Located on the first basement floor of a building on Namiki Street in Ginza, Tokyo Nikushabuya subin is a high-end restaurant befitting its prestigious location. The restaurant offers Japanese shabu shabu and sukiyaki hotpots with Tajimaguro, the pinnacle of Tajima Beef, which is so rare that it is nearly non-existent.
Tokyo Nikushabuya subin is helmed by Owner-Chef Chungsin Ko, who also runs Tokyo Nikushabuya in Shinjuku. While pursuing the best ingredients and seasonings to offer exclusive shabu shabu hotpots, he encountered Tajimaguro Beef. In order to allow guests to enjoy the “non-existent” beef, he opened Tokyo Nikushabuya subin, a high-end restaurant with private dining rooms, in July 2023.
Tajimaguro is an exclusive beef brand grown by Ueda Chikusan, a beef cattle farm in Hyogo that has received a number of awards from the Kobe Beef industry. True to its name (“maguro” is a Japanese word for tuna), the beef raised on original feed is characterized by flavorful lean meat and high-quality fat that melts at 12.4 degrees Celsius like tuna. The prix-fixe menu starts with oxtail soup, followed by specialties featuring Tajimaguro, such as beef cutlets, lightly grilled sirloin steak topped with Hadate’s raw sea urchins, and beef tartare with caviar. Shabu shabu, the main course, comes with soup stock made by infusing Japanese kelp and Rishiri kelp in cold alkaline natural water from the Shirakami Mountains for 18 hours. The dish is then placed over a fire only after it is served to guests. The hotpot is also accompanied by two sauces, a citrus-flavored soy sauce aged for a couple of months to round off the acidity and a sesame sauce flavored with bonito flakes, both designed to bring out the best in the beef.
The meal ends with somen noodle soup made from four different species of fish and porridge featuring organic Milky Queen rice from Harie NonkiFarm in Shiga. Thus, not only Tajimaguro but all ingredients are carefully selected. The eye-catching wine cellar in the restaurant stores about 100 bottles from Bourgogne, Bordeaux, and other regions in France as well as the US and Italy, curated by the sommelier. In addition, the restaurant keeps more than 10 varieties of sake in stock, including Juyondai from Yamagata and Aramasa from Akita. Guests can also order some cocktails.
Once you open the entrance door in the first basement, you will be greeted by a large bonsai tree at the end of the hall with a touch of elegance. There are two dining rooms: a main room with a seven-seat counter and a private room seating up to four guests. Please enjoy the exquisite flavors of premium Tajimaguro on various occasions with your family, partner, coworkers, or overseas guests at Tokyo Nikushabuya subin.
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* The availability of this webpage does not guarantee that the restaurant presented provides services in English, unless otherwise stated. Please be aware that English services may also depend on staff availability at the restaurant.
Access
7 minutes on foot from Tokyo Metro Ginza Station
6 minutes on foot from JR Shimbashi Station
