Aroma-Fresca (アロマフレスカ )

08050800450805080049
最初の一皿。空豆のスフレ風オムレツ アロマフレスカ風。
From the 14,500yen dinner course.
Amuse is anago with a super-thin slice of potato chip on top.
Soramame(broad bean) souffle-style omelette. Fluffy omelette stuffed with lots of soramame. The sauce is a bit carbonara-ish. Very nice!
08050800530805080056
蛍烏賊のグラタン仕立て。冷たいスープを少し。
Hotaru-ika(tiny squid) in gratin style. There are white asparagus and karasumi(squid ink) risotto at the bottom.
Cold uni soup.
08050800580805080059
赤座海老のリゾット。春キャベツとイベリコ豚のキタッラ。
Akaza-ebi(langoustine) risotto. Delicious!
Chitarra with spring cabbage and Iberico pork. A bit yakisoba-ish(^^;;) but nice.
08050800610805080064
平鱸の”アルサーレ”春の香り。
Hirasuzuki(a kind of seabass) “Al Sale”(encrusted in salt). Comes with grilled white asparagus and sansai(mountain vegetables) tempura. The soup has strong butter taste. I love this dish!
08050800470805080066
柑橘のシャーベット。
Citrus sorbet is so sour that my friend actually choked on it. ^^;;
08050800680805080070
フォルマッジョを詰めた仔牛のコトレッタ。野菜(赤茄子)のココット。
Cotoletta with formaggio cheese stuffed inside. Takenoko(bamboo shoot) on the side is very sweet. Aka-nasu(a kind of aubergine) in a Cocotte that also comes with the main dish is unbelievably juicy and full of flavours…actually it left a deeper impression than the main dish itself(which is by no means bad, just a bit predictable).
08050800800805080074
Dessert is “eat as much as you like”(^^;;). There were altogether 5 choices and we ordered one of each to share(we were a group of 4). We liked the strawberry soup with cotton candy the most so we asked for one more of that too….
08050800780805080079
Can’t remember the exact names of the desserts…left pic is cheese pudding, right is chocolate mousse.
08050800820805080083
Mango pudding. Also petit fours and a selection of coffee and tea to choose from.

The food is of course good, and even though I am no wine expert, I must mention that this is one of the few Italian restaurants offering wine in glasses that I actually think is delicious and end up drinking more than I should.

Seriously I believe this restaurant(and its sister restaurant Casa Vinitalia) casts a “forget-the-time” spell on customers…The first time I visited, I missed the last train and had to crash at my friend’s place at the end. The second time I forgot the time again and had to dash to Azabu-Juban station with a full stomach and a blurry head in 5 mins(takes more than 10 mins to walk normally) to make the last train. And this time I specifically warned my friends beforehand: “Let’s watch the time and get our butt out of the restaurant before the last train.” I could NOT believe it when my friend took a look at her watch and announced that it was already midnight. I missed the last train again!!! Four hours, in a blink! Evil restaurants trying to hypnotize their customers with enchanting ambience should be banned. How nasty of them to offer free second helpings of desserts too. I ended up taking a taxi home…
Menu: 1, 2.

Aroma Fresca (アロマフレスカ)
Add: 1-7-31, Minami-azabu, Minato-ku
Tel: 03-5439-4010

Aroma-Fresca (アロマフレスカ )

061106 039061106 044
This Italian restaurant is inside Casa Vinitalia which I have been twice before. The background story is long, but anyway this place is so legendary and has so many loyal fans that you need to book 3 months in advance. Yes 3 months!! Such heroic deeds are not performed by me of course. ^^;; We had the standard course which is 10000yen. The seasonal course is 13500yen(a bit hard to read but the menu is here). Everything in the pictures are included in the course for one person. Expectation for the quality of the food is fulfilled – all the dishes are absolutely delicious and unforgettably fragrant, the service is immaculate. The interior? When you walk in, you feel like you have wandered into a secret garden of your dreams~.
061106 054061106 055
The olives are so green, never tried before.
Smoked unagi with caviar.
061106 061061106 065
焼きタラバ蟹のサラダ アロマフレスカ風。
Charcoal grilled taraba crab salad.
061106 069061106 073
穴子の香草蒸し フレッシュトマト風味。
ポルチーニの冷たいスープとアワビの肝。
Steamed anago with herb and fresh tomato.
Porcini potage with abalone liver.
061106 078061106 080
ワタリ蟹のスバゲッティ。
じゃがいもを詰めたラヴィオリ バジリコ風味。
Watari crab spaghetti.
Potato ravioli in basil sauce.
061106 086061106 089
金目鯛のわかめ包み蒸し。
Steamed red sea bream wrapped in seaweed, clam sauce. The original menu is sea bream with a special kind of clams but unfortunately the clams were not available that day….
Lemon and passion fruit sorbet. Very sour and really wakes you up!
061106 094061106 100
和牛のビステッカ アロマフレスカ風。
Wagyu(Japanese beef), comes in a hot plate and you have to move it to your own plate. The top looks rare but bottom is cooked. Very soft and very fatty. Eat it with lemon+mustard sweet paste, or wasabi(western type apparently) or garlic paste. The salad is rucola. Also comes with sweet potato in cheese cream sauce, very sweet like a dessert!
061106 102061106 105
イチジクのコンポート、ライチアイスクリーム。
Fig compote, with lychee ice-cream(blue berry sauce inside the ice-cream).
Petit four and caramel tea, and more sweets and chocolate in a big glass.
What a meal!
Aroma-Fresca