Green Brothers in Azabu-jūban
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In case you missed the news, we at As Seen In Japan are on a health kick. I’ve been reading How Not to Die by Michael Greger, and it has been the kick in the nuts we needed to finally start eating healthy. As you probably noticed because you’re a huge fan, we haven’t been doing so many posts about konbini snacks and giant fast-food burgers lately. We’ve drastically reduced our meat consumption and started eating more veggies, fruits, nuts, and beans, and we’ve even switched to brown rice over white. I’ve got a red lentil soup recipe that will knock your socks off.
It’s sometimes tough to stick to a diet when you eat out because you end up at places with few healthy options. But we consider this a lifestyle change, not a diet, so we’re pushing ourselves to shove forth with a little extra effort when we find ourselves out on the town and in need of lunch. We were recently in Azabu-jūban, which is home to some delicious sugary options, cafes, and all kinds of world cuisine, but we ignored them and used Eriko’s phone to find a place that looked healthy.
Was it worth the extra walk? I’ll save you the trouble: yes. It was. But keep reading anyway.
Green Brothers New York: fresh American-style salads
Green Brothers is a healthy salad place much like the kind you’d find in cities like New York and LA, perhaps why the name on the sign says “Green Brother’s New York.” As far as I can tell, all locations are in Tokyo, so the connection to New York is unclear. Also, the apostrophe (shaped like a fork) makes it seem like New York belongs to a single Green Brother. Regardless, it’s a Tender Greens/Chipotle-style experience where you walk along a line, tell them what you want, and they make it in front of you.
This location was in Azabu-jūban, a rather fancy neighborhood also home to some high-end markets and a location of We Are the Farm, another healthy lunch spot. The service at Green Brothers was prompt (there was no line), and ordering was easy because the menu was in both English and Japanese.
Green Brothers menu and ordering
Green Brothers has set salads to choose from, as well as soups and special drinks. I got an iced latte because I am coffeeboy, and we decided to share a smoothie made with bananas, fig, and lemon.
Instead of picking one of their salads, we chose to make our own. You get to choose two bases, four toppings, a protein, and a dressing. You can add more if you want (costs a bit extra), but if you stick to the standard amount, it’s under $10 for the salad. Quite reasonable for a fancy place in a fancy neighborhood.
I went with grains and spinach as my bases, and for my four toppings I chose beets (which I don’t like but this book says are basically like taking performance-enhancing drugs), green tomatoes, kiwifruit, and Brussels sprouts (not on the main menu but available for a limited time). For my protein/extra topping, I went with soy meatballs, and chose balsamic vinaigrette as my dressing. You can receive your salad as a big pile or chopped and mixed, which is what I did.
They also offered free bread, which in Japan is done via the word “service.” When they point at something and say “service,” that means it’s free. I declined the bread because it looked a bit white for my taste, picked up some free water, and we sat down at the back. There were plenty of seats, though the place did quickly fill up due to the lunch rush.
So how were these salads we’d selected? Delicious. But keep reading anyway.
Salads at Green Brothers
My salad was absolutely delicious. As I mentioned, I normally don’t like beets, but I couldn’t really taste them. Everything was mixed together in a way that blended it all, so I didn’t necessarily taste the spinach and grains and kiwi - it all had a general balsamic vinegar taste, which is a taste I enjoy, so I liked it. There may have been a tad too much dressing, but not terribly so. The tomatoes and Brussels sprouts were refreshing, and the size of the salad was adequate - I felt like I’d had a good-sized healthy meal that was tasty yet good for me. Win-win.
Eriko chose spinach and shredded kale as her bases, and her toppings were okra, tomatoes, feta cheese, and roasted almonds. For her protein, she chose dry-cured ham because Eriko loves prosciutto. She really enjoyed hers too, and we agreed that balsamic vinegar is like totally the best. The smoothie was okay, nothing magical, and the organic iced latte was unfortunately pretty weak.
We would absolutely come back to this place next time we’re in this neighborhood. Our health kick is going strong. The secret has been how we’ve gone about it (which is due in large part to how the book is written): rather than focusing on all the things we like that we can’t or shouldn’t eat, we’re focusing on all the delicious healthy things we love and learning just how many good things they have in them. Berries and nuts and beans are delicious and really good for you, so it’s not a big deal to go without salty chicken.
If you’re looking to get healthy, be nice to animals, and help the planet, we highly recommend How Not to Die, and Green Brothers is definitely going into our regular rotation of restaurants because the service is great, the food is delicious, it’s inexpensive, and we felt great after eating there. Four trillion stars.
Green Brothers Location
Address: 〒106-0045 Tokyo, Minato City, Azabujuban, 1 Chome−5−29 麻布十番レジデンス １０１
Phone: +81 03-6459-2529
Website: Green Brothers
Green Brothers has five locations in Tokyo, but the one we went to was in Azabu-jūban, which is a walkable area filled with eateries like Hudson Market Bakers and Frijoles. Azabu is also where John Lennon went when he visited Tokyo, which I learned in another good book, Beatles ‘66. Definitely one of the nicer neighborhoods in Tokyo, and worth stopping by if you like cute little stores and cafes. Bring money.
