Tag Archives: Italian food in Tokyo

Minimalism at Cafe Canoviano

by Bianca

 

Set amidst the beautiful gardens of Roppongi midtown, cafe Canoviano’s modern, rectangular structure will surely catch your eye. In compliance with its design, this Italian cafe serves simple Italian food made with fresh ingredients. There is a set lunch starting at 2,500 yen with an appetizer, choices of different pastas and dessert. We tried the sea urchin pasta and the mushroom pasta.

The fresh appetizer

Sea urchin pasta

The mushroom pasta

Although the pasta was definitely fresh and a little above ordinary, I did not find it exceptional. The dessert however, was a different story. The caramel ice cream with banana was so delightful, I could have licked it all off my plate.

The delightful dessert

I don’t know if I’ll come back for the pasta but I will definitely come back for more dessert.

Price : $$

CAFE CANOVIANO : Galleria/1F/12 Tokyo Midtown. Tel : 03-5413-3575

 

 

 

EATALY Daikanyama

by Bianca

This cozy eatery in Daikanyama is the perfect place for some simple, good Italian food. The compound is designed like an Italian piazza with a supermarket, bakery and restaurant. The supermarket sells a variety of Italian food, cheese and bread. I always enjoy browsing through their shelves as I wait for my pasta.

Eataly’s menu consists of a variety of pastas and wood oven pizzas. The pastas are good and fresh. And my favorite dish in the restaurant is their lasagna.

Coffee is also good so whenever you’re in the area, you should drop by.

Price : $

EATALY Daikanyama

Address: 20-23 Daikanyama-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Telephone: 03-5784-2736

 

Cheap and cheerful Italian at La Boheme.

by Bianca

 

La Boheme Shiroganei Branch

If you live in Tokyo, you probably know about this Japanese-Italian restaurant chain spread around Tokyo. Their pasta is cheap (under 1000 yen for lunch) and absolutely delicious. My favorite is their mentaiko (spicy cod roe) pasta which is creamy and absolutely delectable. Second to that would be their steamed chicken pasta with green onion, spinach and sesame oil. Really fresh.

The mentaiko pasta

What you definitely have to order is their Gorgonzola Pizza with honey which is simply the best pizza ever. Whoever thought of the recipe is a genius in my book.

Gorgonzola pizza with honey

Although I’ve tried a few of their restaurants, my favorite is the one in Shiroganei which feels really grand. (First picture above).

They also open late (up until 3.30 am) and can be the perfect place to go to if ever you are in need of a midnight bite.

1F, 2F 4-19-17 Shirokanedai Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0071
Telephone : 03-3442-4060

Easy meals at Trattoria Pagliaccio

by Bianca

This warm trattoria nestled in a corner of Marunouchi would not be the best place to enter if you are afraid of clowns. Rather weird and scary images of clowns making spaghetti are painted on the walls of this restaurant and if you are afraid of clowns like my sister, it might spook you a little.

Spooky clown images

It is however, the perfect place to enter if you are looking for an easy meal or a good cup of coffee in the Marunouchi area. The interior is warm and inviting, successfully mixing modern and rustic charm.

 

They have some choices of pasta for lunch. I tried the linguine with oyster, Japanese parsley and garlic oil which tasted good. My friends had the spaghetti with tomato ragu of spanish mackerel which somehow reminded me of the canned sardines I used to munch on when I was little. I’m not sure this is a good thing, but for me it brought a certain feeling of comfort and I will definitely have this pasta when I return to Pagliaccio in the future.

Spagehtti with tomato ragu of spanish mackerel

Linguine with oyster, Japanese parsley and garlic oil

Pagliaccio has a choice of deserts as well. I didn’t try it on this visit because the pasta filled me up but I had a cup of latte which was good.

To summon things up, Pagliaccio is not the best trattoria in the world, but its the perfect place if you are looking for an easy, decent and filling meal or looking for a place to hang out for a short coffee break in the Marunouchi area.

Pagliaccio
6273-4486
Marunouchi 2-2-3, Marunouchi Nakadori Bldg 1F.
Open 11:30am-10pm (LO) daily.