RISTORANTE SICILIANO MASSHU GINZA(リストランテ シチリアーノ マッシュー銀座)

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5000yen prefix dinner course. There is only one course and no a la carte menu.
Maguro’s chin meat Tartare, grilled aubergine, endive and white truffle oil.
Kinmedai(a kind of bream) carpaccio, with water buffalo mozzarella cheese, zucchini, turnip etc.
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Steamed octopus with potato.
Soramame(broad bean) chilled potage with ricotta cheese.
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0706160061Homemade thin pasta(forgot name) with bream and basil.
Grilled pork with pistachio paste spread on top. Sauce is maguro karasumi sauce.
Simple spaghetti with tomato sauce. You can choose how many grams you want. I had 30g.

I’ve come here before(see tag) and was very impressed with the food. Second visit was no less satisfying. Nuts(almond, pistachio etc.) and herbs and olive oil are used abundantly in almost every dish but I like the strong and rich flavour. Some dishes are the same as last time like the maguro tartare and octopus. Everything is delicious except the pork which is a bit too salty. The course doesn’t include dessert and coffee. We were really full so we just ordered coffee and herb tea which turned out to be 800yen each.

The service is friendly. The manager remembers me from last time…err. ^^;;; Definitely will go back.

RISTORANTE SICILIANO (リストランテ・シチリアーノ)
Add: Ginza Stella Bldg. 2F, 6-2-12 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
Tel: 03-3572-8623
Open: 18:00-02:00

KAIKAYA (開花屋@神泉)

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桜海老と水菜のサラダ。くるまえびの甘エビ味噌炒め。
Sakura prawn and mizuna salad. Kuruma-prawn in prawn sauce.
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鮮魚のカルパッチョ。雑魚(ざこ)のグリル。
Fresh fish carpaccio with garlic, olive oil, balsamico and sweet basil. Grilled fish with garlic, olive oil and lemon.
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マグロのかまのスペアリブ。
“House Special” tuna spareribs.

I have heard about this place for years and have always wanted to try it but somehow never got around to it. Finally! All the food are very good! Quite heavy use of olive oil and lightly salty to eat alone, but with a bowl of rice, you simply can’t stop eating. The restaurant is very tiny and crowded. The waiters are friendly and patient even though they are so busy. Sort of an izakaya but we didn’t order any alcohol and just had tea and it was okay. We sat at the big table sharing with other people and the guy sitting next to us wouldn’t stop smoking so that was a bit tough. But if you sit at the counter, maybe you can avoid the smoke to some degree. The homepage has Japanese and also English with the whole menu translated to English. Indeed there were two tables of foreigners(other than us) the day we went. Three of us shared all the food, plus a bowl of rice, less than 2000yen each. Very cheap! The nearest station is Shinsen, but it is just 15 mins walk from Shibuya. Some reviews in English here.
KAIKAYA

Don Ciccio (ドンチッチョ)

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岩手短角牛のカルパッチョ。
Shorthorn beef carpaccio.
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仔牛トリッパと茄子とアーモンド煮”シチリア風”。
”シラクーサ風”赤ピーマンと茄子のカラマリ、トマトソース。
Sicilian-style beef tripe and aubergine with almond.
Calamari alla Siracusana. “Calamari” is ring-shaped pasta that looks like squid ring. Red bell pepper and aubergine in tomato sauce.
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白金豚ラグーとブロンテ産アーモンドのフジッリ。
”シチリア名物”イワシとウイキョウのカサレッチ。
Fusilli with Platinum pork ragu sauce and almond.
Casarecci with fennel and sardine. Traditional Sicilian dish.
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白魚のスパゲッティーニ。
岩手骨付白金豚の香草炭火焼き。
Spaghetti with Bianchetti(tiny white fish which are spawn of sardines or anchovies, not sure which).
Charcoal grilled Platinum bone-in pork with herb.
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大山地鶏と干しイチジクの”ウブリアカ”。
“Daisen” chicken and dried fig. Sweet sauce.
Right pic is my share of the 2 meat dishes.
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あさりと仔羊リドヴォーのリングイネ。
大山地鶏とカボチャのヴェスヴォオ、クリームソース。
All four of us didn’t feel quite enough….so after the main dishes we ordered some more pasta. The last two pasta were both 1.5 portion, while the ones before were all single portion.
Linguine with vongole(clam) and “ris de veau”(Lamb sweetbreads).
Vesuvio(pasta that looks like Mount Vesuvius? Just guessing…) with “Daisen” chicken and pumpkin in cream sauce.
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Zuppa Inglese. Semifreddo.
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Strawberry tiramisu. Gateau chocolat.

A famous Italian restaurant that closed down last year and re-opened with a new name. Many loyal fans apparently, one of them being my friend who tried the new place and said it was just as good as the old one. Already an impossible-to-book restaurant and you can only book two weeks in advance. Location is a bit inconvenient – quite far from both Shibuya and Omotesando station.

The food is great. All the pasta are very simple. Light and simple sauce with not much ingredients, but perfect al dente. Actually at first I thought the pasta were a little unimpressive (I love fancy sauces and fancy ingredients…) but the amazing thing was that I craved the simple, comforting taste immediately again. The pasta are not homemade though. The main dishes are pretty normal, especially the staff-recommended pork. Chicken in fig sauce is nicer.

4 of us went crazy and ordered so much food, plus 2 bottles of wine and mineral water and coffee, total was about 11000yen per person.

Atmosphere was very lively and energetic. Warm decor. A little crowded perhaps. It was full when we arrived, and when we finished around 11pm, there were still customers coming in! Appetizers and pastas came fast after we ordered, but the main dishes could be a bit slow in delivery. Despite of the negative comments I have read, the service is quite good. I am not saying this because all the staff are young and good-looking guys(which is quite a sight really ^^;;), but they know the menu well and are patient to explain to us. Also willing to split each and every one of the dishes for us. Though they didn’t do the job so well…..the portion wasn’t quite even and the ingredients were simply absent in some plates….often mine for some reason. ^^;; But definitely will go back!

Menu: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Don Ciccio

RISTORANTE SICILIANO MASSHU GINZA(リストランテ シチリアーノ マッシュー銀座)

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おまかせコースは5000円。
マグロの顎肉のタルタル、焼き茄子、アンディーブ。
ヒラスズキのカルパッチョ、天然舞茸のソテー、ルッコラ。
5000yen dinner. Everything is included in the course for one person.
Maguro(tuna)’s chin meat Tartare, with grilled aubergine and endive.
Hirasuzuki(a kind of seabass) carpaccio, maitake mushroom saute, rucola salad, very sweet tomato sauce, and pistachio sprinkled on top.
Both are absolutely divine!! I never had Hirasuzuki before, it is so nice. Very generous portion of my autumn favourite maitake. A good start and it only gets better.
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コルクで蒸し上げた蛸のモンデッロ風インウミド。
Steamed octopus with potato. I am actually not a big fan of octopus but this is so soft so delicious. Even the simple potato tastes amazing.
Two kinds of bread – sesame and cheese. Both so good that even though we knew we should control as we were only on our third course, we couldn’t resist finishing them all and asking for more.
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蕪のピュレとサフランと魚のスープ、キターラとマグロのカラスミ入り。
乳飲み仔羊、ポルチーニとトリュフオイルの手打ちフェットチーネ。
Fish base soup with turnip purée, saffron, Chitarra(pasta), topped with maguro karasumi. Wow amazing depth of taste just as the many ingredients have promised. The karasumi is salty to eat alone but very nice with the soup.
Homemade fettuccine with baby lamb, porcini mushroom and truffle oil. The fettuccine is not overcooked like in so many Italian restaurants(even the expensive ones). The ragu sauce with such generous amount of porcini and lamb would never go wrong, especially the truffle oil gives off an appetizing fragrance that you simply forget you already had 4 plates of food.
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鹿肉のオーソブッコ: 鹿のスネ肉の赤ワイン煮。焼き栗のペーストと砂糖漬けの洋梨添え。
シンプルなトマトソースのスパゲッティ。
Vension knuckle simmered in red wine, with grilled chestnut paste and glaced pear and a slice of truffle on top. The tender meat just slid off the bone. So yummy. The sauce, the chestnut, the pear are all sweet.
Simple spaghetti with tomato sauce. In case you are still hungry, you can ask for any grams you want. The standard is 60g, I was greedy and had 80g. ^^;; The tomato sauce is thick but just so good that I finished every drop.

Dessert and coffee are not included in the dinner course, and we were just too full to even ask for the dessert menu. The course itself is 5000yen, I ordered a glass of champagne and a glass of BIO white wine that the staff recommended, plus a coffee at the end, the bill came up to 9000yen. For the amount and the quality of the food, a great deal I think. Though my friend, who likes mild taste and can’t quite take rich food, said this place is a bit too salty for her.

This restaurant is on the second floor of a shabby building with a sign almost impossible to spot. We simply walked straight past it the first time. Very small place and crowded with customers even on a rainy weekday evening. We booked 2 weeks before but all tables were full and only the counter seats were available.

Very very friendly people working here. All guys. The chef who came out and explained the dishes to us, was so sweet and looked like he was in his twenties that I didn’t realise he was the chef himself at first and thought he was just a waiter. ^^;;
RISTORANTE SICILIANO

Dobro (クロアチアレストラン ドブロ@京橋)

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クロアチア風真鯛のカルパッチョ。
シュトゥルクリ (クロアチア風ラザニア、パプリカスープ仕立て)。
A Croatian restaurant! Red sea bream carpaccio. Lasagne in paprika soup. Super yummy!
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サルマ(クロアチア風ロールキャベツ) 。
Cabbage roll. It has meat and rice inside, very very good! It is near Ginza and the interior is very stylish, yet it is inexpensive and has good quality. I went for lunch but our menu was specially ordered that included some dishes from the dinner menu, the course was 2500yen and a glass of red wine was 800yen. Very very cheap indeed.
Dobro