A note on the words: katsu curry is a breaded pork cutlet served over rice with Japanese curry sauce. The lounge in this post is only open to people who work at Azabudai Hills (each may bring two guests) — this is a report from inside, not a place you can simply walk into. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
Hills House Members Lounge on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Drinkers, thank you for waiting. It is Hangover Meshi time.
Today a work friend took me along to Azabudai Hills! I dropped in now and then when it first opened, but it sits just slightly off my usual paths and I had come to think of it as awkward to reach — and then: it connects through from Kamiyacho? Perhaps it is easier to get to than I thought.
The occasion: there is a members lounge for people who work at Azabudai Hills, up on the 33rd floor of the complex! Having been invited, of course I went.
The rule, apparently, is that a worker may bring up to two acquaintances. And it makes sense — if you have meetings, being able to grab a quick lunch somewhere like this is genuinely convenient. Everything nearby is expensive! And getting down and back up takes real time.
Open 11:00 to 15:00. Lunchtime proper gets crowded, they say, so we arrived a little early.
The mood is that of a spacious cafeteria — a staff canteen, essentially, for the people of Azabudai Hills. The menu changes regularly; on this day…!
Fruit and prosciutto salad; a soy-meat croquette (proper vegan option — well done!); spaghetti fragrant with black sesame and nori; a spicy mapo ramen; grilled Spanish mackerel teriyaki set; and pork shoulder katsu curry. Every one of them looked good! And the price: everything 1,000 yen flat. Excellent.
Large and small portions are both available. Ordering is done from your phone via QR code. This time my host paid and I settled up with them afterwards.
When your food is ready a notification arrives telling you which counter to collect from! Give your number at the window and — secured! Water is self-service. Yes: the image is very much a staff canteen.
Let us eat!
Ta-dah! Looks delicious.
Right — in we go!
The pork shoulder katsu, fried to a proper golden brown, comes pre-sliced for easy eating and lies grandly in a deep red-brown curry sauce. At the cut face, the coarse panko crust stands up crisp, and the shoulder inside balances lean and fat, moist and tender. The curry is the rich European style, glossy and deep in colour. One spoonful: a fruit-like sweetness first, then the body of the spices and a gentle heat trailing in behind. Mm — genuinely good. It flows light, yet the flavour is dense. Where the curry has soaked slightly into the crust you get crisp and melting in a single bite — and that is the best part. Curry folded into white rice, a piece of katsu on top: satisfaction assured.
The marinated red cabbage alongside, and the salad with its sharp dressing, reset the palate nicely — it never once feels heavy! Perhaps this is what you get when someone sets out to build “a curry you would happily eat every day” at a 1,000-yen price: a delicious canteen lunch, in the best sense.
So — a visit to the members lounge reserved for those who work at Azabudai Hills. Above everything: the view is spectacular. A canteen where 1,000 yen buys a rotating, nutritionally considered menu — I am deeply envious! Presumably the idea is that nobody should have to waste worry on lunch when there is work to be done?! Thank you to my host for bringing me!
May you meet something good to eat today too.
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
