You’ve worked hard all year and it’s around that time of year that someone at work has to organize the End-of-Year party (bōnenkai), or perhaps you’re starting to think about your New Year party (shinnenkai) already. Instead of just booking your local restaurant down the road, why not try one of our handpicked, tried and tested, 宴会 (enkai) certified venues?
Here are our Top 7 End-of-Year / New Year restaurants (in no particular order) We’ve tried to include venues in Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, and a mixture of Japanese food and other cuisines. They also include novelty, restaurant, izakaya, etc. but in keeping with our main purpose, we stick to the less obvious venues that you generally won’t find on websites for tourists.
音音 Oto-Oto
Oto-Oto is a Japanese izakaya-style restaurant with a number of locations around Tokyo. They also have locations in Urawa in Saitama and Kawasaki in Kanagawa, which helps fill my quota for prefectures. Unfortunately, there isn’t one in Chiba.
*Tokyo locations
Ueno, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Ochanomizu, Toranomon, Yaesu
They serve a variety of Japanese foods, including seafood, beef, chicken, vegetables, and soba noodles.
Drinks include nearly everything you could want – beer, sake, nihonshū, wine, sour, but don’t expect any western style cocktails.
Reservations link for English menu and Japanese menu.
基 Motoshi
With private rooms of all sizes near Yoyogi station, Motoshi has your back when organizing your End-of-Year / New Year party, and at reasonable prices.
Their website has plenty of English (from the dropdown menu) to help you out if you need it, but some of it is quite difficult to understand since it’s auto-translated by Google. Having said that, reservations are in Japanese only.
This izakaya-style restaurant has a number of courses to choose from, some of which include all-you-can-drink for a few hours.
Make sure to get a coupon from their website and show it when you arrive. It’s quite popular so get your booking in quick!
Reservations can also be made on Motoshi’s Hot Pepper page, in Japanese.
屋形船むつみ丸 Houseboat Restaurant Mutsumi Maru (Tokyo Bay)
Fancy holding your end of year party on your own private boat floating in Tokyo Bay with great views? Well, here’s your chance. This may seem like a bit of a ‘touristy’ gimmick but considering the minimum number of people for bookings, we’ve decided to include it in the list.
The food is a single, set course and includes all you can drink at Y11,000 per adult. It is quite expensive per person but if your company can pitch in, it won’t be such a hit to the pocket.
For Monday through Thursday, evening reservations require a minimum of 15 people.
From Friday through Sunday evenings and national holidays, reservations require a minimum of 20 people for the booking.
No English for reservations for this one. Do your best in Japanese by phone or on the internet. http://www.6230.jp/reserve/reserve.php (interesting URL – む(6)つ(2)み(3)丸(0))
アンジェロ Angelo
Angelo is an Italian restaurant between Yūrakuchō and Shimbashi stations on the Yamanote line. They cater to a variety of group sizes up to 20 people, or from 20~40 if you book the whole place out.
Including traditional, modern, and Japanese-style Italian cuisine, and a number of courses to choose from, Angelo (select English from the drop down list if required) has something for everyone. Make sure you get the coupon from their website and present it when you arrive. Reservations can also be made on Angelo’s Hot Pepper page in Japanese.
Ocean Table and PIER-01
Here’s one for you folks living in Chiba. Well, it’s actually two, so double the bang for your buck. Ocean Table and PIER-01 are run by the same company and are actually in the same vicinity near Chibaminato station. They both overlook the harbor and have great atmospheres.
PIER-01 is a seafood restaurant, and Ocean Table, despite its name, has plenty of beef and pasta. They both have a good number of course meals to choose from to make things easier, and both restaurants take large bookings, 20~30 people, and will try to accommodate for larger groups.
Reservations: (all in Japanese)
You can make online reservation by clicking web 予約 (yoyaku – reservation) on the right side of Ocean Table’s and PIER-01’s websites. But, if you book online on Ocean Table’s and PIER-01’s Hot Pepper web pages, you can print out a coupon to take with you.
リザラン Lizarran
Lizarran is a Spanish restaurant with four locations around Tokyo – Shinjuku, West Shinjuku, Takadanobaba, and Sangenjaya. The Sangenjaya location has only been open about a month as of this writing.
You will see buttons that link to reservation pages for each location on the right side (all reservations in Japanese).
Alternatively, if you scroll down to the bottom of the same page you’ll find links to Guru-navi where you can make your reservation and also get a coupon to take along with you. Links below for your convenience.
Click here for the Guru-navi pages: Shinjuku, West Shinjuku, Takadanobaba, Sangenjaya.
まさらダイニング Masala Dining
No list of restaurants would be complete without an Indian curry option. After my favourite Indian restaurant in Tokyo closed down, I had to go looking for a replacement, and Masala Dining in Shinjuku is definitely a good choice for a large group, and just had to be included on our list.
They have a good number of course meals, and will cater for small groups, right up to 40 people if you book the place out. They will go up to 70 people, if standing room only.
Reservations can be made on their website. You can also book online at Masala Dining’s Guru-navi page and get coupons.
The restaurant also has English speaking staff who can take your reservation, although they do warn that they may not be available at the time of your call. To make reservations by phone, call 03-5312-1351.
Disclaimer: The Tokyo Life blog is not sponsored by and has no affiliation with any of the recommended venues or websites.
What did you think of our Top 7 Bōnenkai and Shinnenkai suggestions? Which ones are you interested in? What do you think should have been on this list? Let us know what you think in the comments section below or join the conversation by adding your own helpful tips!
Photo by Steffen Zimmermann on Pixabay.
