Scary Eats at "The Lock Up" - Shibuya, Tokyo

If you like haunted houses, horror, or just the thrill of being scared, check out "The Lock Up," a prison-themed restaurant in Shibuya.  The food and drinks are interesting, the ambiance is dark and zombies jump out at you during dinner.

Entrance (Not my picture - NQN)

I met up with my training friends in Tokyo the previous weekend.  After touring around for the day, we decided to head to a restaurant for dinner.  My friend's boyfriend suggested we go to The Lock Up.  He said it was an entertainment restaurant, but the theme was "prison."  This made me a bit nervous as I tried to imagine what sort of entertainment might be shown there.  I thought it might be like a big prison with decoration on the walls and things in cages on a stage or something.... boy, was I wrong.  I completely underestimated the creativity that could be done.

We arrived at the building and went down to the 2nd floor basement.  As you go down the stairs, you start to hear dark music and a pulsing beat.  It's a bit creepy and I was already feeling nervous about going.  There is a huge heavy door at the bottom which you pull open and enter from.  Inside is what looks to be the corridor in a haunted house.  My fellow female friend and I both clutch each other and follow after the guys... they are excited for what's to come.  We walked down the winding path which is truly a haunted area, with dank lighting, scary creatures and items posted, with loud noises that surprise you.  I was already regretting coming along, but couldn't turn back now.

After you go through the entrance corridor, you arrive in a waiting area to be seated.  Everything is decorated as if you are in a dark prison underground, carved from stone with eerie blue lights.

When our table is ready, a "sexy policeman" (i.e. pretty girl in police uniform with a super short skirt) comes to "arrest" the "most naughty" person in the group.  She places a handcuff on your arm and escorts you at the front of the group to our table.  It was ironic, since no one in our group wanted to be "arrested" by her - all the guys were gay and the girls were too nervous to participate.  She led us through a winding path where prison cells served as small rooms with tables and people eating.  Our room turned out to be up a short, narrow stairwell (think old castle tower style).  Once at the top, we removed our shoes and crawled (yes, the ceiling was super low) to the table area to be seated.

Clockwise:  Toshio, Zac, Alex, and Me  (Mia at the camera)

We browsed the menu and quickly became interested with the range of items to choose from.  The food and drinks were all themed as well:

My friend, Mia, ordered these black noodles which apparently tasted just like spaghetti:

While all of these things made the dinner a unique experience, it only got "better" once the Show started.  We were warned by my friend's boyfriend that there would be a "show," but we didn't know what that meant.  Now that we were seated in a cave-like room, with only a tiny window on one side, I didn't know what "show" we could see.

While ordering drinks, the lights in our room suddenly went out and an alarm sounded.  Surprised, we could only wait and ask - what's going on?  A voice over the speaker announced "monsters" were on the loose.  Apparently this was the Show - only a black light to go by, we waited for several minutes listening to the thrumming music, footsteps running outside our area, and the occasional scream.  Then, my friend squealed next to me and I glanced over at the entrance area and saw a white glowing zombie face peaking around the side.  I didn't even hear him come up the stairwell, so I was creeped out and huddled in the corner (so grateful I chose that seat). Thankfully my friend's boyfriend was kind enough to humor the fear of the girls and shined his iPhone flashlight so weren't in total darkness.  We were visited by another zombie a minute later - this one was more humorous as he bounced in and waved jauntily before leaving.  The show lasted maybe 5-6 minutes before a voice announced all monsters had been captured again and the lights came back on.  It was much more interesting after the fact, because during the event I was pretty scared.  The show occurs every hour and we hurried to eat so we could leave before the next one.

Exiting the restaurant involves the same path as we came in, so we needed to brave the haunted corridor once again.  This time, my friend and I were so worked up by the whole experience that we froze midway down the path and the guys had to help move us forward so we could leave.  I laugh at myself now, but everything was so realistic there that I couldn't help but be terrified.

Overall it was a great experience and I definitely recommend a visit if you happen to be in Shibuya.  It's located at:  33-1 Udagawacho | B2, Shibuya, Tokyo Prefecture 150-0042, Japan.

Final picture of the night before we parted - ignore the creepy guy behind me who snuck into the picture.

From the Train Platform - beautiful night view.