Some of our friends were in Japan on vacation and wanted to meet up. We decided to look for a place with unique cuisine that they hadn’t tried before. We are huge fans of charcoal grilled chicken like the one we had at Torinoya during our New Years Road Trip. When looking for a place in Shibuya, we were a little bummed that all of the super highly rated izakaya’s were only open for dinner. We ended up choosing Kagoshima Cuisine at Maruman in Shibuya.

The restaurant was located on the 6th floor of Tokyu Plaza Shibuya which was just one main intersection south of Shibuya Crossing. The plaza is a sprawling mix of retail, restaurants, and office space. We had a larger party, so we called ahead to make a reservation. We’ve had trouble in the past when trying to find a table for more than four people. We were able to make a reservation without any issue and made it just in time. The restaurant was pretty large with a good amount of tables and chairs. They even had a balcony that overlooked downtown Shibuya.

Kagoshima Cuisine at Maruman Menu

The lunch menu consisted of a nice variety of Kagoshima Local Specialties. From their famous charcoal grilled chicken to their well known black pork and sashimi. They also had several other dishes to choose from like tempura bowls and shabu shabu. We appreciate how the menu featured different price points for the charcoal grilled chicken. Charcoal grilled chicken came in a bowl, set meal, and large variety platter. We decided to share a charcoal grilled chicken set and a tempura and zaru udon set.

Kagoshima Cuisine at Maruman Food Review

First to come out was the tempura and zaru udon set. The tempura was nice and crispy. It was drizzled with a sweet soy based sauce that was delicious. We mixed the onions and wasabi into the dipping sauce for the udon to give it a little kick. The soft cold noodles were a nice contrast to the crispy and hot tempura. The side of warabi mochi was a nice flavorful dessert.

Shortly after, our charcoal grilled chicken set came out. We were a little disappointed on the amount of chicken that was included with the set meal. Presentation wise, they should have chosen a smaller plate and put more chicken on it. The charcoal grilled chicken was good. It had a nice charcoal flavor and the meat was tender. It definitely, wasn’t as good as the one we had at Torinoya, but it wasn’t bad.

We were really confused with the piece of bone that was included. They had a special paper holder just for the bone. Looking at the bone, there wasn’t really any meat to actually eat off of the bone. In addition, the bone was so brittle that it crumbled with just the slightest amount of pressure.

Final Thoughts

Kagoshima Cuisine at Maruman in Shibuya was conveniently located just 5 minutes away from the Shibuya Scramble and Shibuya Station. The charcoal grilled chicken was good, but not amazing. In the future, we’re likely to try one of the nearby izakaya’s for dinner.

More to Come…

Here is a link to their website.