All You Can Eat Japanese Barbeque At ‘In the Green Beer Garden & BBQ’ Ikebukuro

This newly opened restaurant has the taste, the hospitality, the variety, and the booze you want from any barbecue venue. Best thing? All you need to do is show up on the rooftop!

Picture the scene: It’s a summer evening and you and your friends are standing around the barbeque, enjoying the smell and taste of grilled meat and veg, sipping a cool beer and watching the sun go down. Except it’s not your back garden, a park or the woods but the top floor of Lumine in Ikebukuro, complete with a splendid view of the sun setting over the city.

The first time a Japanese friend took me to a barbeque in the suburbs of Tokyo, I was amazed that this quintessential part of Japanese summer isn’t more well-known amongst the international community. Japanese barbeque is great; the sausages and burgers I know and love along with seafood, fried rice balls, a variety of veggies and meat and, of course, a cool glass or more of Heineken.

Unfortunately, thanks to small apartments and strict park regulations, back garden barbeque is no easy feat for many Tokyoites. Even if you have space, you might not want to invest the time or money in getting the ingredients and the equipment together.

For a convenient and fun alternative to traditional barbeque, head to the newly opened In the Green Beer Gardens & BBQ in Ikebukuro. This rooftop beer garden/DIY barbeque restaurant provides the freedom of a classic Japanese summer barbeque, with a central location and no cleanup or prep on your part!

 

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Rooftop Barbeque in Ikebukuro

Take the elevator to the eighth floor of the Lumine Department Store in Ikebukuro and you’ll come to an inviting rooftop garden. This is the beer garden part of In the Green where you can take a break from your shopping to sip craft beer or snack on delicious multi-colored shaved ice.

If your hunger is more carnivorous, however, head up the stairs to the ninth floor to indulge in barbeque. Climb the wooden stairs towards the shining red star, and you’ll find yourself at the venue’s very welcoming deck. 

At the reception, you choose one of the available four full meal plans — from the lightest (¥4,000) to the heaviest (¥6,500) — which gets you a box full of goodies for you to grill. You’re then escorted to your barbeque station and provided with everything you need to get cooking!

We went for the Meat and Seafood Plan (¥5,000), which came with edamame beans, sausages, delicious cuts of meat, shrimp, oysters, veggies and wraps in addition to a 2h all-you-can-drink menu. We found it to be a good balance between variety and affordability. We came ravenous and it was still definitely more food than we could eat, so you if you’re generally skeptic about the size of Japanese portions — this time, you really don’t need to worry about leaving hungry!  

 

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What’s great about In the Green

Cooking the food yourself is a fun bonding activity for groups of friends on a summer’s evening but it’s really nice to know that the friendly staff are on hand to offset any potential hiccups. If, like we were, Japanese BBQ is still new to you, they will show you how everything works and give you tips on how to cook things that might not be standard BBQ fare in your home country (oysters, anyone?).

 

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And of course, you’ll need something to wash down all that food! With each plan, you get 120 minutes of all you can drink, with a great variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages on offer.

In the Green really is the only place that comes to mind where you can do spontaneous BBQ, whatever group of people you are strolling about town with and however unprepared you come. They go out of their way to be accommodating, while still maintaining a DIY feel. Blankets are provided if you get chilly, and there’s a turf area and deck chairs where you can hang out with your drinks if you get tired of grilling.

The facility is child-friendly, complete with a play area for the little ones, where they can play safely within your sight and there’s a good value Kids Plan (¥2,000) to suit their appetites.

The number one reason to come eat barbeque on Lumine’s ninth floor, however, is the absolutely stunning view of the Tokyo skyline. Come during the day to see into the distance or at sunset for a romantic summer vibe that will stay with you.

And if you’re heading there on a weekday by the end of May, and book in advance, the restaurant also offers a ¥500 discount of each plan — great deal, we say!

The Deets

In the Green Beer Garden & BBQ

Address: Lumine Ikebukuro 8F/9F, 1-11-1 Nishi-ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Access: Just outside Ikebukuro Station
Open: (8F Beer Garden): 12 p.m.-10 p.m., last admission by 9:30 p.m.; (9F BBQ Area): 12 p.m.-10 p.m., last admission by 8 p.m. 
For reservations: Call 03-3980-0233 or book online