Special Dining Room Nihonbashi – Grand Japanese restaurant at Mitsukoshi Main Store

Special Dining Room Nihonbashi (特別食堂 日本橋) is a plain name for a grand Japanese restaurant in the Mitsukoshi Main Store in Tokyo. It is sometimes referred to as Tokubetsu Shokudou Nihonbashi and is part of the Tokyo Kaikan group that runs posh restaurants including the Yachiyo in Marunouchi which we visited on a previous trip to Tokyo.

Tokubetsu Shokudou Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi

The Special Dining Room Nihonbashi is located on the 7th floor of Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi, Tokyo. It is said to be Japan’s first department store with a history of more than 350 years and described as a “must-visit landmark in Tokyo“. It is a grand old store that has stood the test of time. In addition to the polished shopping experience, the other highlights at this store include the 11 metre Statue of Magokoro wooden sculpture that took a decade to complete and a pipe organ which is played at fixed hours of the day. On our recent visit, we discovered another gem in this Tokyo department store. It is simply known as 特別食堂 日本橋.

Special Dining Room Nihonbashi

As tourists who are not conversant in Japanese, we found the dining experience at Special Dining Room Nihonbashi to be pleasant and easy. First, life-size mock-ups of most of the main dishes are displayed at the entrance of the restaurant. It is easy to preview what to eat for lunch.

Waiting Room and Dining Hall

The next thing that impressed us was the elegant waiting room for customers. This was not a makeshift row of chairs outside the restaurant. Customers without reservations (like us) were given queue numbers and ushered into this nice room with plush sofas. Fortunately, we went on a weekday and did not wait long to get a table.

This is what the large dining hall looks like. It looks like old school Chinese restaurants in hotels in Singapore. Tien Court :Teochew Restaurant came to mind but this special dining room in Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi was much larger. The empty tables were soon filled with hungry diners.

Special Dining Room Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Menu

The restaurant menu is big and glossy. It was in Japanese with English descriptions. This a general washoku restaurant and so all the main types of popular Japanese cuisine are available here – eg. tempura, sushi, unagi etc. This makes it a convenient place to have lunch with people with different Japanese food preferences.

Here are pictures of some pages from the food menu as well as a sample page from the drink menu. The sake selection is not as wide as we were expecting. For our lunch we selected the grilled abalone and scallops set (6490 yen) and “Komachi” set (5830 yen).

Lunch at Japanese Restaurant in Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi

The Komachi set is suitable for those who wished to have a bit of everything. This set menu had sashimi, tempura, grilled beef, steamed egg, a pickled dish, miso soup and rice.

Here is a closer look at the main components. Each one was good and delicious. Not as exquisite as dining at specialist tempura or sushi restaurants, but good enough.

The grilled abalone and scallops set was similar but improved with the two highlighted seafood items.

The abalone and scallops were kept warm in the heated pot. They were soft and lightly flavoured by the gravy. The sashimi was fresh and translucent. A very good value for money lunch set in Tokyo. This special dining room at Nihonbashi is indeed a good place to stop for a quick Japanese set meal in between shopping at Mitsukoshi. It explains its continued popularity.

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 4
Value: 3
Atmosphere: 4
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs 

Special Dining Room Nihonbashi 特別食堂　日本橋

Address:
1-4-1 Nihonbashimuromachi Chuo-ku Nihombashi
Mitsukoshi Main Store Main Building 7F
Tel: +81 3 3274 8495

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