Yamato Shinbashi

They have good lunch special sets for deals!
Got my sashimi meal for merely $ 10 and when in Asia, you don’t have to tip! Wow.
I came here for their Izakaya, but unfortunately, it was only serving for dinner. My sashimi was fresh, so I shouldn’t be complaining.
Staff were polite, but I reckon that I wouldn’t come here again. There’s simply too many restaurants to try in Tokyo, my days are limited and so my meals are limited! Mind as well strive for the best, right?

I can see why people may not particularly share the same affinity that I do for this place; the food here is good, but not great — it’s also somewhat hidden away from the SA Plaza, past a whole slew of other stores that offer the same exact fare at competitive prices, so nothing about this place particularly pops out as «must visit.»
That being said, those of us who are in the know about Yamato (and its other franchises) are fiercely loyal to this joint, and here’s why:
1. Weekend Discounts
Yamato tries to reconcile for the fact that the primarily business-​oriented neighborhood of Shimbashi gets very little visitors on every front on the weekends, and often times has outrageous discounts on food and drink. The most notable of these is that Draft Yebisu/​Premium Malts is only 190 yen per glass on the weekends.
2. No «Forced» Sets
A lot of Japanese Izakayas and restaurants tend to force their patrons to order set menus when making reservations for larger groups of people. (for End-​Year Celebrations, Birthdays, etc.) Yamato, however, holds no such restrictions, making it a very suitable/​economic choice for larger groups as well.
3. The Food
Whereas Yamato doesn’t particularly excel at any one thing, the quality of their food – despite being standard Izakaya fare – is actually pretty amicable. Every time we go, we order their Spicy Chicken w/​Cabbage, which is by far the best dish available; their Sushi is surprisingly fresh for being an Izakaya; they also make pretty decent tsukuri and kamayaki; and somewhat surprisingly, their Otoushi changes almost on a daily basis.
4. The Drinks
Yamato does all the Izakaya classics (chu-​hai, –wari, etc.), they have a mid-​level selection of Nihonshu/​Shouchu, and best of all, their draft beers are Yebisu and Sapporo Premium Malts. Their bottle service also isn’t outrageously spendy, if you’re a fan of ballin’ out without draining your savings.
I wouldn’t quite recommend this place to tourists and foreigners, but this place is great for large groups, especially if the focus of your meal is more about enjoying the company of your fellow man/​woman, rather than the absolute quality of the food itself.

We came here out of desperation as an approaching typhoon cut off most food choices around our hotel. That said, this is a decent izakaya. The saba futomaki was not well constructed, falling apart immediately when hoisted by chopsticks. The yakitori is better, especially the tsukune.