Opened by a husband and wife team who relocated to Tokyo from Brooklyn, New York, Freeman Shokudo has quickly built up a fanbase for its excellent barbecue. The laid-back restaurant, located in the quiet inner Shibuya neighbourhood of Nishihara, features a custom-built steel smoker that’s responsible for Freeman’s American smokehouse offerings.
Regulars tend to go straight for the signature spare ribs (full rack ¥6,000, half ¥3,200), served with hot sauce and pickles. Or the pastrami, which is brined and cured for five days and then gently smoked for ten hours over Japanese oak. But the dinner menu also brings out other barbecue and Southern American classics that are hard to come by in Tokyo, namely smoked chicken (breast or on the bone), pork belly, gumbo and Jamaican curry (availability might vary from day to day).
The lunch menu tends to be more casual. You can never go wrong with the satisfying pulled pork (¥1,000), smoked mackerel (¥1,000) or pastrami (¥2,000) sandwiches. To wash it all down, take a look at the fridge and pick from a wide array of Japanese and imported craft beers.