A friend came over from Korea for the first time in a while. When I asked what they wanted to eat most, the answer was curry and omurice, so I took them to Loup de Mer, a yoshoku (Western-style) restaurant in Kanda. I’m told it was opened by a chef who left Don Pierre, a well-known yoshoku restaurant, to set up on his own.
The entrance
It’s not far from Kanda Station, but it’s down a side street, so it isn’t all that easy to find. If you look closely, there’s a poster on the door with the chef’s face on it, titled “Takumi no Aji” (the taste of a master) ^_^ The omurice here has actually been getting some media coverage lately. Though I suspect it’s more for the price than the taste..
Looking at the menu, the prices aren’t cheap. Lunch is the one to recommend here. In the evening the menu is full of serious dishes made with pretty high-end ingredients, so it might feel like a bit much for a casual visit.
Hayashi rice, half size, 840 yen
There are lots of dishes I want to try, so if there’s a half-size option, of course I’m ordering it ^_^ After one spoonful I immediately thought: this is what a deep flavor is. How good must the ingredients they simmered down be to get such a smooth taste with no rough edges at all? It doesn’t show well in the photo, but the meat just melts away.. It’s a little sweet and goes really well with rice. It’s definitely a notch above the hayashi rice at an ordinary yoshoku place. It was worth coming all this way on purpose.
Curry rice, half size, 840 yen
This one is amazing too. Like the hayashi rice, you can taste the skill and effort in it, but being curry, it’s a bit more stimulating. Personally I preferred the hayashi rice, but my friend found the hayashi rice bland and said the curry rice was tastier. By general standards, though, it isn’t a strongly spicy curry, so it may not suit people who like that kind of thing.
Today’s signature dish: beef omurice, 3,000 yen
It’s a bit steep. But once I tasted it, I understood why.
The inside
Unusually, the rice was seasoned with soy sauce rather than ketchup. It goes without saying that the egg melts in your mouth, and inside there are plenty of chunks of beef, and they taste unbelievable. They melted the moment they hit my mouth. I have no idea how high-grade the beef must be to taste like that. Just thinking about what that beef must cost, 3,000 yen is by no means expensive.
Still, it’s a pity the omurice comes without any sauce. From the kitchen’s side, I guess they serve it without sauce because they’re confident in the flavor, but as the one eating it, I felt something was missing. So I tried topping it with the sauces from the hayashi rice and the curry rice, and it was the best possible match. It became an omurice with almost perfect flavor. At that point the 3,000 yen didn’t feel wasted at all, and I found myself wanting to come back.
The omurice here is definitely among the best in Tokyo, but the price is no joke, so recommending it is a bit tricky. The lunch menu, though, has plenty of dishes worth eating in the 1,000-yen range, so if you’re interested in yoshoku, try visiting at lunchtime.