Shinpachi Shokudo is a fairly common chain restaurant, but I sometimes stop by this particular location near the south exit of Shibuya Station before going to my English conversation class.
この日注文したのは銀鱈の西京焼き。身が固めなのと、味噌汁がまんまインスタント風味なのがイマイチだが、千円そこそこのプライスを思えば、そこまで大きな不満があったわけではない。 On this day, I ordered the grilled saikyo-miso-marinated sablefish (gindara). The fish was a bit firm, and the miso soup had a distinctly instant flavor, which was a bit disappointing—but considering the price was just over 1,000 yen, I didn’t have any major complaints.
問題だと思ったのはこちらだ。通されたカウンター席のテーブルが見るからにベタベタしていて不快だったので、おしぼりで拭いてみたら、この通りである。厨房が目の前なので、ある程度油汚れがついてしまうのは理解はするが、それにしても、と思う。なお、店員はほぼ全員アジア系外国人で、応対やオペレーション自体は可もなく不可もなくだった。 What I did find problematic, however, was this: the counter seat I was shown to had a visibly sticky surface, which felt unpleasant. I tried wiping it down with the wet towel provided, and—as you can see—it came out like this. Since the kitchen is right in front of the counter, I can understand that some grease might accumulate over time, but still, it was a bit much. For the record, most of the staff appeared to be Asian. Their service and operations were neither particularly good nor bad—just average.