BIANCA

Jun28 by Bianca

When there is a restaurant in town that bears your name, you are of course obliged to give it a try (and maybe take pictures in front of its sign).

I stumbled upon this restaurant in the Gyre building (I often refer to it as the Chanel building) in Omotesando one day and decided to go in for lunch.

The interior

I loved the atmosphere of the space. The interior was simple and sleek but I especially loved their out-door terrace with lovely views on to the tree-lined Omotesando avenue.

The terrace

They do have a quite reasonable set menu for lunch starting at 1300 yen. I took the 3 course menu while my friends tried the four course menu. This is what we got for our appetizers…

A salmon terrine

Some smoked chicken cuts

Salad

Followed by some pasta. I had the meat ragu pasta which I thought tasted pretty good, and my friends tried the risotto and tomato based pasta.

Meat ragu pasta

Mushroom risotto

Tomato pasta with beans

Then came the main course. There was a choice of lamb or fish. My friend decided to try the fish.

Fish main course

We then each tried a different dessert.

Chocolate cake

The tiramisu

To be honest, the food really wasn’t that remarkable. But I loved the atmosphere of the place and will definitely be back to dine on their lovely terrace.

BIANCA. 4F Gyre, 5-10-1 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. Phone : 03 6418 6771

NOBU TOKYO

Jun12 by Bianca

People always ask me about Nobu in Tokyo. They wonder if it’s menu is similar to its more famous counterparts in Los Angeles or New York or anywhere else in the world. Is it good ? Is it worth a visit ?. So, I decided to give it try.

When I entered the restaurant on the 1st floor of the Toranomon building near Hotel Okura, it immediately reminded me of the Nobu on 57th street in New york. The interior is very much alike with black and dark honey colored wood and more than half of the patrons of the restaurant were foreigners.

The menu I found to be somewhat different. I could not find the regular Nobu hits like the hamachi jalapeño or the spicy tuna salad. I did however find the black miso cod-fish.

They had a choice of lunch sets and I chose the lightest one which costs around 4700 yen.

For appetizer we had a choice of either seafood tartar or a peruvian ceviche which is like a seafood salad.

The Peruvian ceviche

The seafood tartar

The ceviche tasted better than the seafood tartar.

Main course was a choice between meat and fish. I chose the meat and it was good. Nothing extraordinary, but delicious nonetheless.

The main course

Five pieces of sushi came to follow. The sushi was just so-so. You could get better at any simple sushi place in town.

Five pieces of sushi

We decided to have a little fun with our sushi dishes.

Sushi Galore

For dessert, since there were 4 of us at the table, they decided to give us each a different dessert dish. Now this was all good.

Vanilla cheese cake

The cream rolls

The mango pudding

The waffles with vanilla ice cream

To answer the questions above, my verdict would be, if you are only visiting Tokyo for a short period of time then I would skip this place. There are so many other restaurants with more authentic Japanese food to try. But if you live in Tokyo then hey, why not, give this restaurant a visit. Its got good atmosphere, good service and good food.

Price : $$

NOBU TOKYO. Toranomon Towers Office 1st fl. ４丁目-１-２８ Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo 105-0001, Japan

Tel : +81 3-5733-0070

JUBAKO. 200 years of Unagi excellence.

Jun5 by Bianca

You can immediately sense the vintage vibe upon entering the traditional gates of this restaurant specializing in eel (unagi) dishes. Jubako has a 200 year history, and you can definitely feel it. There are only private tatami rooms in this tiny restaurant and the room we were assigned to was particularly charming with views to a lovely little garden. The tatami has a hollow space underneath the table for your feet so don’t worry about getting cramps.

The first dish as usual as in other unagi restaurants is the inner parts of the eel on a stick. I’m not a big fan of this dish but I have to say that this dish did not have the bitter aftertaste as in other restaurants.

Then came a delicious soup. It tasted very unique, unlike any other soup I’ve tried in Japan. I found out later that the fish in the soup broth was a Koi fish, the kind the Chinese keep in a pond in their garden for good luck. I’ve never tasted Koi fish before. I guess there’s a first time for everything.

Then came some grilled eel with salt. Unfortunately I can’t post a picture of it because my picture was blurry.

Then, came half an onion. Baked. I couldn’t finish this because it still had the strong onion taste on it, even though i love onions, I could only manage half.

The main dish was the grilled eel in sweet sauce served with rice and pickles. I loved this. I believe it was the best eel I ever tried. Soft and sweet.

The dessert was especially lovely. Some red bean ice cream inside deliciously crunchy waffles. You were supposed to eat it like a burger.

This restaurant is a little on the pricey side. This elaborate meal costs about 20.000 yen per person. They do speak a little english.

Price : $$$

JUBAKO. 2-17-61 Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo Prefecture 107-0052, Japan. Phone : +81 3-3583-131

SEIYUUZAN YAKINIKU

Jun3 by Bianca

Its been a busy week for me in terms of over-indulging my taste buds. I’ve been out and about, trying some new restaurants and I’m really excited about sharing this yakiniku restaurant I discovered in Shiodome. I loved it !. Seiyuuzan is located on the 41st floor of the Shiodome City Center building with magnificent views and a warm, rich ambiance. It’s a good place to bring guests and the prices are quite reasonable.

Our first course was a beef tartar called ‘yuke’. I don’t eat raw meat that much and have never been a big fan of any kind of beef tartar but this ‘yuke’ tasted absolutely fresh and delicious.

Yuke (Beef tartar)

Then came a crunchy fresh salad.

Followed by the best gyu (tongue) I’ve ever tried. So soft and sumptuous.

The beef tongue

Sizzling Sumptuousness

A series of beef cuts in all size, thickness and tenderness followed.

I was really impressed by the ox tail soup that came next.

And the mango sorbet we had for dessert wasn’t just any regular sorbet. Made fresh on our table using liquid nitrogen, this dessert was a spectacle of its own, as you can witness through the series of pictures below.

There you go, my wonderful dining experience at Seiyuuzan. We had the most elaborate course available so the price was over 10.000 yen. But they do have more reasonable courses and even lunch for 2000 yen.

Before I finish, a picture the of the restaurant’s ambiance to give you a feel of the place.

Price : $$

SEIYUUZAN. Shiodome city center 41F, 1-5-2, Higashishinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-7141. Phone : 03-3569-2929

Tokyo Food Diary

A journal of my journey through Tokyo's various eateries

Monthly Archives: June 2013

BIANCA

NOBU TOKYO

JUBAKO. 200 years of Unagi excellence.

SEIYUUZAN YAKINIKU

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