恵比寿 にんにくや (Ninnikuya)

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ガーリックトースト。エスカルゴ。
A restaurant specialised in garlic. It has garlic in every single item in the menu! I have heard so many positive reviews about this restaurant that I’ve been dying to try it. Surprisingly it doesn’t stink of garlic that badly inside and the interior is much nicer than I expected(somehow I thought this place was an izakaya).

The garlic toast is very unique – the staff told us to cut a hole in the bread and squeeze the garlic paste into it. Delicious but oh so very oily. Escargot is good too(more like the sauce is good).
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にんにく丸揚げ、¥990。トマトソースパスタ。
Fried whole garlic tasted of soy sauce. It is amazing how such a simple dish can be so good…couldn’t stop eating it. Tomato sauce pasta also has garlic in it.
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豚ロース黒こしょう香草グリル、¥1870。カルーアパンナコッタ、¥440。
Grilled pork loin with black pepper and herb. A bit salty to eat on its own but the pork is soft and tender. Mashed potato on the side is good. Kahlua panna cotta is so so but the water melon is sooooo refreshing after all that garlic!

One of my friends actually got a little sick halfway because of garlic-overload. My stomach was fine though I felt like I was having a fever the whole night and my breath stank the next day….
Today’s special menu here.

恵比寿 にんにくや (Ninnikuya)
Add: 1-26-12, Ebisu, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 03-3446-5887

Caudalie (コーダリー)

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From the 1800yen lunch course(available on weedays only).
Bread is hot and refillable. Chilled(still summer when I went) turnip soup with Iberico pork bits on top.
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豚のロース肉のポアレ、白いんげん豆のトマト煮、メルゲーズ添え。
Green salad and pickled vegetables.
Pan-fried pork loin, white kidney beans in tomato stew, and Merguez sausage.
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Herb tea and petit fours.
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Went back and had the 1800yen lunch again. Chilled green asparagus soup. Beef fillet and vegetables with rice, teriyaki style. The salad is the same(here) while the petit fours have different flavours(here). Last time I kept having more bread cos they were so good, and the manager seemed to remember and kept giving me more bread this time too…3 bread plus rice with the main dish, I was so stuffed by the end. But from this time onwards, they don’t warm the bread anymore – kitchen staff too busy? Still good though.
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Third time. Vichyssoise with consomme jelly in it. It is so nice! Panfried fish(2 kinds) in crustacean and basil sauce.
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Fourth time round I tried the 2800yen lunch. Asparagus and broccoli soup.
Escargot on mushroom with garlic cappuccino sauce.
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Grilled quail. Black sesame seed creme brulee and nougat ice-cream with marron and apricot. Also includes coffee and petit fours.

This restaurant is still pretty new. When I first went in summer, it was never full, but now it is always fully booked even on weekdays lunchtime, which is quite amazing cos its location is obscure and entirely off the main road(though it is near Ueno Park). The food is delicious and the value is amazing. 1800yen lunch is really a good deal, though the menu for it doesn’t change much. I basically tried all available options for the 1800yen lunch. The restaurant is tiny and there is only one guy(very friendly) serving. Tax is included and no service charge at lunch or dinner.
Menu(J): 1, 2.
Caudalie
Add: 1-6-19 Ikenohata, Taito-ku
Tel: 03-3828-3006

Salut (サリュー)

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うずらとセップ茸の包み焼き。
姫サザエとうにのエスカルゴ風グラタン。
Galette with quail and Cepe truffle – my friend’s appetizer. Gosh it is big as a main.
Turban shell and uni, escargot gratin – my choice. The uni is at the bottom, unfortunately too cooked to taste uni at all. The sea snails are a bit oily but very nice.
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白金豚の盛り合わせ(肩煮込み、バラ肉コンフィ、ソーセージ)。
ほろほろ鳥もも肉のパテ詰めのロースト、アンディーブのグラタン添え。
Assorted Platinum pork(Braised, confit and sausage) – my friend’s main.
Roasted pate-stuffed guinea fowl, gratin of endives – my choice. The guinea fowl is soft and tender, a bit light, but the liver pate gives it a rich meaty savoury taste. The sauce is slightly salty and the endive gratin a bit watery though.
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桃のコンポートとアーモンドミルクのシャーベット。
バナナのプリンと塩キャラメルのアイスクリーム。
Peach compote and almond milk sorbet – my friend’s dessert.
Banana pudding and salt caramel ice-cream – my choice. This dessert is incredible!! The ice-cream is salty, bitter, and caramel sweet all at once! (*o*)!! Banana pudding with fresh banana slices is nice, the brownish jelly is bitter and has alcohol taste, veeeeeeeeery good~~~
With amuse and petits fours, the dinner course is 5250yen. Also ordered a Kir Royal, and a decanter of red wine to share between 2 people, came to 7000yen each. Actually quite a good deal.
Been here for lunc before(see tag). Damn I just realise I had chicken last time…^^;;
Salut

煮込みや なりた (Nikomiya Narita)

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エスカルゴ、700円。フォアグラと牛肉のパイ包み、1500円。
Escargot. Absolutely delicious and they were 6 of them and only 700yen! So cheap!! I think I dipped every drop of the sauce with the baguette…which was also very good that I almost asked the waitor where they got the baguette from. Baked pie with foie gras and beef. The foie gras and the beef were actually separate inside the pie, which was a bit odd I thought(^^;;;), but the pie was light and crispy.
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ラム肉の煮込み、1300円。エビのフリッター、アイオリソース、1300円。
Lamb stew. Prawn fritter. The lamb was soft but not stewed long enough. The prawn fritter was too oily, that we both ended up peeling the thick batter and just eating the prawn inside, which was a bit overcooked and hard. ^^;;

060530 004.jpgTwo people shared all the food, one drink each, it was about 3000yen each, very very cheap! Honestly, the food is not like fantastic, the place is small, the stools quite uncomfortable, one person was cooking everything so we had to wait forever for each dish to come(the whole dinner, without dessert and coffee, took 3 hours, most of the time waiting…), but it is so cheap and okay standard and huge portions and the waitor is friendly….actually I don’t mind going back again. ^^;;;
煮込みや なりた

creek@Machiya (クリーク@町屋)

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This is definitely one of the best meals I have had recently!
Fruity easy-to-drink Belgum beer. Liver pate(smooth and sweet), mushroom and escargot(amazingly yummy butter and garlic sauce), veggy with avocado and egg(nice anchovy cream sauce), tomato and veggy pizza with chestnuts(thin type pizza, v. gd!), gnocchi with gorgonzola cheese sauce(chewy and elastic gnocchi!), sea urchin pasta, roasted chicken(really juicy!), chestnut risotto(can die for!), and all the desserts probably look normal but they are amazingly good! And each person only pays 4700yen – too good to be true~ The location is not so convenient but definitely worth the trip.
「ベルビュー・クリーク」はフランボワーズ味、「ヒューガルデン・ホワイト」はコリアンダーとオレンジ味。
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ホワイトレバーのパテ。
エリンギとエスカルゴのガーリックバターオーブン焼き。
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温野菜とアボガドと自家製燻製卵のサラダ アンチョビバターソース。
ラタトュイユのピッツァ、栗入り。
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ニョッキ、ゴルゴンゾーラソース。
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ウニのクリームスパゲッティ。
大山鶏のロースト、半身。
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栗のリゾット。
ほろ苦い大人のティラミス。
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パンナコッタのマチュドニア添え。
リコッタチーズケーキ。

creek
Add: 8F, 7-22-6 Arakawa, Arakawa-ku
Tel: 03-3801-2782