and drinks on the Japanese-only menu there are a few options:
extra cheese: +200 yen
onsen tamago: +100 yen
raw egg +100 yen
lunch salad: +200 yen
garlic bread: +200 yen

You can also request oomori (large - +200 yen) or tokumori (extra large - +400 yen) but that just gets you more pasta and no more meat.

I requested standard size with no options.  Food arrived after about 10 mins.  Pictures don't do the pasta justice.  There are actually two hunks of beef on top and mince in the pasta sauce.  The pasta was actually tagliatelle first time but spaghetti second.  It's fresh pasta and has excellent flavour and was perfectly cooked.  The sauce was excellent: full of flavour with a lift from the fresh tomato.  The meat on top was really beefy and fell apart (I feel like it was slightly smaller on my second visit).  There were so many layers of flavour in this unassuming bowl of pasta that it never got boring and after a coffee from elsewhere it's enough until dinner.

It says 1,300 yen on the menu so I was a bit miffed to be presented with a bill for 1,430 yen but then I didn't read the small print: excluding tax.  It's only 130 yen difference so it didn't make me mad because the food was so good but this is a violation of the Consumption Tax Act and they need to fix their menu.

There aren't many tables in the restaurant but on both my visits (11:40 and 12:45 there were still seats free).  Service from other staff is a bit perfunctory but owner/chef Arai-san is enthusiastic.

There's nothing to fault here.  This is the best bowl of pasta I've eaten outside of Michelin-starred restaurants and exceptional value for under 1,500 yen.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1303/A130301/13270176/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0

📱 Booking: No bookings.  The restaurant opens at 11:30, contrary to Tabelog.  Definitely call ahead on the day to confirm they're open because in recent weeks (September 2022) they haven't been.

📍 Location:

Seedy Dogenzaka.  2-19-13 Dogenzaka.  A few mins walk from the A0 Exit of Shibuya station.  Dedicated street-facing entrance.
Map data ©2022 Google

📅 Visit July 2022

💴 Damage: 1,430 (cash only)
⏱️ Time taken: 25m

📅 Visit June 2022

💴 Damage: 1,430 (cash only)
⏱️ Time taken: 25m