A Singaporean affair at ANTHEMBLE

Ecstatic is the perfect word to describe my feelings about discovering this restaurant tucked in a corner of the third floor of the Marunouchi Brick Square Building. Anthemble has the perfect mix of ingredients that makes a restaurant great ; authentically delicious food, good location, warm interior, cheap prices and good service.

You almost forget you are in Tokyo upon entering this restaurant with its warm wooden floors and dark furnishing. The perfect view towards the Marunouchi Brick Square makes you feel you are somewhere in Europe instead of the midst of bustling Tokyo.

Their set lunch menu costs 1000 yen and you have five choices including laksa and Singapore style chicken curry. The highlight is their Hainan chicken rice. You have choices of steamed or roasted chicken. The roasted one seems to be more popular since it was sold out when we arrived around 1 pm.

I chose the steamed Hainan chicken rice and to be honest, I was expecting a mediocre attempt at Singaporean food whose blandness would be nicely swallowed by the restaurants wonderful surroundings. I was however quite mistaken. The food was actually very good. I am Asian, so I know my Asian food. The chicken rice was tasty and the chili sauce spicy. My friend ordered a Laksa and that too tasted authentic.

I almost passed on desert since I finished the whole set of chicken rice but could not resist their almond jelly. Thank God for that, because their almond jelly with avocado puree is simply out of this world. I don’t think I’ve ever used so many mmmmm’s and yummmm’s in one dessert helping. It really was absolutely exquisite. If you aren’t into Asian food than drop by at tea time for this. It’s really worth it.

So today, I have an intensely happy tummy, which makes me intensely happy.

Price : $-$$

ANTHEMBLE Phone : 5220-1923 . Marunouchi 2-6-1, Brick Square 3F. Open 11am-10pm daily.

 

Easy meals at Trattoria Pagliaccio

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.