Tag Archives: Teppanyaki in Tokyo

KOGENTEY

by Afra

Located in the middle of an upper class residential area, the street leading towards it dark except for the illuminated entrance, Kogentey is a welcomed oasis in the heart of Sakurashinmachi. Two restaurants and a cafe built as warm wooden structures sit in its lovely compound. You don’t find this kind of architecture a lot in Tokyo.

The first restaurant is the “Konamon” where they serve okonomiyaki (japanese style pizza).

The second is a dessert shop “Yukinoshita” (the hut on the right in the picture below) where they serve a variety of desserts.

The third, is the “Kogentey” which is a teppanyaki restaurant where I will have dinner today.

I loved the entrance with its gorgeous lighting. You really feel like you are entering a different world in this compound.

There are only 2 private rooms where the chef can cook live in front of you. The rests are just regular tables like the picture below.

Since it’s a teppanyaki restaurant, I feel like it is always better to have the chef cook live in front of you as part of the entertainment. Below is a picture of the room I booked.

I have a certain weakness for special menus. I chose the “Natsu Tora” for my meal which means Summer Tiger. It is part of their summer menu and the only difference from their signature menu is that they had lobster on the list. No hesitation, I chose this one.

The first to arrive from the set menu was the Gazpacho, a cold tomato based soup made from raw vegetables originally from the southern Spanish region of Andalusia.

Second is the Hors d’oeuvre, Fish with summer vegetables.

Third, the chef showed us the ingredients of the Poisson, Lobster, Sea Urchin, and Scallop. All fresh.

She grilled the lobster and scallops first and used the sea urchin as a sauce she poured on top.
It was the ocean on a plate and tasted heavenly.

After the seafood, we moved on to the Viande, Oumi Beef from Shiga perfecture,

Fried garlic, asparagus, eggplant and wasabi were served as the sides.

Soumen, a kind of Japanese noodle from Akita prefecture served cold came last.

The dessert was a pannacotta with passion fruit sauce. A refreshing tropical summer dessert.

From all the dishes I loved the lobster the best. It truly was amazing.

Other than that, I would recommend this place for its unique atmosphere. An oasis in the middle of bustling Tokyo.

Price: $$$

Kogentey
4-14-1 Tsurumaki, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 154-0016
Phone +81 (0)3-3425-0393

AHILL

by Bianca

IMG_6122

This restaurant calls itself a “French Teppanyaki” restaurant so I was rather intrigued to find out what that meant. Ahill has a branch in nishi-azabu but I visited the one at the Velvia building in Ginza a few days ago for lunch with some friends. It was a small and cozy restaurant on the 8th floor with a very reasonable lunch set menu of 2000 or 3500 yen.

There are three choices of appetizers and we decided to each take something different to taste. Here is what we had :

First appetizer choice : Shrimp quenelles gratin style with mushroom and potatoes

First appetizer choice : Shrimp quenelles gratin style with mushroom and potatoes

Second appetizers choice : Yellowtail marinated with ginger, tomato and eggplant tapenade

Second appetizers choice : Yellowtail marinated with ginger, tomato and eggplant tapenade

And the third appetizer choice some roast beef with horseradish gravy

And the third appetizer choice some roast beef with horseradish gravy

Then came a soothing warm pumpkin potage.

Warm pumpkin potage

Warm pumpkin potage

If you order the 3500 yen set you will get an extra plate of today’s fish.

salmon. The fish of the day.

Salmon. The fish of the day.

There are also three choices of the main course which is rump steak, hamburger or sautéed pork.

The rump steak

The rump steak

The hamburger with pieces of foie gras inside

The hamburger with pieces of foie gras inside

What comes next is a definite must try. Their fried curry rice. The 2000 yen menu doesn’t have this in it, but you can order extra for 500 yen. Definitely worth it!. It was one of the best curry rice I’ve tried.

The fried curry rice

The fried curry rice

The creme brule is also a definite must try. I loved how thin it was so you can really taste the burnt crust.

The creme brule

The creme brule

And there is also a choice of apple mousse dessert.

Apple mousse dessert

Apple mousse dessert

So this is what you call French-Teppanyaki. I loved my meal. It was delicious for its reasonable price. I especially loved the curry rice and creme brule. I think I might come back.

Price : $

AHILL.
Ginza2-4-6, Ginza Velcia-kan 8F
Phone : 3562-8080

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OMAE XEX Teppanyaki

by Bianca

I’ve written about this restaurant before in biancasuitcase.com as one of ‘must try’ restaurants in Tokyo last year. I have been frequenting this restaurant since it was still under the watchful eyes of iron chef Morimoto and named Morimoto XEX. It has since changed chefs and is now named after chef Omae. It has however been awhile since I’ve visited Omae XEX.

The cool, dark dungeon-like interior of this Roppongi establishment is still the same with two large teppanyaki counters and a table that seats about 10. There was however some changes in their menu. They have included a vegetarian menu which seemed rather strange to me for a teppanyaki restaurant , but noticing a lot of foreign guests at the restaurant they must have succumbed to the pressure. The chef recommendation menu that used to be my favorite had somewhat changed. The set menu starts at 6,800 yen and goes up to 18,000 yen for the highest grade of Kobe beef. They do however have an a la carte menu which is pretty reasonable.

My first course was strangely enough a mango sorbet. Sorbet before the main course is common, but at the beginning of the meal ?. Well, it tasted alright so I gulped it all down.

Then I had a choice of appetizers. I chose the vegetable dip with crab miso sauce which is always delicious. The crab miso sauce is simply divine. I could lick it all up if it didn’t make me look stupid.

The vegetable dip with crab miso sauce.

My husband chose their shrimp tartare signature dish which never fails and is a ‘must try’ item on the menu.

Shrimp tartare

Next course : Seafood of the day and yesterday it was scallop and mackerel in a creamy sauce.

Mackarel and scallop, seafood of the day

And then it was time for the beef. I chose the dry aging beef this time and was really surprised at how good it was. The meat was tender, juicy, light and really, really good. I couldn’t help comparing it to the most expensive steak I had at Aragawa the night before and had to admit that this was much better.

The dry aging beef

The meat came with some delicious sweet roasted onion and a small bowl of mashed potatoes.

The mashed potato

As the last part of the meal you had a choice of garlic rice or cold udon. I chose the rice and finished the whole thing in seconds.

The garlic rice

And to end things on a sweet note, some lovely, juicy Japanese melon, unlike any other melon in the world.

Japanese melon desert

My verdict stays the same. Omae XEX is still a ‘must try’ restaurant in Tokyo.

Price : $$$

Address: I.K.N. Bldg., B1/1F/2F, 7-21-19 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Telephone: 03-3479-0065
Hours: 6pm- 12am (LO 11pm);