Kelly restaurant may be gone, but thank goodness the mural work stays. In its place now stands Plates, a pizza and grill restaurant. The ground floor still retains a bar-like atmosphere with original limited prints by David Lance Goynes, the Berkeley graphic designer responsible for illustrating the Chez Panise and Alice Water's recipe books.
On the first try, on February 20, 2005, a brunch fare on a Sunday presents us with a menu with four options: plates A, B, C, or D, which consists of either a sandwich, a pasta, an omelet or another entree (I forget what the fourth one is) plus salad and a cold-cut appetizer in the form of a medium-sliced salami, and a drink. The price is very reasonable and the amount is definitely generous, but as far as taste is concerned, there is nothing that jumps out from the plate.
The second floor still has the same layout, but one side of the room has different furniture: they used smaller tables to accommodate more tables into that space (there used to be only three tables placed at a diagonal angle to the wall; now there are four). (The accompanying picture dated from the Kelly time.) For the grand opening, they have a 10% discount, available only with the flyer that they had put around Hiroo.
On subsequent visits (2 of them) during a Sunday brunch and a weekday lunch, I discover that the food was just slightly above average. This is never to be compared with the more exciting, daring, and experimental Kelly's entrées. The food at Plates is no doubt very safe: Japanese pasta dishes that are very popular throughout Tokyo. It is because of this reason that this restaurant may survive in this neighborhood.
Plates
5-3-15 Hiroo
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0012
Tel: (03) 6408-2481
info@plates.jp
www.plates.jp
M-F: 08:00-23:00 (LO 22:30)
Sa & Su: 10:00-22:00
Original photograph taken from the Kelly Restaurant website. © All Rights Reserved.
