rssEkki
Patrick and I went out for a rare night out on the town this evening. We wanted to go out for a real date and the place we chose was Ekki, the main dining room at the Four Seasons in Marunouchi right next to the Tokyo station. Those of you who know us know that we’re big Four Seasons fans, so it wasn’t without some anticipation that we arrived at the restaurant. Unfortunately, our experience was disappointing at best.
The evening started out well — we were greeted at the hotel entrance by staff that spoke very good English. We were directed to the restaurant without any problems. We were first seated at a table by the kitchen, which isn’t great, but perhaps can be forgiven given that our reservations were last minute. We asked to be moved and ended up with a nice table in the corner of the restaurant with a great view of trains coming in and out of Tokyo station. We both decided to get the chef’s four course meal for 11,000 yen. Ekki does not do pairings, but the wine advisor or sommelier accomodated our request by choosing a wine for each part of the course. The first course was a gazpacho soup accompanied by two slices of very fresh mackerel (I’m venturing a guess since it wasn’t really explained to me). The second course was a potato-crusted snapper. Both courses were excellent and the wine was very good.
The meal went downhill from there. Long after we finished the second course, we were left sitting with empty plates, empty wine glasses and empty water glasses (which we had to ask to be filled in the first place) for a long time. The restaurant was only a third full, yet there was not a waiter to be seen in our vicinity. When we got the third course — roast veal with pureed squash on the side, the veal was overcooked and the sauce was congealed, indicating to us that the plates were probably sitting in the kitchen for almost as long as we were waiting for our next course. The cheese course was excellent, but we were a little puzzled by the order of the cheeses — mild cheese, sharp cheese, sharp cheese, mild cheese. The desserts — strawberry creme brulee and Earl Grey tiramisu — were solid as well, but by then we’d grown impatient with the poor service and the fairly loud music, courtesy of a gaijin (foreigner) musician.
When we stayed at the Four Seasons in Chinzanso about 5 years ago, the manager there had taken great pains to explain to us that the service there wasn’t up to Four Seasons standards because the property was a joint venture and was not 100% controlled by the company. So you’d think the Marunouchi property, which is 100% Four Seasons owned, would be much better, showing Tokyo what Four Seasons service is all about. Not so. We’ve gotten better service at Oak Door at the Grand Hyatt and New York Grill at the Park Hotel in Shinjuku. To cap it all off, we were sent on our way with a very friendly waiter, who insisted on calling Patrick, “Mr. Patrick”. That happened on our trip to Sri Lanka in March, but we would’ve expected someone in a cosmopolitan city like Tokyo to know better.
The only thing that our experience was good for was that it sparked a discussion between us about why service can be so terrible in the capital of Japan, where good food and good service is a given. My opinion is that the Japanese — and I can say this because I’m Japanese — deep down don’t understand truly Western haut cuisine and service. Staff know how to provide good service in French and Italian restaurants in Tokyo because customers are Japanese and they’re restaurants in Japan, but when they’re called upon to provide fancy casual service that would make a Westerner feel at home, they feel awkward. Patrick says it was just poor service. He’s probably right.
The bottom line is — if you’re looking for a good expensive Western meal, go to the Oak Door. If you also want a stunning view with it, go to the Park Hotel in Shinjuku (the Lost in Translation hotel). You won’t miss a thing if you skip the Four Seasons.