Shabu-Tatsu

Join the neighborhood regulars—and demonstrate your chef skills—at this tiny barbecue spot. Gathering around bubbling hot pots and grills built into smooth wooden booths is as much a social event as a meal. Simmer your dinner shabu-shabu–style in salty seaweed broth. (Sesame sauce and lemon soy sauce add a welcome zing to what could otherwise be bland boiled beef and vegetables.) For a spicier experience, use the grill yakiniku-style for meat flavored in spicy bean paste or mustard sauce. All dinners come with a salad, rice, tea and ice cream.