Considered one of the great food cities of the world (implausible just a few years ago), Tokyo offers every type of cuisine imaginable. Though I usually patronize traditional Japanese restaurants when in the city, on this trip, I felt motivated to try something new. I greatly enjoyed a creative kaiseki meal, but chose a farm-to-table Western-inspired restaurant to round out my dining experience.
This contemporary restaurant with a streamlined modern décor and traditional woodwork design is set on the 31st floor of a new commercial complex in the Oshiage district. Floor-to-ceiling windows flood the space with natural light and offer dramatic views of the world’s largest communications tower, the Tokyo Skytree. Creative Italian multicourse menus created by chef Masayuki Okuda employ fresh organic ingredients primarily from nearby farms. Expect starters such as crisp white asparagus with a squid, garlic and tomato ratatouille; sweet tomatoes with dollops of house-made ricotta cheese over a bed of angel hair pasta; and foie gras with raw onions drizzled with olive oil over a pea purée. Main courses run to dishes such as Hokkaido shrimp with sea bream roe, and roasted lamb paired with a layered potato cake.
31st floor, Tokyo Solamachi, 1-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida-ku. Tel. (81) 3-5809-7284.
Awarded two Michelin stars only five months after its opening in 2012, this gourmet kaiseki restaurant has just eight counter seats and one four-person table. Owner/chef Hidetsugu Okamoto, who trained at two-star Wakuden in Kyoto and three-star Yukimura in Tokyo, offers unconventional dishes that combine unexpected ingredients, textures and flavors. Ever-changing menus may include abalone accompanied by grilled vegetables and fish roe sauce; fresh mackerel with sea bream roe, purple cabbage mousse and fragrant maitake mushrooms; and thin turnip noodles in a light cod milt soup. Dessert could be a refreshing grapefruit and coconut sorbet with red beans, or a ginger warabi-mochi wrapped in bamboo leaf. Reservations required.
Fifth floor, Daini Ginza Column Building, 8-3-12 Ginza, Chuo-ku. Tel. (81) 3-3571-5110.
Andrew Harper members have access to full travel-planning services through Andrew Harper Travel.
1 (800) 375-4685
Open M-F 8:30AM-5:30PM CT
