----------------------------------- fvz Fri Dec 01, 2006 3:43 am Re: Iidabashi & Ichigaya - European food ----------------------------------- La Tourelle - French *** Address - Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Kagurazaka 6-8 Opening hours - 11:30 to 14:30 and 18:00 to 22:00. Closed on Monday Telephone - 03-3267-2120 Menu - In Japanese and French Credit Cards - OK In the "About" section of my personal site I say: "Over the years I have developed a pet theory according to which restaurants serve good food only as long as the bill remains below a certain figure, variable according to the city and the nation and which in the case of Tokyo is about 5000 yen. This, again according to my theory, because to the common man what counts is the food, whereas to the rich or to the poor in disguise what counts is status and power. This rule of thumb has so far rarely betrayed me: if you want to eat mediocre food and spend a fortune to impress your squeeze, Sabatini di Roma and La Ranarita are the places you are looking for." As you can see, I may be extreme, but I do know what I like. No better example of my pet theory could be found than La Tourelle. Expensive as shit: the cheapest dessert costs 1700 (sic) yen, exclusive of taxes and table charges. Stuckup as anything I've seen so far: for example, you got six implements of various nature and design on each side of the plate. One looked, if you ask me, as a fairly typical spoon: it was, I was told, a highly stylized fish knife. And the food! seven different dishes in diminutive, and I mean really diminutive, portions served at generous intervals so that you can fully enjoy the smiling sommellier at you side talking all the time. If the food had been superlative, I could have still conceived the idea of giving the place a neutral review. It was mediocre, rich in ornamentation and poor in flavor. In the curried quail I could hardly find the quail: it looked and tasted like ham. Regardless of price, I'd rather eat at La Dinette paying just 2500 yen, with the added bonus of not having to worry about whether my elbows are on the table. Having spent 9000 yen without drinks, must I add that wines were overpriced? Of course they were. Read on. Another opinion on La Tourelle by Claus Regge : We were a group of five that evening at La Tourelle. Four ordered the set dinner for Yen 7000 plus plus..., only I ordered a la carte, for reasons explained below. My generous portion of foie gras heated in a slightly herby butter sauce was truly excellent, a memorable treat and certainly worth the Yen 3600 it cost. Fortunately, no chef had tried to hide or manipulate the natural taste of the high-quality ingredient that went into this dish -- a prime example of non-interference paying off handsomely. My main dish, something with duck, was pleasing but so eminently forgettable that I've already forgotten what exactly it was. Although those two courses cost about the same as the seven included in the full course, I believe I got the better deal. Will I go back to La Tourelle, then? Probably not, and that's because of our miserable experience with their wine list and the fussy but clueless waiter who doubles as a sommelier. A rather haphazard collection of this and that, all French, all overpriced. We started with a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape from an unfamiliar (to me) estate, a '97 that totally lacked the depth and fruity richness that wines from that area on the Southern Rhone can (and should) possess. At around Yen 7000, a waste of money. Then, I ordered a bottle of '93 Chateau Grand-Puy-Ducasse, a Pauillac 5th growth in the 1855 classification of Medoc wines. Not often seen on wine lists in Japan, Grand-Puy-Ducasse is capable of elegant, fruity, not overly tannic wines in a good year. Ninety-three, as it turned out, was not a good year for Ducasse (although other chateaux made thoroughly enjoyable wines in that year). Thin, drying out, lacking fruit, not a hint of the leather and cigar notes on the nose and the black currant on the palate that one expects from a Pauillac. Probably badly cellared, too. Served much too cold, until I convinced the waiter that no full-bodied red should be served at under 18 degrees. The price? Almost Yen 10,000; that is, in my opinion, 40 to 50 percent more than it could possibly be worth. A few wines on the list looked more promising, such as an '88 Pichon-Lalande, but at around Yen 30,000 temptation evaporates quickly. La Tourelle still seems to follow the bubble-economy era rule that wine is a status-laden luxury, not an integral and necessary part of a French meal. If I ever do go back to La Tourelle, I'll order the foie gras, perhaps a double portion, and maybe a glass of the house wine or a beer. Carmine - Italian ***** Address - Shinjuku-ku, Saikucho 1-19 Mishikawa Bdg. Opening hours - from 12:00 am to 2:00 pm and from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm Telephone - 03-3260-5066 Menu - In Italian and Japanese Credit Cards - Yes For honesty, I will say right away that Carmine Cozzolino is an old acquaintance of mine, but he is not paying for this review. Some years ago I ate for the first time at his restaurant, which has moved to new premises just across the street from the old. Former "Carmine" is now a pizzeria called "La Volpaia". My companion and I ordered a 3500 yen set apiece and shared the whole thing. Impolite, perhaps, but convenient. We both got assorted appetizers; I ordered linguine in octopus and tomato sauce, spring chicken "alla diavola", and tiramisu, while she had penne in mushroom and gorgonzola sauce, swordfish steak with mashed potatoes, and panna cotta. Everything was truly excellent, including the home-made bread and service. Since then I have eaten several times at Carmine's, which has sort of become my yardstick for judging Italian restaurants. My only complaint is the crowding, which could bother some people (not me, though). January 2000 : I am sorry to say my opinion of Carmine's other restaurants isn't equally good. La Volpaia and Carmine Edochiano are in fact deservedly part of my shit list. La Volpaia - Italian Kagurazaka and Mejiro Addresses - Kagurazaka : Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Nakamachi 2-1 Mejiro : Yutaka Bdg. 1Fl, Shimo Ochiai 3-12-23, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Opening hours - From 11:00am to 11:00 pm Telephones - Kagurazaka : 03-3260-8767 Mejiro : 03-5982-2258 Menu - In Japanese and Italian Credit Cards - OK As I mentioned elsewhere, old Carmine has become an Italian style pizzeria called La Volpaia. Curious to see how good it was, I went to eat there and here is my report. La Volpaia is not just a pizzeria: it also serves some appetizers and pasta, which I have not tried as yet. The menu includes 10 different types of pizza, among which I tasted two. My opinion: OK, but no more than that. They are real Italian pizzas, but there is something missing in the flavor, perhaps watered down for Japanese palates. For example, you could barely taste the anchovies in the Napoletana. Anchovies are the heart of a Napoli! The pizza with rucola and raw ham was also good without being brilliant. For real Italian pizza, go to "La Befana" or give it up and eat at Carmine's, just across the street. Note : In March, Carmine opened opened a new branch of La Volpaia in Mejiro. I have no reason to believe it is better than the Kagurazaka branch. To find it, turn left at the station and walk for some hundred meters. It's on the left side of the street.