Restaurant-Dining Critiques

Pictured above: our daughter, Akiko Grace Marshal on the shoulder of Chef Masahiko Kobe at Ristorante Massa, Tokyo

1-23-22 Ebisu
Shibuya-ku
Tokyo, Japan
Tel. (81) 03-5793-3175
Italian
Nearest Station: Ebisu
Website: http://www.massa-ebisu.com (Japanese)
Opening Hours: 11:30am to 3:00pm (last order 1:30) and 6:00pm to 11:00pm (last order 9:30), closed Wednesdays and the first Tuesday of each month
Credit Cards: Yes
Prices: Moderate-Expensive

Italian Iron Chef Masahiko Kobe,  also known as “The Italian Iron Chef”, opened his restaurant Massa in the year 2000 and due to his celebrity status it was an instant success. The menu at Massa changes daily and lunch is very popular, due to the small size of the restaurant booking is advisable. He was known as the “Prince of Pasta” when he was on TV and it is not a shock that his menu specializes in pasta.

He is one of Japan’s top chefs and by the age of 27 he had risen to be one of the top chefs at three-star Michelin Enoteca Pinchiorri, in Florence, Italy before being taken by the producer of “Iron Chef”.

The wine list is 100 percent Italian and has a good selection from most regions of the country.
There are two choices for dinner: the 6,000 course, and the 8,000 course. Both are among Tokyo’s greatest culinary bargains. Booking is essential: the ten tables are always full.

We were given an introduction to him by our friend, Chef Angelo Rottoli who was his roommate and they also worked together at Enoteca Pinchiorri.

Pictured above is the Cover Page of an article I wrote for Wine & Dine Magazine featuring this photo of a Miko Girl in Kyoto. The shot was very difficult to obtain as these young girls, in training to be Geisha Girls, do not like to be photographed, though my Japanese wife was insistent on capturing this photo and had to chase her down the street to take it.

These restaurants represent, for the most part, owner/chef run places in hard-to-find narrow streets. Most are tiny, usually seating 20 or so customers on stools at a counter-bar and a possible table or two.
The quality of the cuisine and the amazing attention to the minutest detail could certainly not be accomplished in a restaurant serving a greater amount of people. Other restaurants included are serving certain specialties and are among the best of their class. About a third of the establishments originally included have gone out of business and have been eliminated from this update. Note: The magazine’s editor had space constrictions and severely edited the text.

Steak House Hama
7-2-10 Roppongi, Minata-ku, Tokyo
Tel. (03) 3403-1717
Opening Hours: Lunch Noon-2:30pm
Credit Cards: All Major
Prices: Very Expensive
(other branches around the city)

A handsome interior with highly lacquered chairs that are more suitable to a company board room. These steak restaurants serve high-quality produce at extremely expensive prices; they mainly cater to show biz personalities and business moguls on expense accounts.
Stainless steel flattop grills trimmed in brass and fine woods are a far cry from Benihana of Tokyo, the laughable chain of comical grill men that try to entertain the masses in the U.S. One steak is a minimum of $100, foie gras $40.00, rice with garlic a mere $12, a simple Macon Village White Burgundy $70.00 and corkage charge $50.00 a bottle. (expect that these prices may have doubled as these prices were valid a few years ago).

Le Recamier
2-3, Moto Azabu 3-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-0046
Tel. (03) 3408-5044
Opening Hours: Lunch:11:30am-2pm; Dinner: 5:30pm-10pm
Credit Cards: All Major
Prices: Moderate-Expensive

This restaurant is named after the time-honored hangout for journalists in Paris, on the quiet rue Recamier. A former chef now cooks seasonal specialties in Tokyo. The cuisine is top rate and the prices are well below other spots of the same caliber.

Queen Alice
3-2-3, Mooto-Azabu, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 106
Tel. (03) 3402 9039
Opening Hours: Lunch:11:30am-2pm; Dinner: 5:30pm-10pm
Credit Cards: All Major
Prices: Moderate-Expensive

This Picturesque restaurant has several nicely appointed rooms, all are crammed with tables and chairs to the absolute maximum, to shift your chair even a few centimeters from the table you might restrict the movement of the waiters. A solarium tucked away at the back of the restaurant is pleasant enough, especially at lunch on a gloomy day. The praiseworthy French cuisine is complimented by a well-stocked wine cellar.

Cafe La Boheme
Minami-Aoyama
1 Fl. Kaneko Bldg. 7-11-4 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-Ku
Tel. (03) 3499-3377
Opening Hours: 11:30am-5am
Credit Cards: All Major
Prices: Moderate

Cafe La Boheme is one of eight moderately priced little bistros located around Tokyo. the cooking is quite good considering the prices that are dirt-cheap by Tokyo standards. Two can dine here with a carafe of white and a carafe of red wine for $50. Salads, pasta and the special Japanese pastas are good. The restaurant in Aoyama is very nice-looking and draws and interesting crowd until 5am in the morning. I commend this restaurant chain for their efforts and I wish that every city in the world should aspire to have comparable restaurants open most of the day and night, serving good food and wine at reasonable prices.

Yoshihashi
Tel. (03) 31129 4129
Minato-Ku Moto Akasaka 1-5-25
Opening Hours: Lunch:11:30am-2pm; Dinner: 5:30pm-10pm
Credit Cards: MC, Visa
Prices: Very Expensive
Sukiyaki

A small, charming place serving Sukiyaki. Everything is cooked separately in front of you. An egg wash is made by painstakingly beating the whites with chopsticks while avoiding breaking the yolk that rests in the center. The resulting bowl is fluffy whites around a yellow yolk moon in the center where you dip the Sukiyaki. A difficult task, I can tell you, as I tried to do it and made a mess. There is a comfortable little bar if you wander down the little path that leads to the back of the restaurant.

Daini’s Table
6-3-14 Minami-Aoyama, Minata-Ku
Tel. (03) 3407-0363
Opening Hours: Lunch: 11:30am-2pm; Dinner: 5:30pm-10pm
Credit Cards: All Major
Prices: Expensive

This small space is decorated in tones of lacquered dark green and striking Chinese red. The bar is red and the tables green. Exquisite antique kimonos are inset into recessed spaces in the walls and are protected by glass. The kitchen of this small restaurant puts out quality Chinese cuisine in French-style courses rather than all at one time as is customarily Chinese.

La Maison du Chocolat is based in Paris, and its chocolates are consistantly recognized as some of the best in the world. Most chocolates are dipped rather than molded, producing a very thin chocolate cover that melts perfectly with the filling in the mouth. The most popular filling at La Maison du Chocolat is the ganache (a mix of dairy cream and chocolate), here it is elevated to a rare perfection of taste and texture. Ganaches are subtly flavored with the use of scented ingredients (almond, cinnamon, ginger, lemon, coffee, fennel…) that blend perfectly well with the taste of the chocolate. The chocolate base used is from the famous French producer Valrhona. As often, quality has its price about US$60 per pound.

The pastries offered at La Maison are also exceptionally well made, on a par with those made in the best patisseries in Paris. All have of course a powerful chocolate taste. Try for example the Bacchus (layers of chocolate cake and chocolate ganache), or the Andalousie (chocolate cake, with lemon zest cream and truffle mousse). For U.S. residents La Maison du Chocolat has a store at 30 Rockefeller Center (tel. 212 265-9404) as well as stores in Paris, London and Tokyo.

Nobu Matsuhisa has built an empire of Japanese restaurants beginning in the United States and branching out over three continents along with his current partners Robert De Niro, Meir Teper and Richard Notar.
His training included working at a well-known sushi bar in Tokyo before traveling to Peru where he opened a sushi bar and found that his classic training in sushi was put to the test by his discovery of entirely new ingredients, and he responded with originating some very innovative new styles of serving raw fish. He opened his first sushi restaurant in the United States in Beverly Hills in 1987 and in 1994 opened Nobu in New York City with actor Robert De Niro and restaurateur Drew Nieporent. Presently, he is expanding his global-network of Japanese sushi restaurants internationally with his current partners.

I dined many times at his first restaurant in Beverly Hills on La Cienega Boulevard and quite often when it first opened, as I was living in the area. When I moved to the West Side of Los Angeles I did not go as frequently, although I recall the time that we brought a Japanese monk to dine there with a couple of Japanese friends, he was dressed in a pure silk robe the size of a horse-blanket and he weighed almost 400 lbs., we sat at the sushi bar and as the meal drew to a close the monk told the sushi man, “make four tuna hand rolls”. The sushi man politely asked, “who are these for sir”? “For me”, he said firmly. The sushi man watched in amazement as the monk ate the large cone shaped hand-rolls one by one, and this, after consuming a great quantity of food just previously. Although, he was a huge man after all!

Following are locations and information on branches as of 2008:

USA

Beverly Hills
129 N. La Cienega Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Tel: 310-659-9639
Fax: 310-659-0492
Hours:
Monday – Friday (Lunch) 11:45 – 2:15
Monday – Sunday (Dinner) 5:45 – 10:15

Los Angeles
903 North La Cienega Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90069
Tel. 310-657-5711
Fax. 310-657-4299
Hours:
Dinner: Monday-Thursday 6 - 11:15
Friday - Saturday 6 - Midnight
Bar: Monday - Thursday 5:30 - 11:15
Bar: Friday - Saturday 5:30 - Midnight
Bar: Sunday 5:30 - 10:15

Malibu
3835 Cross Creek Road #18A
Malibu, CA 90265
Tel: 310-317-9140
Fax: 310-317-9136
Hours:
Sunday – Thursday 5:45 – 10:00
Friday – Saturday 5:45 – 11:00

Aspen
303 East Main St.
Aspen, CO 81611
Tel: 970-544-6628
Fax: 970-544-6630
Opening hours changes seasonally

Las Vegas
Hard Rock Hotel
4455 Paradise Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Tel : 702-693-5090
Fax: 702-693-5091
Hours: Daily 6 - 11:15

Miami Beach
Shore Club
1901 Collins Ave.
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Tel : 305-695-3232
Fax: 305-695-3246
Hours:
Monday – Thursday 7:00 – 12:00am
Friday & Saturday 7:00 – 1:00am
Sunday 7:00 – 11:00

New York City

Nobu New York City
105 Hudson
New York, NY 10013
Tel : 212-219-0500
Fax: 212-219-1441
Hours:
Monday – Friday (Lunch) 11:45 – 2:15
Monday – Sunday (Dinner) 5:45 – 10:15

Nobu Next Door
105 Hudson
New York, NY 10013
Tel : 212-334-4445
Fax: 212-334-0044
Hours:
Monday – Thursday (Dinner) 5:45 – 12:00am
Friday & Saturday (Dinner) 5:45 – 1:00am
Sunday (Dinner) 5:45 – 11:00

Nobu Fifty Seven
40 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
Tel : 212-757-3000
Fax: 212-757-6330
Hours:
Monday – Friday (Lunch) 11:45 – 2:15
Monday – Sunday (Dinner) 5:45 – 11:15

HAWAII

Nobu Waikiki
Waikiki Parc Hotel
2233 Helumoa Road
Honolulu, HI 96815
Tel : 808-237-6999
Fax : 808-237-6990
Hours:
Daily 5:30 – 11:00

DALLAS
Hotel Crescent Court
400 Crescent Court
Dallas, TX 75201
Tel : 214-252-7000
Fax: 214-252-7001
Hours:
Sunday 6:00 – 10:00
Monday Friday 6:00 – 11:00
Saturday 5:30 – 11:00

INTERNATIONAL

NOBU LONDON
The Metropolitan Hotel
19 Old Park Lane
London, W1Y 4LB, U.K.
Tel : +44-20-7447-4747
Fax: +44-20-7447-4749
Hours:
Monday – Friday (Lunch) 12:00 2:15
Saturday – Sunday (Lunch) 12:30 – 2:30
Monday – Friday (Dinner) 6:00 – 10:15
Saturday (Dinner) 6:00 – 11:15
Sunday (Dinner) 6:00 – 9:45

NOBU BERKELEY ST.
15 Berkeley St.
London, W1J 8DY, U.K.
Tel : 011-44-20-7290-9222
Fax: 011-44-20-7290-9223
Hours:
Monday – Friday (Lunch) 12:00 – 2:15
Monday – Wednesday (Dinner) 6:00 – 11:00
Thursday – Saturday (Dinner) 6:00 – 12:00
Sunday (Dinner) 6:00 – 9:15

UBON by NOBU (CLOSED)
34 Westferry Circus
Canary Wharf
London, E14 8RR, U.K.
Tel : 011-44-20-7719-7800
Fax: 011-44-20-7719-7801
TBA

NOBU TOKYO
4-1-28 Toranomon, Minato-ku,
Toranomon Towers 1st  Fl.
Tokyo, 105-0001 Japan
Tel : +81-(0)3-5733-0070
Fax: +81-(0)3-5733-0065
Hours:
Monday – Friday (Lunch) 11:30 – 3:00
Monday – Saturday (Dinner) 6:00 – 11:30
Sunday & Holiday (Dinner) 6:00 – 11:00
Hours:
Monday – Friday (Lunch) 12:00 2:15
Saturday – Sunday (Lunch) 12:30 – 2:30
Monday – Friday (Dinner) 6:00 – 10:15
Saturday (Dinner) 6:00 – 11:15
Sunday (Dinner) 6:00 – 9:45

NOBU MILANO
20121 Milano, ITALY
Tel : 011-44-20-7719-7800
Fax: 011-44-20-7719-7801
Hours:
Monday – Saturday (Lunch) 12:00 – 2:30
Monday – Sunday (Dinner) 7:00 – 11:30

MATSUHISA MYKONOS
Belvederc Hotel
School of Fine Arts District,
84600 Mykonos, GREECE
Tel : +30-22890-27362
Fax: +30-22890-25126
Hours:
Daily 8:00pm – 1:30am
Open Seasonally

NOBU INTERCONTINENTAL
NOBU HONG KONG
18 Salisbury Road.
Kowloon Hong Kong
Tel : 011-44-20-7719-7800
Fax: 011-44-20-7719-7801
Hours:
Daily (Lunch) 12:00 – 2:30
Daily (Dinner) 6:00 – 11:00

NOBU MELBOURNE
Crown Melbourne Australia
8 Whiteman Street
Southbank Vic 3006
Australia

Restaurant Marushin
1-5-10 Ekimae,Koriyama,Fukushima
Tel. 024-922-1851
Opening Hours: Lunch: noon-2pm, Dinner: 6-10:30
Credit Cards: Yes
Prices: Moderate

Pictured above is the very best Uni (sea urchin roe) that I have ever tasted and I have eaten so many of these creatures all over the world, regardless of their high cholesterol count. (My first experience, was on the island of Capri in Italy, a long time ago when young boys used to dive for them and pry them off the rocks and sell them to the customers that were sitting at the seaside restaurants for a nominal price). Maruchin is an extremely well-run restaurant located in downtown Koriyama and it means business, as everything they serve from sushi to tempura is exquisitely presented and the raw materials that they use are so fresh and served at the ideal temperature. If the dish is not to be served raw it is cooked to perfection, it is amazing with so many items on the menu, that the restaurant manages to get everything right. I was so sorry that I did not have the time to pay one more visit to this incredibly good restaurant before I left. It is basically reserved for locals only and buried in a line of storefronts, you would most likely never find it unless you had inside information from persons living in Koriyama who knew about it.

3-10 First Bldg., 1F
Tel 3499-6786
Credit Cards
Prices: Moderate

The word Brasserie is probably the most misunderstood and misused term in current-usage by the restaurant trade. This little place has no similarity to a brasserie whatsoever and more aptly put it is a cafe-pâtissière. With that minor bit of business put behind, the key here is the informal approach used in the cooking and serving of the customarily adequate food.

A cute cafe, with a good view of street traffic through large plate glass windows, although, the constant reverberating sounds of Edith Piaf can be irritating.

Miami-Aoyama
1f Kaneko Bldg. 7-11-4 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-Ku
Tel. 3499-3377
Eclectic
Hours: 11:30 am - 5:00 am
Credit Cards
Prices: Inexpensive

One of eight inexpensive little bistros located around Tokyo. The cooking is quite good considering the prices that are dirt-cheap by Tokyo standards. Two can dine here with a carafe of white and a carafe of red wine for about ¥7,000. Salads, pastas and the special Japanese pastas are good. The restaurant in Aoyama is quite nice looking and draws an interesting crowd until 5am in the morning. I commend this restaurant chain for their efforts. Every city in the world should aspire to have a comparable restaurant open most of the day and night, serving good food and wine at reasonable prices.

Tel 3842 4001
Taito-ku, Komagata 1-7-12
Open 11:30am-10:00pm
Credit Cards
Prices: Expensive (due to the rarity of the specialties)

This restaurant is an institution and it stays open all day without a break until 10pm. The two items they specialize in, whale and small fresh-water eel are now so rare that prices have kept escalating over the years.

It opened its doors in 1776 the same year America gained its independence. While they have a menu with some classic Japanese dishes most everyone comes to eat the white part of the whale, with plenty of burdock root and green onions displayed in side-dishes, which you may add to the steaming pot in the center of the table, and Dojo, which is a small fresh-water eel found in the rice fields. In my two visits over the years I have never seen anyone order anything else but these two items.

In the main dining room on ground level everyone is seated on the floor downstairs offers some table seating, however.

Tel. 03-3406-5475
Tojyo Bldg. 4-2-10, Nishiazabu, Minato-Ku
Credit cards: All Major
Prices: Food: Moderate-High, Wine: Very Expensive

The small dining room with its handful of tables is attractively decorated and makes you feel immediately comfortable. It is too bad for the restaurant, and especially cruel for the customer, that the menu is quite good for what it is—bistro cooking and quite frankly, somewhat overpriced, but all the wines worth drinking are outrageously overpriced.

If you feel like having dinner and drinking very little this is the place for you, if on the other hand, you wish to have more than a couple of glasses of wine you had better head elsewhere, which is exactly what we did; paid the bill and left, after finishing the first course, for another restaurant.

Akasaka Emerald Bld., 2A
2-8-13 Akasaka Hinatoku
Tokyo, 107-0052 Japan
Tel. 03-3583-5610
Credit cards: All Major
Prices:Moderate
http://foodpia.geocities.jp/restaurant_kaeriyama/

France Chubo Kaeriyama is a hidden treasure situated in a fairly typical Japanese
restaurant space, accessed by climbing up a tiny circular staircase from street level. It seats only about 25 persons and serves unswerving and marvelous classic French cuisine. Reservations are highly advised.
The chef/owner is Koji Kaeriyama, who previously worked in
various French restaurants in Tokyo, owned a restaurant in
Paris, and also did a stint working in a few restaurants in
Los Angeles before realizing his dream to open his own
restaurant in Tokyo.

A few of the items listed on the à la carte menu are:
Starters:
Terrine of foie gras. jellied rabbit terrine, assiette de charcutrie

Mains:
Duck confit with white beans, Beef cheek braised with red wine sauce

There are two prix fixe menus for lunch ¥1800 and ¥2500
Below are listed some typical lunch starters:
Pork terrine, seasonal fried river fish, minestrone with gobo root and white and brown beans, onion tart.
Main course: Tranche of Halibut coated with five kinds of crispy rice,
Beef cheek in red wine demi-glace sauce, pork with tomato flavored veal stock.
Dessert: floating island, fresh strawberries diced with mint and served with vanilla ice cream.

He receives organically raised pork from Hokkaido and visits the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo most mornings and the produce he uses is always top quality as well as being fresh. This charming restaurant is definitely worth a visit as it is run with loving care.