Gaijin Gourmet: My Favorite Rock N Roll Diner & The Best Salad Bar Deal in Tokyo!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have come to the conclusion that the best salad bar deal in all of Tokyo is at my new favorite Rock N Roll diner, Big Boy. 

In fact, besides an incredible deal on the salad bar, Big Boy might be the best place to drink beer too! How so? Read on...

When I was a high school student living in the west in the mid seventies, we often went to Bob's Big Boy. It was cheap, er, I mean, inexpensive and the food was great. 

American style large comfortable seating... And, instead of Japan's J-Pop Hit Parade of Hell, they actually were playing American 1950s and 1960s Rock Music!

I didn't even know they had Bob's Big Boy (called simply "Big Boy") in Japan until the other day. I found one, incredibly, right by my house. It is in the opposite direction of the station so I had never even once walked by it in ten years. I did the other day when I went for a stroll and what a stroke of luck.

I walked in and checked the lunch menu. Are you kidding me? A full lunch set that includes soup and curry rice and white rice for only ¥680!? Who, on a budget, in their right mind would ever go to any McBurgers, when you can get a balanced meal for that price? The lunch set that includes the salad bar and the soup and rice and curry rice is only ¥960!!!

Incredible deal for the whole family!

My wife tried one of the set menus and it was very good! The hamburger was great and the fried chicken was miles away better than the KFColonel!

But, I try to eat very healthy if I can and stay away from fried foods (and cooked foods) generally. I checked the salad bar menu and prices and that was when my jaw dropped to the floor!

¥590 for an all-you-can-eat salad bar??? You are kidding me, right? "Is this a mistake? Am I reading this wrong? ¥590 for an all-you-can-eat salad bar????!!!!" Incredible, but true. I ordered that and loaded up on the veggies and fruits! I ate 5 plates of that! It was heaven!

I had been going to a place that charged ¥1,980 for the all-you-can-eat salad bar. That is nice too, but Big Boy has a great salad bar at less than 1/3 that price and the salad was fresh and delicious! What a fantastic deal! This has to be nirvana for vegetarians and salads eaters like me in Japan!

If you aren't hungry and you just want to sit down and have at the all-you can drink bar then it is only ¥290! 

And, if that's not enough, the plat de résistance! After your first draft beer, the next beers are all half-price!

Big Boy is running a campaign where you buy the first beer (¥500) and then all the subsequent beers are half price at ¥250! And there's no table charge! Think about it, I can go in and sit down at a table and drink 4 beers for ¥1000 (about $8 USD)! That is unheard of in Japan. 

Also, besides the set menu, Big Boy offers side menus of fried calamari and french fries and all sorts of little snacks that you can wash down with beer! (I recommend the calamari & french fries... They were quite excellent and only ¥290 yen!) 

The real test for my family was taking my son to Big Boy. He is a VERY picky eater and generally doesn't like eating out, excepting at a few (very expensive) restaurants. We took him to Big Boy and he loved it and gave it an incredible 9 out of 10 points... 

That's not the first time he's given 9 out of 10 to a restaurant, but was the first time he ever did that for a restaurant that didn't cost me at least ¥15,000 (about $120 USD) for the three of us. He had calamari & fries, a delicious steak from the dinner menu, all-you-can drink and ice cream dessert; my wife had a ¥960 set menu and all-you-can drink with a dessert; I had the salad bar and all-you-can drink; the damages? ¥4,200 (about $36 USD) for the three of us!

Simply amazing; good, clean restaurant. Delicious food at a very reasonable price - and Rock N Roll music to boot!

If I were you, I'd get over to Big Boy and try out the salad bar and beer deal ASAP. It's the best deal in Japan!

I give Big Boy 5 out of 5 stars. When a head of lettuce costs ¥260 (about $2.25 USD) at the local grocer, but Big Boy can give you all-you-can eat salad at ¥590 (about $5.05 USD) why go buy groceries? How do they do that????

You'd better get over the Big Boy soon, because, the way I eat salads, they are going to go bust because of me! Get into this great deal while you can! 

Bob and I are now buddies again! My favorite Rock N Roll Diner!