Tokyo Sukiyaki Restaurants: How to Book Without Paying the Hidden Fee
Part 4 of our series on Tokyo restaurants where a phone call saves you money, or gets you a table that nothing else will
Sukiyaki is one of Japan's most celebrated hot pot dishes: thinly sliced wagyu simmered in a sweet soy broth, dipped in raw egg, eaten slowly. The best sukiyaki restaurants in Tokyo have been doing this for generations. They are also, almost without exception, the restaurants where the reservation process is most likely to cost you money you didn't expect to spend.
This is part four of our series on Tokyo restaurants that reward you for picking up the phone.
A quick note: restaurant policies change. If any of these spots now appear on Tabelog with an online reservation option, check it carefully before booking through a third-party service. At the restaurants on this list, that difference runs anywhere from 2,400 to 6,000 yen.
Sukiyaki Ibuki
Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku
A sukiyaki restaurant on the second floor of a building in Nishi-Shinjuku, open every day except Sundays, public holidays, and the second Monday of each month. Up to four guests per group. The restaurant is connected to AutoReserve, which means booking through that platform adds a 2,400 yen reservation fee on top of your meal. Calling directly costs nothing extra.
Phone reservations available. No Sundays, public holidays, or second Mondays.
Phone: +81-50-5869-5036 View on Tabelog · Book with Rapym
Moritaya Tokyo Marunouchi
Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku
The Tokyo outpost of a Kyoto institution founded in 1869, on the 35th floor of the Marunouchi Building with views over the Imperial Palace. The restaurant serves Kyoto-style sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, and steak using carefully selected black wagyu. Sixty-four seats across table and tatami seating, private rooms available for larger groups. This restaurant is also connected to AutoReserve. Booking through that platform adds a 6,000 yen reservation fee. Calling directly, or using Rapym to call for you, costs nothing extra.
Open daily except January 1st. Ten percent service charge applies.
Phone: +81-3-5220-0029 View on Tabelog · Book with Rapym
Ushikou Honten
Shinkawa, Chuo-ku
Eight minutes on foot from Kayabacho Station, in a quiet street away from the main business district. Ushikou Honten has been selected for Tabelog's Top 100 Sukiyaki and Shabu-shabu list and has built its reputation almost entirely through regulars. The restaurant serves sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, and teppanyaki across forty-five seats with private rooms available. Reviews note that even calling on the morning of opening can be difficult to get through, which is an accurate measure of how sought-after the tables are.
Phone reservations only. Closed Sundays and public holidays.
Phone: +81-3-3551-8980 View on Tabelog · Book with Rapym
Masudaya
Kagurazaka, Shinjuku
A sukiyaki and shabu-shabu restaurant that traces its origins to a Meiji-era butcher shop, four minutes from Iidabashi Station in the Kagurazaka neighborhood. Tabelog's Top 100 Sukiyaki and Shabu-shabu 2024 selection. The dining room is small and traditional, with kotatsu seating and no private rooms. Cash only, no solo dining, no reservations on Sundays or public holidays. Regulars describe it as the kind of place that fills up quickly on weekdays and is essentially impossible to walk into on weekends without advance planning.
Phone reservations only. Minimum two guests. Cash only. Closed Sundays and public holidays.
Phone: +81-3-3260-1649 View on Tabelog · Book with Rapym
The Hidden Cost Nobody Mentions
Two of the restaurants on this list are connected to AutoReserve, a service that calls the restaurant on your behalf and charges a reservation fee for doing so. The fee is not disclosed upfront in a way most users notice. At Sukiyaki Ibuki, it is 2,400 yen. At Moritaya Marunouchi, it is 6,000 yen. Neither fee goes to the restaurant.
Calling directly avoids the fee entirely. If you don't speak Japanese, Rapym makes the call for you in natural Japanese, confirms the reservation in your name, and charges nothing beyond its standard per-call pricing. The restaurant receives a normal phone call. You get the table without the markup.
How to Book Any of These
Every restaurant on this list takes reservations by phone, in Japanese. If you speak Japanese, calling during afternoon hours between 2pm and 5pm tends to work best. If you don't, Rapym can make the call for you.
You give Rapym the restaurant name, phone number, your preferred date, time, and party size. Rapym calls the restaurant in natural Japanese, handles the full conversation, and confirms the reservation in your name. Current success rate on completed calls is over 90 percent.
Rapym makes restaurant reservations in Japan on your behalf, in Japanese, by phone, for any restaurant. Try it here
Also in this series: Why Tokyo's best restaurants only take phone calls Tokyo Yakiniku Restaurants You Can Only Book by Phone Tokyo Monjayaki Restaurants You Can Only Book by Phone Tokyo Unagi Restaurants You Can Only Book by Phone