| Restaurant Review |
By Steve Trautlein
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Italiana Enoteca d’Oro
A delightful newcomer serves up authentic Italian cooking—with gusto
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| Photos courtesy of Metius Foods |
Just a few years ago, the debut of Enoteca d’Oro might have caused a big stir. With a wine list the size of a phone book, hand-tossed pizzas and keen waitstaff, this Hamamatsucho eatery is the real Italian deal. But thanks to an influx of restaurants specializing in cuisine ranging from Milan to Sicily, Enoteca d’Oro enters the Tokyo dining scene amid some serious competition. Good thing, then, that it also arrives with a serious pedigree: its sister restaurants in Hanzomon and Jimbocho are established foodie destinations.
Enoteca d’Oro offers admirably simple pizzas (from ¥1,200), which include a basic cheese variety made with real buffalo mozzarella (¥2,000). Antipasti range from Sicilian-style seafood assortments (¥2,400) to Rome-style appetizer platters (¥2,200) to favorites like Piedmontese bagna cauda (¥1,800) and insalata caprese (¥1,600). Many dishes are available in piccolo (small) sizes, which is good news for locals, as portions are large for Tokyo. Our wagyu carpaccio (¥2,400) came on a plate layered with earthy, peppered beef, and just olive oil and a lemon wedge for seasonings.
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The dozen primo piatti dishes share a similarly authentic provenance and attention to locally sourced ingredients.
A plate of rigatoni in a ragu of Hokkaido venison and Japanese sweet potato (¥2,000) was both big-portioned and robust—and one of the best pasta dishes we’ve enjoyed in Tokyo. Seafood fans can try Sicilian-style linguine with tako and olives (¥1,800), Neapolitan spaghetti with Hokkaido clams and chili tomatoes (¥1,700), and the provocatively named “dish made just for shrimp lovers with orecchiette” (¥2,400).
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Enoteca D’oro’s menu is also conspicuous for its two full pages of Italian meats, including rare-in-Tokyo varieties of prosciutto, salami and bologna. The copious wine list features a dozen entries priced at just ¥3,500; we enjoyed a lovely bottle of Lilliano Chianti Classico that worked well across our broad range of dishes, especially a six-cheese plate (¥1,600) with crutin, taleggio and robiola varieties. Entrees include lamb cacciatore (¥2,600), roasted French duck with truffles (¥2,800), and Sendai beef tagliata with arugula and parmesan (¥2,800).
Enoteca D’oro is located in the food court of an office complex, so when we showed up on a recent cold and rainy Sunday, we expected to have the place to ourselves. Wrong. The rustic-flavored interior was abuzz with couples, families and other small groups, and we’re guessing that when the business crowd flocks in on weekdays, seats are tough to come by. For a new entrant in Tokyo’s cutthroat restaurant scene, that’s a good sign.
1F Shiodome Bldg, 1-2-20 Kaigan, Minato-ku. Tel: 03-6383-1522. Open Mon-Fri 11am-4am, Sat, Sun & hols 11am-11pm. Nearest stn: Hamamatsucho, north exit. www.metius-foods.com
The new champagne brunch at the Ritz-Carlton’s Hinokizaka restaurant, which received a coveted star in this year’s inaugural Michelin Tokyo guide, offers the perfect way to ease into a Saturday morning. Featuring free-flowing Taittinger Rosé and an exquisite kaiseki meal, this sky-high dining experience is sure to impress dates, out-of-town visitors, and even champagne-loving business associates. Our press preview brunch (¥11,500) started with an amuse bouche of seared tuna, ham and shaved parmesan, and continued with such seasonal fare as steamed whitefish with mochi and sakura leaf. Other standouts included the vegetable and fish tempura and Japanese beef teppanyaki, and the crisp Taittinger Rosé lent elegance to the entire meal. Hinokizaka’s location on the Ritz-Carlton’s lobby-level 45th floor gives it a grand view toward Shinjuku and other northerly points, and the layout also includes a semi-private sushi counter, tempura dining room and teppanyaki grill. Though the brunch has only recently begun, word has clearly gotten out: as the afternoon wore on, the restaurant filled up with a genki foreign crowd. If you prefer a more Western-style weekend indulgence—but don’t want to give up on the nomihodai bubbly—head across the lobby to the Ritz-Carlton’s Forty-Five restaurant, which offers a Dom Pérignon Sunday brunch with a four-course meal and all the Dom you can drink for two hours (11:30am-3:30pm; ¥12,500).
Sat 11:30am-2:30pm. 45F Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo. 9-7-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku. Tel: 0120-892-688. Open Mon-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm and 5:30-10pm, Sat-Sun 6:30-10am, 11:30am-2:30pm and 5:30-10pm. Nearest stn: Roppongi. www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Tokyo ST |
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