Fugu Diaries

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

— Yukari