This post was written in 2005. Shop details and prices may have changed since then.
Last week a friend came to visit Tokyo, and we went ahead with a one-day Tokyo gourmet trip.
Neither of us is a big eater, so unlike some people we couldn’t manage 5-6 meals a day – we just had breakfast, lunch and dinner and then went our separate ways.
I need to build up my stamina a bit more.
My friend, who used to hate fish, suddenly said he wanted to try tuna sushi, so I couldn’t just take him to any ordinary sushi place.
We went to Sushizanmai in Tsukiji, which Mr. Y once recommended to me as a place that sells top-grade tuna cheaply.
This is the sign of the Sushizanmai main shop. It’s open 24 hours, but I figured going in the morning would get us fresher sushi,
so we went bright and early at 10 a.m. (T_T). I don’t think I’ve been up this early on a Sunday in ages…
I thought about ordering piece by piece, but since it was our first time, we ordered two 3,000-yen sets to scope the place out.
The Sushizanmai set and the Maguro Zanmai set.
This is the premium anago (sea eel) sushi that came with my Sushizanmai set. It’s the most expensive item in the shop, a few dozen yen more than the otoro…
The moment it goes into your mouth, it melts away in a rich, silky way – superb. I can’t say it’s the best anago I’ve ever had, but for value for money
it has to be the best.
This is the Sushizanmai set I ordered. The white balance was a mess, so the photo didn’t come out well. One piece each of otoro, chutoro and uni… The shrimp
was just so-so; not very fresh…
The tuna set my friend ordered. Two pieces of otoro! But unless you really love tuna, the Sushizanmai set above
is probably the better choice.
From a different angle…
When I ate the otoro, something felt off. Could they be putting drugs in the fish… How could raw fish possibly taste like this?
It was truly strange. In my not-so-long otoro career, I think it was the best I’ve had. A taste that lights up your whole mouth, so to speak… And the price
was only about 499 yen, half what a typical sushi shop charges… The akami was good too, and the anago was good… At this shop, otoro + akami + anago + something in season
would be just about the perfect order.
After leaving, I showed my friend around the Kanda secondhand bookshop district, since he’d never been… My hobbies are collecting books and CDs,
so I know the Kanda area inside out. ^_^;; After making a long book-shopping list and buying some CDs, we headed to Yabu Soba nearby.
Actually I wanted to go to Matsuo, but they’re closed on Sundays… so we had no choice but to go to Yabu Soba.
The yamakake soba I ordered. I picked the wrong thing. T_T I was really moved by the unagi nanban I had here before,
but it’s pricey and I wanted cold soba, so I tried something different – and it was a big failure. T_T Unless you’re getting
the unagi nanban or tori nanban, plain zaru soba is probably the better bet.
The zaru soba my friend ordered. He said it was pretty good… but somehow he doesn’t like the idea of spending a lot of money on soba…
I don’t like spending a lot on a lump of carbs either… Next time I’ll have to make the rounds to Matsuo.
In the evening we went to Harajuku. After some light (-_-) sightseeing and shopping, my friend suggested an Italian restaurant,
so we ended up at the La Bettola branch in Shinjuku. La Bettola’s Ginza shop isn’t open on Sundays… so there wasn’t
much choice.
We ordered the most affordable set, 3,990 yen.
Bread and blood orange juice. The bread was better than at the main shop. The La Bettola main shop serves really unremarkable bread.
I can’t drink alcohol these days, so I ordered juice, and it tasted fine. But 530 yen for a tiny glass…
The eggplant dish we ordered as a starter. I love eggplant so I gave it a try, but it was a bit heavy for a starter…
A salad with shrimp and seafood, but I can’t quite remember the exact name… The shrimp weren’t in great shape, but it tasted good.
The sea urchin pasta, which almost became the highlight of the day. The main shop’s uni pasta is pure bliss, but the branch’s pasta was just ordinary.
I’d bragged that it was delicious and a must-eat, so I felt bad for my friend… T_T
A pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and a cheese flavor, but I can’t quite remember the exact name… Anyway, this one was better.
The real highlight of the day. A beef cutlet… and it tasted amazing. The portion was a bit small and it was hard to cut with the knife, but… ^^;
the meat quality was fantastic… Meat like this would be fantastic as a steak too…
One of today’s failures. Pork ribs – they said it was the special of the day, so I ordered it. -_-;; But it didn’t seem all that special…
Tiramisu cake. I think the main shop’s was a bit better… but the tiramisu here was really good too.
Ice cream… or was it sorbet… It was just average.
To sum up my visit to La Bettola Tutti: first, the main shop is way better… and second, don’t trust the specials of the day.
I got the feeling they put dishes on the daily specials and add the ones that get good reviews to the regular menu… This is my third time
at La Bettola, and I’ve never had a real miss from the regular menu, but I don’t think I’ve ever been satisfied with a special of the day.
After this, I went home. Members of a certain club would now go hunting for ramen shops or a late-night snack… ^^
but I couldn’t go that far… Anyway, it was a fun day with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while.