Nishiazabu Shangu (西麻布 香宮)
🇭🇰🇨🇳 Chinese / 📍 Nishi-Azabu
📓 Visits: 2 (2024)
It's a great space: a super-long counter, windows the length and breadth of the room, carpeted, upholstered chairs, a view of the chefs at work if you're lucky, Nicola Bergman flowers and a Gustav Klimt in the WC. A private room is available for hire as well.
The structure of the course was the same on both visits but most dishes were substantially different and no two dishes were exactly the same. My favourite dish was probably the 5th dish on visit #1: fried lettuce with hoshi kaibashira, enoki and oyster sauce. My least favourite was the wagyu shabu shabu on visit #2. Ironically, these were, respectively, possibly the cheapest and most expensive dishes of all the dishes I've had at Shangu. The first an umami bomb of Cantonese-like flavours. The second, over-refined, the dominant flavours being the taste of marbled beef and an acidic shoyu broth. The char siu in the three-meat cold starter is probably the weakest of the three meats, but the chicken and pork neck somewhat make up for it. The last savoury dish is fried Jasmine rice: minced pork on visit #1 and shirasu, umeboshi, shiso and yukari on visit #2 (too Japanese for me second time). Desserts are made by a specialist pastry chef who previously worked at Pièce Montée in Ginza. A Dekopon, white chocolate, custard and biscuit tart on visit #1 was superb. Less to my preference was a mango pudding on visit #2 but it was high quality, large and had a surprise element of coconut mousse. Both meals ended with tea and a take on a warm Taiwanese castella. I wasn't expecting desserts of this quality in a Chinese restaurant.
Menus are presented in Chinese, Japanese and English. Chef Arishima can speak a few words of English but on visit #1 the restaurant manager had excellent English and was able to properly introduce all the dishes. On visit #2 it was someone else who had very little English. Annoyingly, the chef resorted to attempting to introduce each dish again, sometimes once I'd already started eating it. Worse than that, the restaurant was less busy second time and both the chef and waiter were watching me while I ate. The chef wanted feedback on every dish, at one point almost standing over me until I tasted the next dish.
The drinks menu is in Japanese only. There is a choice of around nine teas at JPY 2,000 each. The tea is served in a pot which will be kept warm on a burner on your table and refilled with boiling water when you run out.
So I enjoyed my first visit more than my second, partly because of the service and partly because of the food, but it could have been due to warmer weather that some of the dishes were a bit lighter. Despite the negatives I will go back for lunch at Shangu. The food is very good, high quality, there's enough of it and it's reasonably priced. Is it as good or authentic or as satisfying as one plate of food in HK for 60 HKD? No, but you can't get that here. This is one of a handful of places I'd eat Chinese food in in Japan.
Shangu will finally be added to the Michelin Guide 2026. Go before the 5k lunch disappears again.
📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1307/A130703/13260412/
❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.1
📱 Booking: 🟩 Lunch by 3pm a day in advance via Tabelog, ResReserve, Pocket Concierge, Ikyu or phone. English Spoken.
📅 Visit May 2024
Chilled Firefly Squid and Jelly Fish with Leek Sauce
Deep-fried Battered Prawn with Sakura Shrimp Powder and Salt
Two Kinds of Barbecued Meat and Cold Chicken
Double-boiled Clear Broth Soup with Shark's Fin and Assorted Vegetables
Stir-fried Lettuce with Crab Meat and its Roe Sauce
Poached Sliced Japanese Beef with Original Oriental Soy Sauce Shabu Shabu-Style
Fried Jasmine Rice with Boiled Whitebait and Crunchy Pickled Plum
SHANGU Pastry Chef's Special Dessert and Chinese Petit Fours
📅 Visit February 2024
Cool Sea Tetsuhachi Claw Fish, Cold Grilled Water Octopus and Jellyfish Head, Seasonal Vegetables with Spicy Sauce
Deep fried New Caledonia angel shrimp with spicy salt and baby leaves
Homemade grilled char siu, pork belly, and cold chicken with scallion sauce - 3-piece set
Shark fin with golden strips and snow crab meat, turnip soup with egg white
Stir-fried lettuce with dried scallops and enoki mushrooms in oyster sauce
Cantonese-style steamed chicken, sausage, shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots with oriental soy sauce
Fried rice with minced pork, mustard greens and olive leaves in oil
SHANGU Pastry Chef's Special Dessert and Chinese Petit Fours
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