Gaijin Gourmet: The Best Salad Bar in Tokyo? - Sizzler in Setagaya

I think, by far, the best salad bar in Tokyo is the Sizzler in Setagaya on 246.


The restaurant is about 6 minutes walk from the west exit of Sakura Shnmachi station on the Denen-Toshi line about 12 minutes from Shibuya heading towards Kanagawa. The restaurant is open from 11 am until 11 pm seven days a week. Here is their webpage (sorry Japanese only!) 


The salad bar there is fantastic. The place is extremely clean and kept quite nice. The food is always fresh (I've been there dozens and dozens of times).


The all you can eat lunch bar includes bread, soup, drink and dessert bar. Lunch all you can eat is ¥1980
Dinner all you can eat is ¥2380


It's the best salad bar deal I've ever seen in Tokyo. The food is good, I can relax, and the kids love the place. Everyone can find what they want at Sizzler in Setagaya.


Here, let me allow the photos to do the talking.

Outside view of building from 246 heading toward Shibuya. Beautiful newly reformed building. Parking for about 28 cars. 

Quite spacious inside. This photo is about 1/4 of the entire restaurant so it seats a few hundred easily. 

Large salad and fruits bar. Seriously, it's huge and the size of a salad bar you'd see in the United States.

About 21 different vegetables and organic tofu seen here.

12 different mixed salads here.... Seafood salad, Waldorf salad, others...

as well as apples, white and pink grapefruit sliced, bananas, orange slices, pineapple, peaches, as well as diced onions, shredded lettuce, olives, jalapenos, mixed cheese and salsa which is for...

...the burritos you can make. Taco meat and melted cheese for cheese nachos, gratin, spaghetti and curry rice are also available on the salad bar menu at no extra charge... 

There is also soup bar that offers at least three types of soup daily 

Of course, there are several styles of bread to choose from...

The drink bar offers everything you can think of....

And, of course, the kid's favorite, the dessert bar. Shoe-cream, coffee cake, chocolate mousse, apple strudel, three flavors of soft cream "ice cream" and chocolate and all sort of goodies that the kids like to sprinkle on top. Beware parents! The chocolate fountain pictured is only out on weekends and weeknights after 6 pm!

The address is: 

Setagaya Sizzler 

Sakura Shinmachi 1 - 33 - 5

Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 

Tel: 03 - 3705 - 4919

東京都世田谷桜新町１−３３−５

URL: webpage

Take the west exit from Sakura Shinmachi station. Turn left down Sazai-san street. When you get to the police box turn right and go up the hill. It's a one-way street. Follow the road up and turn to your left at the end. Sizzler will be on your left. Can't miss it.

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Eat Your Way to a Greener Planet

There are so many little things we do in our lives to make a difference. Almost everyone does something. This week, I thought I'd talk about how what we eat can impact the environment.

The biggest choice I make to eat environmentally is eating meatless meals.

I'm a vegetarian, so this one comes easy to me. Both One Million Acts of Green and The David Suzuki Foundation suggest eating at least one meatless meal a week can make a difference. When I first heard of this, I didn't really get it. Why would my eating vegetarian made a difference? Then I did a little research. Animals raised for meat are the largest land users on the planet when you combine their pasture land with the land used to raise crops to feed the animals. Once the meat is brought to slaughter, the methods used also tax the environment: a massive amount of water is used, the processing and packaging plants emit high amount of carbon, not to mention the amount of fossil fuels used to transport the meat. And don't forget, the animals themselves create a significant amount of gasses that impact the environment.

I know to many of my meat-eater friends, the thought of giving up their yummy meat is kind of scary and limiting. It doesn't have to be. There's a lot to choose from out there, and it's getting easier and easier to find good vegetarian choices.

We live in a world of fast food and convenience food. Most fast food outlets are now offering vegetarian offerings along with their beef, chicken or fish choices. Yes, veggie burgers are tasty and if they are made properly, no they don't taste like sawdust. Also, salads and other healthy alternatives are popping up as fast food, so keep your eye out for vegetarian and healthy choices.

If you're not the fast food type, most restaurants are also becoming more and more vegetarian friendly. There is usually at least one offering on the menu that is vegetarian or that could be easily modified to be vegetarian. Just ask the wait staff about hidden ingredients like bacon bit toppings or stock used in the sauce and usually the kitchen will be able to modify their menu selection to make it vegetarian. If you're considering getting a vegetarian sounding soup, make sure you double check if the stock used to make the soup is vegetable based. Most soups are made with either chicken or beef stock.

There are lots of options to try vegetarian cooking at home, and it can be a real adventure to find the perfect recipe. There are some great vegetarian cookbooks out on the market, and the internet is a wealth of vegetarian websites and vegetarian recipes are available on most cooking sites. I highly recommend taking a look at the vegetarian recipes on The Food Network and Whole Foods, both of these sites have a great variety of meatless recipes for cooks at any skill level. If you'd rather try something premade, there are now a wealth of pre-made vegetarian options available.

The trick to remember when you're eating meatless is variety. Choose a diverse palate and try new things. Don't be afraid of the much maligned tofu. Yes, if you eat it the way it comes, it will taste gross. I won't lie, plain tofu is not tasty. But the beauty of tofu is that it takes on the flavours of a dish so nicely. Soft tofu is a great addition to drinks or soups or even some desserts, and firm tofu can be crumbled into soups and sauces, or it can be fried or grilled after it's been marinated. I promise you, if you prepare it correctly, tofu is a great addition to any meal.

If you like eating one vegetarian meal and eventually decide to become a vegetarian, make sure you do your research so you do it right. You need to know where to the best sources of protein are and how to combine different foods for optimal nutrition. If you don't, you run the risk of getting quite ill from a lack of needed nutrients. That said, it's not that hard to be vegetarian, but there is more planning involved.

Good luck, I hope some of our readers try a vegetarian meal. If you do, I'd love to hear what you tried and what you thought.

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