After walking around Sensoji and the Nakamise Shopping Street, we were quite hungry. We weren’t quite sure what we wanted to eat since we wanted to pretty much eat everything we had seen since we got in the country. Fortunately, there was a shabu shabu and sukiyaki restaurant nestled behind a few stores near the end of the Nakamise Shopping Street. As with many of the small, lesser-known restaurants, it doesn’t appear on Google Maps, but it is listed on Tabelog as Imahambekkan.

After a short wait outside the restaurant, we were greeted by the hostess and brought to our table. We sat in a booth, and the table had two burners in the middle that could be used for certain dishes. We both wanted to try shabu shabu and sukiyaki, so we each ordered a different one and shared the two meals. After we ordered, a large pot full of broth was placed on one of the burners, and our waitress turned it on so it could start heating up for the shabu shabu.

Taylor ordered the sukiyaki and had a shallow iron pot placed on his burner. The waitress then gave him a short demonstration on how to prepare the food. She poured the sauce into the pot and placed some of the meat and vegetables into it. Then it was moved around so it could get coated in the sauce. The sauce itself is a bit sweet and is made from soy sauce, sugar, and mirin (rice wine with low alcohol content for cooking). After the tutorial, Taylor cooked the rest of the meal himself. Once the meat and vegetables were cooked enough, they were then dipped into some raw egg and then eaten. Although we were not used to eating with raw eggs, it did enhance the flavor of the sukiyaki.

Michelle ordered the shabu shabu (shabu shabu literally translates to “swish swish;” it is aptly named that from the sound made when cooking it). By the time her food was brought out the hot pot of broth was boiling. The vegetables that came with her meal were put into the broth so they could start to cook. With shabu shabu, she merely picked up a piece of the thinly sliced beef and dipped it into the broth. Then she moved it back and forth until she thought it was cooked enough. After she took it out, she dipped it into the sauce and ate it.

The shabu shabu is a bit more savory than the sukiyaki, which is sweeter due to the sauce it is cooked in. Both of the meals were delicious and we look forward to having them again.

Google Maps Link: Imahambekkan