This post was written in 2008. Shop details and prices may have changed since then.
I’ve been ending up at the Marunouchi Building a lot lately. There are plenty of decent cafés, and surprisingly a lot to shop for and look at, so it works well as a meeting spot for both personal and work get-togethers.
The luxury-brand street running from Marunouchi to Ginza
Just walking around here puts you in a good mood.
Right before sunset
The shops only stay open until 8, but even coming late at night just to look at the shop windows is fun.
A little plaza
It’s a bit cold out, but there’s also a plaza tucked inside the buildings.
Wine shop
Cheaper than in Korea, but there weren’t many wines that really tempted me..
Tokyo nights are always fun.
La Maison du Chocolat, one of my favorites.
The most expensive and most delicious chocolate shop in Tokyo. I’ve never actually eaten their chocolates on my own money. I just drop by now and then and get to try samples of new products ^_^; You could call it the final evolution of chocolate. This year’s Valentine’s Day has already passed.. so I’ll have to work hard all year starting now so I can get these chocolates next year.
A hamburger I ordered instead of a proper lunch at a café on the 4th floor of the Marunouchi Building
Taste was ordinary.. and the price was crazy high. I felt like a total doenjang-nam (a guy who puts on Western airs).. The service was good, though. From now on I’ll eat in Ginza before coming here.
After eating, I headed to the Shin-Marunouchi Building, which I hear opened recently. It’s stylish and calm. Maybe because it was the weekend, there were quite a few shoppers. There were lots of shops selling interior goods, clever gadgets, furniture and clothes.
I went into a place on the 1st floor called PG Cafe. Once inside I found out it’s a café produced by Pierre Gagnaire, famous for molecular cuisine. He’s the chef of a three-Michelin-star restaurant in France, and in the food world he’s more famous than most pop stars.
I order a dessert that’s apparently served at Pierre Gagnaire.
I added 600 yen to it and got the set with a drink for 1,000 yen. Considering the name value and the location, the price wasn’t bad.
The milk that comes with it
For some reason the milk costs an extra 100 yen.
Dessert
Packed with strawberries. It wasn’t very sweet. Considering the Pierre Gagnaire name, the taste wasn’t all that moving. Well.. given the price, it was my own fault for expecting more than this..
In front of the café
Looks like they serve light meals too. Joël Robuchon seems to have opened a café along these lines in Roppongi as well, so maybe I’ll try that one next. The high prices I can live with, but why is the food only this good.. If Robuchon’s turns out the same, I’ll stop going to these concept-type places.