Bistro a Vin La Patate is...

... my second home. Trust me you want to go there.

I’ve been asked why I haven’t written any review of this

Bistro a Vin La Patate’s strength lies in the hands of the wonderful Chef Sejima. He runs this friendly and warm little bistro together with his lovely wife. At different times, both the Chef and his wife lived in France, about 6 years each. But then they met in Tokyo working at the same restaurant, this restaurant (formerly known as A.O.C. Yoyogi).


They got married and bought off A.O.C. Yoyogi and began La Patate.

Rustic, warm, very very French. Even Chef Sejima and the wife speaks French to each other. Their English is also pretty good. So, when you have any culinary related problems, you can ask them and they will answer.

So, putting the personality aside, we need to talk about the food. As a Muslim, I have food restrictions and it’s notably hard in Japan to find places that do not use pork products in their cooking, especially for Western cuisines. Every time I venture a new restaurant, I have to be very specific about what I want, sounding like a freaky hypochondriac, I had to go through the painful process of explaining how I cannot have any of those products mixed in any way or cooked together in the same big fryer. Some restaurants could be snobbish and just put me off to a bowlful of salad, and some can be accommodative. Chef Sejima is the latter.
After a few visits to this restaurant, Chef Sejima has come up with what he calls “Bun-chan’s menu”. Bun-chan is his nickname for me. And by Bun-chan’s menu, he meant something that he makes up when I show up at the restaurant during his pork-week. This is precisely why I go every week. I am curious what animal or how many kinds of veggies he’d like to test on me before putting it up on his restaurant menu. Upon seeing my face at the door he’ll usually say, “Irasshai!!! Yoshi! Buntari ga kitta, Bun-chan menu tesuto da!” (Welcome! Alright now that you’re here, we can try another Bun-chan menu!”

Here are my favorites:
Duck terrine
Beef cooked in red wine
Lamb cooked in red wine
Grilled fish
Carrot pottage soup
Roast duck
Roast chicken
Roast lamb
Pan seared scallop
Seafood quiche

Last but not least: the bread. Do not forget to eat the little round bread that Chef Sejima makes with love. It’s so fresh, it’s so chewy, it’s simply wonderful.

Restaurant Information

Bistro a Vin La Patate
Metro Building 1st Floor
1-43-2 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku
Tokyo

Tel: 03-5333-5150



Open hours:
Mon - Sat: 11:30～15:00　(L.O.14:00) and 18:00～24:00 (L.O. 21:00)
Sun, Hols:　11:30～17:00

The place is cozy small, seats 50 maximum. For small parties (up to 4 people), walk in on the day is fine.

Rating
food quality *****
food taste *****
service ****
value to money ****
coziness, comfort *****

Course menu is 3,700 yen for foods only. With drinks, depending on your alcohol intake the bill usually range around 5,000 ~ 7,000 yen pax.

Entertaining in Tokyo

After what seems like 3 weeks of eating out everyday, I have successfully come-up with a list of Japanese restaurants that is worth taking your clients out to during their short business trip in Tokyo. Area of concentration is Roppongi, Nishi-Azabu, Yoyogi, Yoyogi-Uehara and Shinjuku.

1. Gonpachi
Japanese foods in one box. It's like the easiest stop you can make. And you'll get a selection of sushi (at their 3rd floor branch) and you get an eclectic colletion of kushiyaki foods and hand-made soba specialty.

Web. Phone 03-5771-0170. Usually about 4,000 yen per head at the end of the evening. Reservation highly recommended for dinner.

2. Shunju
One of my favorite restaurants in Tokyo. Nouveau Japanese dish, and they have the very fresh tofu that they make at the table. Located on the 27th floor of Sanno Park Tower, the view of Tokyo is breathtaking.

Web. Phone 03-3592-5288. Prepare to pay 8,000 yen and up for a fine dining experience (trust me, it's worth it). Reservation highly recommended, and always try to get seats by the glass wall.

3. Ikuta
Kobe beef specialist. Usually the price is dire if you want to dine on this special Kobe beef, but Ikuta is much more reasonable than most. Located in Yoyogi, very close to Shinjuku. Atmosphere is not pretentious at all.

Web. Phone 03-5340-7240. Course menu starts from 6,980 yen. Capacity is not very large, reservation is recommended.

4. Seryna Honten
Great Shabu-shabu restaurant in Roppongi. Full review see here.

Web. Phone 03-3402-1051.Reservation required. Course starts from 8,000 yen.

5. Mon Cher Ton Ton
Another Kobe beef restaurant. Served in teppanyaki style. Mon Cher Ton Ton is located on 52nd Floor of Sumitomo Building in Shinjuku. The view is absolutely stunning, while the food is out of this world-ly delicious. Very expensive. My client picked up the tab, so it was OK.

Web. Phone 03-3344-6761. Reservation required.Kobe Beef course menu is 20,000 yen per head.

6. Tobu Sakana
Complete opposite to the other's hefty price, try to go to Tobu Sakana in Tokyo's hip pocket Shimo-Kitazawa. The freshest fish restaurant I've ever been to in Japan. Full review is here.

Web. Phone 03-3414-6611. 3,000-4,000 yen per head.Place is small, reservation is recommended. Cash only.

7. Sasagin
One of my favorite place in Yoyogi Uehara. The restaurant has hundreds of bottles of sake collection. Menu is in difficult Japanese only, so all you need to do is tell the master to do what he wants and deliver the sake that goes well with the food. All you need to do is say how hungry you are, and what food you're allergic to or hates. You'll be very pleasantly surprised.

Formal review. Phone 03-5454-3715.Moderate, 4,000 yen~ per head. Cash only.

8. New York Bar and Grill
Not exactly Japanese, but this is something that every single of my clients all wants to go. You know, to get their fix on "Lost in Translation" experience.

Web. Phone 03-5323-3458. Only the Grill takes reservation. Just show yourself up. Once live music start, cover charge is 2,000 yen per head. Drinks starts from 1,000 yen.

9. Shabuzen
Good shabu-shabu restaurant in Roppongi. Much more affordable than Seryna. Better option for a party of 5 and above.

Web. Phone 03-3585-5600. Reservation sometimes necessary if it's Friday or Saturday night. 7,000 yen~ per head.

10. Kougetsu
Somewhere in between Shabuzen and Seryna's price range, there lies Kougetsu. My favorite amongst the 3. Specify to the restaurant if you don't eat pork.

Web. Phone 03-5771-0141

11. Shousuke
Excellent yakitori chain. Try to go to the one in Shinjuku San-chome's T&T building 7th floor, great view of Shinjuku Gyoen Park.

http://r.gnavi.co.jp/fl/en/g264513/index.htm.Phone 03-3356-1818.Average budget 5,000 yen per head. Reservation not necessary but recommended for big party.

And the quest continues!

Restaurant Review: Tobu Sakana

The locale is in Shimokitazawa, roughly 10 minutes on Odakyu line from Shinjuku, or even less from Shibuya.
Recommended to go here by a friend who used to live in the locale. One of the freshest seafood restaurant I've ever been to, with a very good price.
If in season, don't forget to order yaki-sora-mame (this is grilled giant edamame beans, very very tasty).
Things that should never be passed on while there: the suwai-gani (big crabs), grilled prawns, any grilled fish on a bed of salt. To reserve a table means you also reserve a plate of assorted sashimi.
For drinks, they have a large selection of sake and shochu. The fresh grapefruits sour (half of a grapefruit mixed with shochu) is really nice, they quickly sell out on this, though. Also try their "umeguro" beverage. It is a mix between umesshu and guinness. Kind of on the sweet side, but refreshing nonetheless.

Just to give an idea, first time I was there with Deenster, we ordered grilled fish, edamame, yakisoramame, prawns, a plate of sashimi (yes we were very hungry), and 3 drinks each; the bill came down to about 8,500 JPY. Not bad, eh?

Restaurant Information
Tobu Sakana
2-15-5 Kitazawa,
Setagaya-ku,
Tokyo

Tel: 03-3414-6611
Closed on Tuesdays
Open 5:30 pm to midnight
The place is cozy small, reservation is highly recommended

Rating
food quality *****
food taste *****
service ****
value to money ****

Restaurant Review: Seryna Honten

Some meat eating clients were in town and they wanted to eat lots of meat dish, so I suggested that we go out to eat shabu shabu.

Shabu-shabu by Wikipedia definition is a Japanese variant of hot pot. The dish is related to sukiyaki in style, where both use thinly sliced meat and vegetables, and usually served with dipping sauces. However, it is starkly different in taste; shabu-shabu is more savory and less sweet than sukiyaki. It is considered a winter dish but is eaten year-round.

Having transfered that knowledge onto them, we made our way to "Seryna Honten".

This restaurant is known for the prime quality beef and an outstanding selection of fresh seafood to go with the course.
We were relatively hungry and wanted to escape the always dragging menu choosing process, so we ordered the Special Seryna Dinner course A. The course presented us with an appetizer, assorted sashimi, assorted combination of seasonal dish, Prime beef shabu-shabu and finally dessert.

The food came in a slow pace and we are ever grateful that they did it that way, considering the amount of food that we devoured. By the time we finished the assorted combination of seasonal dish, we were already full; but then the Prime beef and the hot pot came, so we continued eating.
And then the veggies came for the hot pot, so we ate some more.
And finally on the savory side, the noodles came, so we finally ate them all.
We finished the 3-hours feast with a very delectable almond jelly and declared ourselves officially stuffed.

One thing that I have to point out about this restaurant is the quality of customer service that they provided. Truthfully I did not care much about their interior decor, if anything it felt a little bit too old-fashioned, like from the 80s; but with the quality of food and customer service, I'm more than ready to brush aside that fact.

One last note, the restaurant is not the cheapest in town. It is never cheap with shabu-shabu to begin with, since the higher quality the beef is naturally will jack up the price. However, it is a perfect place to take visitors to. Just be sure to do that when you're on company's dime.

Restaurant information:

Seryna Honten(瀬里奈本店）
3-12-3 Roppongi
Minato-ku, Tokyo
Tel. 03-3402-1051

http://www.seryna.co.jp/shop/honten-e.html

Map in English
http://www.seryna.co.jp/shop/map/map01-e.html

Map in Japanese
http://www.seryna.co.jp/shop/map/map01.html


Lunch course menu starts from JPY 3,000
Dinner course menu starts from JPY 10,000
A la carte menu starts from JPY 924 (but will quickly escalate)


Rating
food quality *****
food taste *****
service *****
value to money *****

Restaurant Review: Au Temps Jadis

My favorite creperie in the entire world. A great little joint in between Harajuku and Shibuya. A very close walk from Shibuya kuyakusho (city hall).

I was first introduced to this little place by my friend Bin and Suj, in one of our autumn walks. That was 5 years ago. Since then, I go there nearly every weekend. The beauty of this place is, you have so many selection to choose from, and Taku-san (the chef. He looks like Where is Waldo's Waldo, even his shirt looks alike!) is always very accomodating with whatever dietary restrictions that you may have.
I've gone through the menu from top to bottom and back. Everything is good. Every single one of them.
The creperie always closes for a week in Summer when the entire team will all go to France to study crepes. Speaking about passion, hey?
Go there, you will have the time of your life.
Just one request, please don't tell too many people about this place. You'll be sad if you can't get in.

My favorite menu, one of my usual orders in one visit:
Popeye Galette JPY 1,000
Noix aux caramel JPY 1,200
Warm spiced wine JPY 800

Au Temps Jadis
1-5-4 Jinnan
Shibuya-ku
Tokyo 150-0041

Tel: 03-3770-2457
Open 11 AM - 8 PM
Closed Wednesdays
Smoking unrestricted
No reservations available, just show up

A la carte foods start from JPY 700
Course menu JPY 2,300

Rating
food quality *****
food taste *****
service *****
value to money *****

Happy customers: Montchan, me and Deenster

Restaurant Review: Hale Kai's

I started going here after being recommended by my German friend and her Dutch boyfriend who used to live in the neighborhood.

Hale Kai's is a darling little restaurant with a very strong aloha ambiance.
The food here is delicious and simple. I'm not really sure what Hawaiian food is, and based on past experiences, some Hawaiian food will always have fresh pineapple in it, which I'm not too crazy about.
Pleasantly surprised, the foods served are all very tasty, light and fresh. Eating lots of their foods will not make you feel bloated. Instead, you will be pleasantly satiated and the portion is just the right amount.
In conclusion the taste could simply be described as partially American, Japanese, and island-ish. Well, fusion, rather.

Hale Kai's is a tiny restaurant, and it has no website nor map for getting there. It is in one of the little streets of Nishi-Azabu. So click on the Japanese map I got here for getting yourselves there.

Service is excellent, reservation is recommended. They have English menu available (no pictures).
The price is right. Just to give you an idea, the last time I went there, there were 3 of us. We ordered a bottle of Ravenswood's chardonnay, plus 1 glass, and 5 kinds of food. The bill was footed at a handsome price of 11,200 JPY.

Restaurant Information


Hale Kai's
2-16-4 Nishi-Azabu
Minato-ku
Tokyo 106-0031
Tel: 03-3400-8012
Open Tue-Sat 6pm-2am, Sun & hols 6pm-12am
Closed Mondays
Smoking unrestricted

A la carte foods start from JPY 900.
Good selection of wine.


Rating
food quality *****
food taste *****
service *****
value to money *****

Restaurant: Court Lodge

Sri Lankan Restaurant in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

Restaurant information:

Court Lodge Shinjuku

Court Lodge Shinjuku
2-10-9 Yoyogi
Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo Japan
Tel: 03-3378-1066
e-mail: huejay@lankacurry.com
a la carte from 320 Yen
Course from 2,500 yen

Rating

Taste *****
Portion *****
Service *****
Value to money *****