Fugu Diaries

I’ve never been to a Lawry’s anywhere before, but I highly doubt that the U.S. locations are anything like the Japanese one. The decor admittedly is clubby American, and the portions are American (though they’ve got a small Tokyo size cut). But the similarity ends there. The best way to describe the ambiance is a maid cafe (cafes where young girls dress up and serve you as if they were your personal maid) for adults. There’s not a single overweight or unattractive waitstaff in the whole restaurant.

After you’ve been seated, a cute youngish girl, all dressed up in a traditional crisp diner’s uniform, comes by to help you choose your dinner. Ours was named Emi. After she takes your order, she comes by after each course to check in and ask you how it is with a big smile (this is something that is not done very often here). She’ll make the spinning salad in front of you, open the special Lawry’s pepper bottle for you, and provide the extensive explanation of how their Yorkshire pudding is made with the cooking juices from their “amazing meat”. I was half expecting her to cut our meat and feed it to us. Lawry’s must be a big birthday occasion place, because the birthday song was literally sung 10 times during our 2.5 hour meal. A staff of three waitresses comes to the tables and sings in harmony. Emi told us they get even more birthdays on Saturdays and the singing is almost non-stop.

If you like steak, the food is solid. And it’s especially good if you have a craving for a big piece of meat. But it is what it is at the end of the day, and that’s American. The restaurant is interesting to go to once. I was a little uncomfortable throughout the dinner though because I was turned off by the fact that Emi kept asking how we liked our meal, forcing us to tell her that everything was tasty — it works fine in English, but it is just unnatural in Japanese. Plus I didn’t like the stereotypical staffing — the waitresses were all very pretty and young; the guys who brought the meat cart were big and black. I would also warn against going for a business dinner with just two people. Most seats are twosomes, where the seats are on the same side of the table looking out on the restaurant. I went for business, and it’s uncomfortable to be in a place that is so clearly used for special occasions and dates.
Lawry’s The Prime Rib
Akasaka Twin Tower, East Tower 1F/B1F
2-17-22 Akasaka, Minato-ku
Tel: (03)5114-8080
Hours: 11:30-3pm (weekday lunch); 5:30pm-11pm (dinner)

— Yukari