Yobocho – Incredible Quality And flavourful Teishoku Restaurant In Takadanobaba!

Must know Info:

Yobocho Takadanobaba – 洋庖丁高田馬場店 *Cash Only*

〒169-0075 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, Takadanobaba, 3 Chome−1−4 1階

2 minute walk from Takadanobaba station

Hours (as of 2026/02): 11am-3:30pm, 5-10pm everyday except Sunday

Order system: Ticket Machine

Located extremely close to Takadanobaba station on the Yamanote Line, Yobocho is the true definition of a HIDDEN gem, literally speaking.

While their first and only other location (their main shop I guess you could say) is in Ikebukuro, this is the only one I have been to because of how easy it is to get to from places like Shinjuku station (only 2 stations over).

Now, I struggled a lot actually finding where this place was at first, and I realized later that it is because google maps has the wrong location being displayed. So to find it, you need to start by walking down this road called さかえ通り (Sakae Doori) with restaurants left and right. If you are coming from the station (which I assume most of you will be), then the restaurant will be on your right, sort of down a little alley way. The biggest identifiers of it being here is that there is a massage place right next to it, and they will either have pictures of people getting a massage or their windows open where you can see – walk in a bit deeper in the alley-type building and on your right you will find Yobocho!

It is a small shop, with generally only the head chef and maybe his wife working, that or a part time worker. There are only counter seats and there are about 10, all kind of like an old retro diner style.

Outside of the restaurant is a ticket machine, and there are a lot of different menu items, a lot of which are under 1000 yen. Each dish also has the option of normal or large rice (the large option located right underneath the normal one), so once you have put your money in and gotten your ticket, head in, find a seat anywhere and hand it to the chef.

Regardless of what you order it is going to be amazing, and every dish comes with a separate plate of rice as well as miso soup.

My personal favourite to get here is the ”スタミナ焼き＆メチカツランチ” which is what I have pictured here, but it included deeply seasoned sliced pork, and menchi katsu which is a breaded, deep fried meat patty essentially.

The pork specifically is actually called “stamina yaki” because high calorie, nutritious foods like pork or eggs are said to reduce fatigue and give you energy, so it can be a pretty common trope seeing this in Japan.

I thought it was a bit random at first, but as you actually eat the food you kind of start to get where they’re coming from I feel.

The pork, as I mentioned, is seasoned to the gills and this with rice is a match made in heaven.

The menchi katsu is perfectly breaded and loaded with meat, and they even give you some cabbage and oddly thick pasta noodles, which I guess add to the “stamina” portion of the meal? At least the carbs from the pasta would – either that or put you over the edge for a food coma.

But honestly, you can really tell the chef has mastered his craft here, and while he is a man of few words, you can tell he takes passion in what he does. – it is highly reflective in the food.

This is the perfect quick, cheap, and highly flavourful lunch that often is never too busy because a lot of people don’t know it, let alone where to find it!