This is the restaurant for you if you like to eat like a bird. An order of marinated tuna and avocado will give you two toothpicks with two small cubes each of both. An order of grilled vegetables with anchovy sauce consists of a small dish of cubed vegetables. And an order of deep-fried shrimp (for about 500 yen nonetheless) is one shrimp. I don’t remember the last time I left a restaurant hungry, but I did this evening.

From the minute I walked in to the restaurant, I had a bad feeling. First, there was a reservation sign with my name and a welcome message. Cheezy. Then when I asked to be moved to one of the two other tables that were free because the person at the table next to us was smoking, they told us they were reserved. When Patrick asked for grapefruit juice, they brought him pineapple juice. They also turned out to be out of both the fried white fish and octopus that were on the regular menu. The icing on the cake was that they wanted to substitute French cheese for the assortment of Spanish cheeses on the menu. When I think Spanish, I think manchego and sangria. They had neither. Very disappointing.

The food, I concede, was solid. And the interior was very chic with a bathroom door that looked like a wine rack. But the final bill was expensive even though I only had one glass of sparkling wine and Patrick had juice. The bottom line was that it just wasn’t comfortable. A lot of it had to do with the fact that the service seemed disingenuous — the tables that I asked to be moved to were unoccupied until we left. I was so tempted to say something politely sarcastic about it, but as fluently as I speak Japanese, I sadly haven’t mastered that art quite yet. I comforted myself by thinking of how nobody will ever find this restaurant on the Web even if they tried because “As” isn’t exactly an uncommon word.

If you’re in the mood for Spanish/tapas, take the extra few minutes to go to Bar Arietta on Meiji Dori on the other side of Hiroo. Their service is infinitely more sincere, the food is good, and the ambiance comfortable. Best of all, they have excellent manchego and sangria.

As
1-13-6 Nishi-azabu
Minato-ku
(Next to Gonpachi)
Tel: 03-3746-2777
Open:11am-2pm; 7pm-4am

This is a restaurant that we tried to go to twice before and couldn’t because they’re always fully booked. We finally had a chance to go this past Wednesday, and when we entered the restaurant, we understood why we could never get in. The place was tiny — two four-top tables and a counter seat for six. We were four, so we had one of the tables.

We were looking forward to this meal for a long time because we’d heard it was really good. The food did not disappoint. Rather than order the four-course set, we decided to get different dishes and share. For appetizers, we ordered grilled vegetables with anchovy-garlic sauce, a salad of squid and white beans, and white asparagus salad. The white asparagus was cooked a little too well for me — or perhaps it was canned, but everything else was great. The sauce on the grilled vegetables were to die for, and delicious with their home-made bread. The squid was very tender.

For pasta, we ordered whitebait aglio-olio-style pasta, homemade squid-ink linguine with a seafood sauce, and cheese risotto. The pastas were perfectly cooked, and the sauces delicious. I especially liked the squid-ink linguine with a lot of crab in the sauce. There was a bit of disagreement on the risotto. They used arborio rice, which was great, but Patrick thought the cheese tasted funny. I thought it was great. Finally, we finished the meal with sauteed fish and simply grilled pork — two of their recommended main dishes. We were pretty full by this time, but these were both solid as well. For dessert, Patrick had a version of affogato - frozen mascarpone with espresso on it. I had an earl grey creme brulee with earl grey ice cream. It was a little too much after a big meal, but very very good.

The restaurant is tucked in a corner of a building 5 minutes from the Roppongi crossing, and it is run by a husband-wife couple. The husband cooks, while the wife serves. At first, we thought the service was terrible because the wife seemed unfriendly and never cracked a smile. On the way out, we realized that she must just be shy because she asked us how we liked the meal, and seemed very appreciative when we raved about it. Book early if you want to go.

Osteria Nakamura
4-6-3 Roppongi Umesawa Bldg. 1F
Minato-ku
Tel: 03-3403-8777
Open:6pm - 11pm (closed Sundays, 2nd Mondays of the month)

I’d heard of a shaved ice that is like no other since last summer. It’s supposed to be lighter, fluffier and tastier than your simple slushy or ice with syrup on it, and it’s called xue-hua-bing. I heard there was a stand that serves it in Akihabara — the electronic town in Tokyo — and I happened to pass by it earlier this week. Of course I had to try it.

Xue-hua-bing is a Taiwanese snow cone. Xue-hua-bing is made out of the shavings off a huge block of sweet frozen milk. This stand in Akihabara then gives you a choice of different flavors to add on top of it. Each flavor has a romantic name — strawberry sauce and powder is called “Romantic”, chocolate sauce and corn flakes is called “The poem of falling leaves”, and salt is called “Ruby’s lover”. I chose one with mango sauce and fresh cut mangoes. It was called “gold and silver treasure”. They offer 13 flavors in all, including one, which they serve plain with no sauce. They cost 400-600 yen each. Most cost 500 yen.

The concoction is indeed fluffy and light like snow, and it melts in your mouth immediately. The sauce is much tastier than the sugar syrups on regular shaved ice. But I couldn’t help but think about the calories in the dish because unlike shaved ice, which is made out of frozen water, xue-hua-bing is made out of already sweetened milk, which also makes it a heavier dessert. If I had a choice I’d probably choose shaved ice with less syrup, but if I were going to have this again, I’d probably order the plain one. It’s plenty sweet by itself, and you can still enjoy the light texture. The store is on Central Blvd., a 7 minute walk from Akihabara JR station toward Ueno. It’s on the left side of the road a little further than the Don Quijote store (which will be on the right). It’s worth trying once if you pass by it.

Xue-hua no Sato
3-15-6 Sotokanda
Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-3256-2505

I’ve never been to a Lawry’s anywhere before, but I highly doubt that the U.S. locations are anything like the Japanese one. The decor admittedly is clubby American, and the portions are American (though they’ve got a small Tokyo size cut). But the similarity ends there. The best way to describe the ambiance is a maid cafe (cafes where young girls dress up and serve you as if they were your personal maid) for adults. There’s not a single overweight or unattractive waitstaff in the whole restaurant.

After you’ve been seated, a cute youngish girl, all dressed up in a traditional crisp diner’s uniform, comes by to help you choose your dinner. Ours was named Emi. After she takes your order, she comes by after each course to check in and ask you how it is with a big smile (this is something that is not done very often here). She’ll make the spinning salad in front of you, open the special Lawry’s pepper bottle for you, and provide the extensive explanation of how their Yorkshire pudding is made with the cooking juices from their “amazing meat”. I was half expecting her to cut our meat and feed it to us. Lawry’s must be a big birthday occasion place, because the birthday song was literally sung 10 times during our 2.5 hour meal. A staff of three waitresses comes to the tables and sings in harmony. Emi told us they get even more birthdays on Saturdays and the singing is almost non-stop.

If you like steak, the food is solid. And it’s especially good if you have a craving for a big piece of meat. But it is what it is at the end of the day, and that’s American. The restaurant is interesting to go to once. I was a little uncomfortable throughout the dinner though because I was turned off by the fact that Emi kept asking how we liked our meal, forcing us to tell her that everything was tasty — it works fine in English, but it is just unnatural in Japanese. Plus I didn’t like the stereotypical staffing — the waitresses were all very pretty and young; the guys who brought the meat cart were big and black. I would also warn against going for a business dinner with just two people. Most seats are twosomes, where the seats are on the same side of the table looking out on the restaurant. I went for business, and it’s uncomfortable to be in a place that is so clearly used for special occasions and dates.
Lawry’s The Prime Rib
Akasaka Twin Tower, East Tower 1F/B1F
2-17-22 Akasaka, Minato-ku
Tel: (03)5114-8080
Hours: 11:30-3pm (weekday lunch); 5:30pm-11pm (dinner)

A friend of mine told me about this place when I was complaining about the lack of a good Jewish deli in Tokyo. Pita the Great doesn’t have corned beef or pastrami, or any meat at all for that matter. If you can get over that disappointment, you will get some of the best vegetarian sandwiches ever. I’ve seen signs for this place for a long time, but I never went because it was located in a dark office building, and I figured it was one of the American foodcourt type places that isn’t particularly good. Boy, was I wrong.

The joint is a small place on the second floor of a building, but you get there by climbing a flight of stairs from the outside. Once you get there, a very friendly man (I’m guessing an Israeli because it’s billed as a Israeli place) will be there to greet you and take your order. You have a choice of 8 or so vegetable sandwiches — the healthiest option is the hummus sandwich. The rest are fried — fried pumpkin, eggplant, mushrooms, falafel, or mixed vegetable. A small oven in the store indicated that they may make the pita themselves. A sandwich sets you back about 700 yen, but you can get a set with a drink and hummus salad or fries or mini-falafel balls, for about 1,000 yen. The man fries the vegetables for you after you order, which makes the sandwich all the more tasty, but it’s also a drawback because it takes a long time. A small sign on the back wall that says “Slow-fast food” acknowledges this.

We waited for about 20 minutes because of a large order before us, but it was worth it. Sitting at one end of a long table that seats about 20 on the terrace on a sunny day, it was temporary bliss to bite into a freshly made sandwich, stuffed with fried mashed vegetables, lettuce, tomatoes, olives and a generous dollop of tahini. I’m not a big vegetarian fan, but these were surprisingly filling and good. Watching groups of expats walking in and out of this place, it was almost easy to believe that we were back in the States as well.

Pita the Great
Open: Mon-Fri 11am - 6pm
Akasaka 2-11-7, ATT Shinkan
Tel: 03-5563-0851

(This is a post that Patrick started two years ago and never finished because he cared so much about Tsukiji and it was turning into an opus. I just found it, so I decided to finish it and post it)

Tsukiji, the world’s largest fishmarket, is a must-see for any gourmand visiting Tokyo. 90% of the Tokyo’s fish, along with a smaller percentage of its produce, moves through this market.

The market itself is divided into two distinct areas. The inner market, where the famed tuna auctions occur and the market’s hundreds of wholesalers have their stalls, is the true heart of Tsukiji. Surrounding the inner market is, I hope you’re sitting down for this, the outer market. These are retailers who, in addition to selling fish from the inner market in more manageable quantities, also sell knives, dry goods and other restaurant necessities. The outer market is also home to dozens of restaurants.

Tsukiji is a wholesale market. Wholesalers purchase fish at auction and directly from suppliers and then sell it to large buyers. The stalls of the inner market have a dazzling array of fish and fish products on display. To run a stall, you need to purchase a Tsukiji wholesaler’s license. This license doesn’t entitle you to a specific stall location, however. At irregular intervals a lottery is held and everyone in the market shifts around. This is even more of a hassle than it seems, since the stalls are not of a uniform shape or size. Since the market itself is el-shaped, stalls in the middle of the market are smaller and more awkwardly shaped, distorted by the curve of the building. As a result, wholesalers who win good stalls in the lottery pay extra rent, while those who get bad stalls receive a monthly subsidy.

The wholesalers buy much of their goods at auctions, held early in the morning. While there are auctions for everything from sea urchin to live fish, the most famous auctions are the tuna auctions. These auctions happen between 5:30 and 5:40AM every morning that the market is open. A side of particularly tasty tuna can fetch over $10,000, so this is serious business. Until April 2005, you could walk among the huge sides of tuna along with the would-be buyers.

Since April, however, tourists have been restricted to specially cordoned off areas. This takes a large amount of the fun out of the whole thing, but it was apparently necessary, since the auctions were becoming overrun with tourists. The tuna auctions typically start between 5:30 and 5:40AM—if you happen to be up, thanks to jetlag, it’s probably still worth a visit. But I wouldn’t ruin a good night’s sleep for it. Especially since the market’s stalls are open until lunch-time.

As you walk into the inner market, the first buildings you see—open, cavernous warehouse-type dealies—will look disappointingly empty. But if you keep walking through these delivery areas, you’ll eventually reach the market stalls. Almost all of the stalls in the inner market are open until lunch-time, so even if you don’t get up at the crack of dawn, you can still survey the various wares on offer. When you first enter the market proper, you’re likely to be disappointed. The cavernous open buildings will be mostly empty, with only a handful of trucks picking up boxes of fish and produce. But if you keep walking, you’ll quickly be rewarded. You’ll find an array of fish, shellfish and other marine products here. Look around, but be mindful of the fact that it’s someone else’s office.

Before or after your market visit, we highly recommend grabbing a sushi breakfast. Even if the sound of sushi in the morning doesn’t seem appetizing, if you like sushi, it’s a once in a lifetime experience. There’s nothing like sitting in a cramped restaurant, elbow-to-elbow with your neigbors, while you eat sush and sip beer. The prices and the cuts of fish you’ll get make the whole experience worth it.

This is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in town though I don’t go there often. I went there for the first time in over a year with a friend of mine last night and was reminded of how fun and good it was. A lot of Italian restaurants in Tokyo are very elegant, quiet and sophisticated, but not Elio. When you walk in the door, the noise of the chatter in the restaurant is deafening. It reminded me a lot of some of the places we went to when we visited Italy.

If you can get past the noise level, you’re in for a real treat. A waiter was promptly at our side after a few minutes, took our orders for glasses of spumante, and then helped us choose our dinner. Unlike many Tokyo restaurants that can be inflexible, the basic message at Elio is that they will try and accomodate whatever you wish. After steering us away from the “warm carpaccio” that we thought was intriguing, our waiter offered to pull together a plate of appetizers for us if we were interested in several of them. We ended up going with the cold carpaccio of exquisitely tasty hiramasa fish and sazae shell fish that they sauteed in garlic. For our pasta dish, we took him up on his offer to prepare a small portion of two items we were interested in — the squid ink risotto and genevose pasta. The risotto was thankfully cooked perfectly out of arborio rice and was still al dente in the middle. This is something you have to be careful about in Japan because many restaurants will try to make risotto with Japanese rice, which just doesn’t work no matter what they say. The pasta was also good if ordinary. It was garlicky and full of basil flavor but pesto is pesto.

Before the main course, we wanted to switch to wine. The ever-efficient waiter asked for our preference (a crispy white) and our budget (6000 yen). I was particularly impressed with the frank way he asked us about our budget because he was so matter-of-fact about it and said it in a way that we didn’t feel embarrassed about our rather low price range — this is an art that is difficult to pull off in Japanese because the language is not a direct one. The wine he brought out was one in a region close to Tuscany. It was delicious. I don’t usually drink much but I had two glasses of it last night. For our main course, we split a roasted pork dish and sauteed fish — both were delicious, and the portions were small just like we asked, so we still had room for dessert. After letting us linger over our wines for a while, they brought a selection of cakes (ricotta cheesecake, fig tart and chocolate cake) to show us, but we chose instead to have domes of chocolate gelato with zabaglione inside and espresso over the top of it. It was the perfect way to end a perfect meal.

This is not a restaurant for those who want to dine quietly, but if you aren’t one of those people, it’s definately worth going to. They’re open for lunch as well as dinner, and it’s a popular place, so you should book early. While we decided to order a la carte, Elio also offers courses, which I remember to be an equally satisfying experience. My friend and I felt so comfortable at Elio that we ended up staying until past midnight when we were the last table to leave.

Elio Locanda Italiana
Hanzomon House 203
Kojimachi 2-5-2
Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-5210-5701
Hours: 11:45-2:15 (lunch); 5:45-10:15pm (dinner)

If you haven’t had a pork bun from Horai, then you’re in for a treat. Steamed pork buns are one of those imported foods that Japan has reinvented for themselves. You may have had Chinese pork buns, but Japanese ones are different. The pork inside is mixed with scallions, or chopped bamboo or shiitake mushrooms and flavored instead of stuffed by itself. Modern ones might be flavored with curry, or stuffed with beef, or even tomato and cheese. In Tokyo, people call them “meat buns”, thereby expanding their definition, but in Osaka, they’re just “pork buns”. You can find a variety of pork buns in any convenience store in winter, but very few are good since they’ve been sitting there for hours. Horai makes some of the best. The bun on the outside is slightly sweet and chewy. The pork inside is juicy and plentiful. People generally eat pork buns with a little mustard and Worcestire sauce, but Horai pork buns are best eaten by themselves or with just a little Japanese yellow mustard.
One is filling enough for a snack, but you’ll be tempted to have two. I was reading that in Osaka, Horai pork buns are a popular gift when visiting homes in winters — they’re so known that all you have to say is 551 for people to know that you’re referring to Horai.

If you ever pass a Daimaru department store in Osaka or Kyoto station, a walk around the prepared foods section is a must-do. Look for the store with a red lettering and a long line in front of it.

This is a restaurant that I can’t make up my mind about. The first time I went, I was a guest of a frequent diner, and we had wonderful service, great wine, and a fantastic meal. Citabria offers a very interesting selection of Asian-Californian fusion dishes such as scallops with a curry sauce, tuna tartar or a small crab salad. The interior is elegant (though the bathroom is a pain in the butt get to because you have to go down a flight of stairs), the staff speaks good English, and even accompaniments like the bread are delicious.

The second time I went was with my husband. We made last minute reservations on the day of for 9pm because it was the only slot available. When we got there, we were asked to wait in the lounge. We were sitting there for a good 10 minutes before anyone brought us a drink menu, and we had to wait for about 30 minutes before we were shown to a table. If we weren’t so hungry, we probably would have left. However, once we were seated, the service was good, and the meal was delicious. We were given a nice window-side seat with a small but pretty Japanese garden that was lit up. I had the tuna tartar and steak — even though the steak was only offered on the prix fixe, they were flexible about letting us choose anything as an a la carte item. I ate too much bread and the wine was delicious. The negatives were that they didn’t have a wine we wanted even though it was on the list, and the rhubarb crisp wasn’t what you might expect in the States. Still, it was the kind of nice dinner that you might have in any cosmopolitan U.S. city, and they did apologize profusely for making us wait.

The third time, I went there for lunch, and this time, I brought a work-related guest with me. Granted the reservation was again last minute — made only the day before — but they promised me one of their private booths in the back of the room. When we got there, however, I was surprised to find ourselves being led to one of the window-side tables. Fortunately, the restaurant was quiet, so there was no damage done. And again we had a very nice meal and great service — attentive, but not over-bearing. Although lunch was over at 2pm, we stayed until 3:30 without feeling rushed, and we weren’t the last table to leave. But for a restaurant that makes its money from business dinners, I was quite surprised that they weren’t more upfront about seating. They apologized on our way out, but I’m starting to see a pattern of apologizing after the fact.

The food is good, and the service, when you get it, is superb - they’ve remembered me each time I’ve been there though I’ve only been three times in the last six months or so. It’s also sure to be a hit with Westerners, who might be a little tired of authentic Japanese food. The problem is that their service is on 95% of the time, but really off 5% of the time. Citabria ranks really high in Zagat’s, and I suppose I would still take work-related guests there because of all the positive reasons to dine there, but not without some trepidation that something might go wrong when it really matters.
Citabria
2-26-4 Nishi-Azabu
Tel: 03-5766-9500
Open: lunch and dinner 7 days a week

A friend of a friend introduced me to this little place last night. It’s rare to find a restaurant with a woman-chef, but this one is one of them and a nice one at that. Located about 3 minutes from the famous Gonpachi restaurant by the Nishi-Azabu crossing, you go down a little flight of stairs into a bright restaurant with lots of white and light wood. We were given a very nice table for six — the only one in the 22 seat restaurant.

For 5,250 yen or 7,350 yen they give you a nice course of their dishes of the day. We were given the freshest sashimi, crispy scallops, perfectly grilled chicken with a little yuzu pepper and finally, rice cooked with pork and ginger that could be eaten on its own or livened up with Japanese sansho herb powder or hot pepper oil. The drinks menu was small, but it had a solid selection of sake and shochu. Highly recommended for a business dinner or just a pleasant Japanese meal.

Mayuzen
1-14-8 Nishiazabu, B1F
Tel: 03-3408-5048
Open: 6pm - 11pm (Closed Sundays and holidays)