Marron Parfait, 1365yen. Expensive but very good! Available on the second floor of the “Glaces Cafe”.
Menu: 1, 2, 3
ピエールマルコリーニ パフェ、１６８０円。チョコレートエスプレッソスムージー。
Went to the “Chocolat Cafe” next to “Glaces Cafe” long time ago and had Pierre Marcolini Parfait and Chocolate expresso smoothie.
Pierre Marcolini
Add: 5-5-8 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-5537-0015
Japanese kaiseki tenshin lunch set, 3990yen. Full kaiseki lunch course is 7350yen, and dinner course is 10,000yen~. Quite famous place so reservation is a must, and you have to choose to start either from 11:30 or 13:00. There is no written menu and I’ve forgotten the waitress’ explanation….so just pictures. Everything is very nice. Quite a lot of food too! I still managed to finish 3 helpings of the delicious chestnut rice. The assorted appetizer plate is all cold food. The little red dish is Japanese wine. Dessert is nama-fu zenzai.
馳走そっ啄 (Chisou Sottaku)
Add: 2F, 6-7-7 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-3289-8010
The much-hyped “chemistry experiment” dinner course at Tapas Molecular Bar!
食前酒。 カブラレスとさきいか。
Opening Aperitif: Yakult and beer. Cabrales Cuttlefish.
カリカリビーツ。
Olive cloud. Crispy beets.
ホタテとカボチャソルベ。
Chef cooking the scallop, which is served with pumpkin sorbet.
赤。 トミくん。
Red: Tomato and beets. Tommy Thai: prawn in Thai style.
いちごのスパゲッティ。
Chef making the “spaghetti” that is more like kanten. Strawberry and Pesto Spaghetti.
手長海老、アーモンド、きのこ。 ジュージュー肉。
Scampi, Almond, Grapefruit.
Warm Sizzling Beef. The beef popped out from a steel foam dispenser…
にんじんキャビア。
Carrot Caviar. Made using the syringes! XD
Tomato and water melon. Served steaming(pic here).
イベリコの秘密。
Secreta de Cerdo: Smoked Iberico pork. The cup is used to trap the smoke. Smells wonderful.
うなぎ、パイナップル、味噌。
Unagi, Pineapple, Miso.
Cold and foamy corn soup on top of foie gras hot soup.
ジューシーラム。
Ice of something I forgot. Juicy Lamb.
味噌汁。
Sweet liqueur inside the straw. At first we didn’t know and were waiting for the “drink” to come…but it was just one monthful of liqueur in the straw.
Miso Soup on a spoon. The white balls are tofu jelly and the green powder is wakame…really tastes like miso soup.
くうき氷。
Blue Hawaii. The chef said you should finish it in 20 seconds. I panicked taking pictures! The chef scared us that because it is so cold, it could freeze our tongues if we were not careful…but he didn’t say how to be careful.
ブルーベリーとローリエ。
Blueberries and Laurel: Blueberry sponge cake.
Desserts for one.
サフランとチョコレートのカプセル。 カプチーノのわたあめ。
Close up of the Saffron Chocolate Tarte, and Cappuccino cotton candy.
Fruit Course. After eating the miracle fruit(red thing in the right pic) and keeping it in your mouth for a while, the sour fruits like lemon and lime tasted so sweet with all the sourness gone. It is amazing!
What a fun experience. The food was actually very delicious which I didn’t expect at all. Plus all the performances and surprises that keep you in high tension for more than 2 hours, I think it is worth a visit. They have a chef who can explain everything in English so foreigners can enjoy it just as much.
Wine menu here and here.
Food menu here.
Dinner course alone is 12000yen per person.
Tapas Molecular Bar
アボガドとアンチョビのサラダ。
大山地鶏レバーのムース、ラルドとクルトン添え。
Avocado and anchovy salad.
Chicken liver, lard and crouton.
仔羊の胸腺肉のソテー、シャキシャキ赤玉ネギ、オレンジとくるみのサラダ。
木の実に漬け込んだＮＺ産鹿肉のロースト、赤スグリとカシスのソース。
Sauteed baby lamb sweetbread, red onion, orange and walnut salad.
Roasted New Zealand venison with redcurrant and cassis.
骨付仔羊肉のグリル。
フローマージュブラン、ズッキーニ、松の実、干しブドウのラザーニャ。
Grilled lamb chop.
Lasagna with white fromage blanc, zucchini, pine nuts and dried grapes.
Came back to try the dinner(See tag for lunch visit). The food is overall very good. The chicken liver is amazing – one of the best I have ever had! The lamb is pefectly cooked, but it can’t beat the venison which is super tender and juicy and the sauce is wonderful. The only bad idea was Lasagna….it was so terrible. Food is reasonably priced, but if you order wine by the glass, it can get quite expensive – probably wiser to order bottles.
Arossa Ginza (English review here)
Add: 8th Ginza Velvia-kan, 2-4-6 Ginza
Tel: 03-5524-1146
Mont Blanc made from Japanese chestnut. Chestnut paste on top, cream in the middle, and merengue at the bottom. Very good and not too sweet overall. The house blend coffee included in the cake set(1200yen) is very nice too. Such a cozy little cafe in the middle of Ginza.
Went back again twice after having dinner in Ginza. It is opened til 23:30 so rather handy. Though they don’t do cake+drink sets at night.
Cheese cake is soft and creamy. Mille-feuille is a bad choice…don’t order it.
Mont Blanc again. New kind of chestnut since Oct and much richer than last time. Strawberry cake is not bad.
Drink menu(J) here.
GALERIE CAFE LE GRAND
Add: 5-10-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-3289-1550
クィーンポーク（豚ロース）のグリル、サラダ添え。
Grilled pork with salad.
新鮮なうにのスパゲッティ。 かにのリングイネ。
Spaghetti with sea urchin. Linguine with crab.
Cheese tart.
La Bettola is a very popular and high-profile Italian restaurant. The original shop is La Bettola da Ochiai where the main chef Ochiai is based in. He goes on TV a lot – gourmet shows, CM etc. Booking is almost impossible – apparently 2 months wait is the norm. This sister restaurant I went to is only a few minutes walk from the original shop and is easier to book because they only take bookings one week in advance. Still we were only allowed to stay for two hours before giving up our seats to the next round of customers.
Dinner course is 3360yen, where you can choose 3 plates from an extensive menu of appetizers and pastas. There is no “main dish” in the menu, but the pork I picked, which is supposed to be an “appetizer” and came first, was so huge that it was practically a main dish. The uni pasta is the chef’s specialty(available also in original restaurant) and it is to die for! I mopped every bit of the sweet and creamy uni sauce with bread. A must order! Dessert and coffee are not included in the course but they are inexpensive. The cheese cake I had was not too sweet and very good.
There are a few restaurants bearing the same name La Bettola. Make sure you only go to the original shop La Bettola da Ochi or bis LA BETTOLA. The other two branches (LA BETTOLA per tutti Nihonbashi and LA BETTOLA per tutti Nishi-Shinjuku) are not directly related to the original shop and definitely not as good.
bis LA BETTOLA
Add: 1-27-8 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-3567-5657
From the 5000yen dinner buffet. Everything is from the buffet except the pasta which you pick from 2 choices and they bring to you from the kitchen. I was a bit shocked that they brought us the pasta while we were just starting our appetizers… Anyway, the food is mediocre at best. Most of the appetizers are strong with herb(as mentioned in the homepage). The cooked meat are slightly better.
Italian Dining Ventaglio