Three Monkeys

We arrived starving for some team dinner after work-​out. Thanks to the dark tone, we were so causal and chill. Can’t help too get hands dirty with Soft Shell Crab Salad, served with greensm black pepper vinaigrette, deep fried soft shell crab and crab roe. Then fried salted tofu skewers, in soy sauce. The latter was fair.
But dang dang dang dang, angus rib! My favourite throughout the meal. Tender, juicy and rich in perfect cube sizes. Amazing bite to enlighten the meal. I could never miss meat ball for yakitori. I ordered chicken meatball this time and cooked to perfect. Soft inside which resembles the feature of meatball but with healthier chicken!
Then we roll on with Kurobuta Belly which we doubled the order. Asparagus can be more fresh. Portobello mushroom has some highlight with spice. Sukiyaki was fair.
That Grilled white cod steak has great yuzu soy sauce. I wish I could dip all the rest of the meal with it. And the cod is so tender that can naturally slice themselves when you try to pick it up.
A highly recommended for all place. Date, group, chat, chill, all feasible.

Not bad! This place was a breath of fresh air after a month in Shenzhen. The atmosphere is great, as are the mixed drinks. Nice shochu, too. The food was good, but hardly a revelation. Staff is friendly and quite attentive. For a taste of fine civilization, it was worth it, though mostly it made me yearn for Biwa in Portland, OR.

Fun place for after work drinks
Hanging with friends before dinner and met here for drinks. The vibe was definitely cool with a hint of upscale but not pretentious. We did not order any food but I did enjoy a great Japanese IPA.
We sat inside at a 4 person hightop. Other options included regular tables inside and out on the street along with a small bar. It was cozy.
I look forward to coming back on my next visit and enjoying dinner and more drinks. Thanks Three Monkeys!

Another fusion Japanese-​style skewer restaurant around my neighbourhood. This type of skewer /​Japanese sake style restaurant is getting popular indeed. When reviewing this restaurant, it’s hard to not compare this against yardbird and reference to the more authentic Japanese Gyu-​niku restaurant. We have ordered a number of skewers including ox-​tongue, minced chicken, scallop, prime rib steak and pork belly. All are nicely presented and tasty. The only thing I want to comment is that they accompany the beef skewer with mustard, which I thought was a bit too strong and tended to cover the taste of the meat. I think just a pinch of sea salt will do the trick better.
In the front page of the restaurant menu, there’s a section showing off the high quality forged steel that they use for the grill. I seriously don’t know whether there are any discernible benefits using that. I will very much prefer the authentic «binchoutan» charcoal by Japanese restaurants if there’s really something noteworthy to say about the grill.
Ordered a bottle of sake — nicely served with ice bottle and sake glass of the right size. Ordered edamame to accompany the sake, but tasted a bit flat.
Just one health tips about edamame — don’t eat edamame with beer (I know a lot are doing this), it is bad for your kidney. When I was in Japan there was a TV show about izakaya that taught me about this. Basically it said that there has been scientific proofs that beer and edamame will create stones in your kidney.
This restaurant is good for people who just want to chill and mingo with friends. The food is good and the presentation is definitely excellent. But not quite for foodie.

We stumbled into this spot to grab a drink before dinner. The first things we noticed was the hip/​chill atmosphere, and that the cocktails are a bit pricier than your average bar. A few sips into our first drinks (A Lychee and Amaretto concoction) and my girlf friend and I looked at each other and said (almost at the same time) — hey … I think these may be the best drinks we’ve ever had. We took another sip to vaidate, and indeed they were. Tantamount to our speakeasies back home in NYC, DC, SF. Great spot!