Visionarium

Tucked in an alley parallel to the Hiroo Shopping District (Hiroo Shotengai) is a new restaurant called Visionarium. The place is trying to be cool with two menus (one for drinks, another for food) tucked inside a box, served to customers after they are seated. The place serves tapas-style food, as well as hearty entree (which we did not try as the menu noted the 20-30 minute preparation time, and we were just too hungry to wait that long). We tried the Mushroom Risotto, Cabbage and Anchovy Pasta, Mini Burger Set, and

Elements Restaurant

[The restaurant ceased operation as of October 2010 or earlier; the review will remain here for nostalgic purposes.]

I am glad that I got to try yet another great restaurant before departing the city for good. This fortunate dining experience came courtesy of a wonderful friend of mine who had an exquisite taste in food and who had a very high expectation when it came to satisfying the palate. Tonight, on an unusually breezy Tokyo summer evening, we met for a farewell dinner.

Unless you know about the place, there is no way you can find this restaurant just by strolling by it because it is rather hidden from view. The place itself is not difficult to find, as an easy landmark would be the two wings of the famous Hotel Okura in Toranomon. It becomes even easier if you know where the Nobu Tokyo is, because you head to the same area, and as you face the Nobu entrance, walk away from it, away from the Hotel Okura direction, and you will see a pole with three direction markers: two of them should be "Toranomon Towers Residence" and the bottom one "Elements Restaurant." Just follow the sign, down one level to an open forum, and across you will see the Elements Bar. The entrance to the Elements Restaurant is opposite and diagonal to the entrance to the bar. The entrance is very unassuming. An automatic door opens up and leads you to a higher level through few steps of stairs. It then opens up to the dining hall.





Steps leading to the dining hall


The Dining Hall


Counter Seats


Window Seats

(All pictures of the restaurant are lifted from their official website. Food pictures courtesy of Bloompy.com).

Tonight was a quiet night, and the clear weather enhanced the beauty of the adjoining garden. We were presented with a small sheet of paper with the Prix Fixe Menu,

"Nobu (Tokyo) Presents"

Tokyo's "Nobu Presents" One Night Collaboration Dinner between Nobu's own Kenichiro Togo and Chef Shohei Shimono from Le Jeu de l'Assiette on July 7, 2008. Nobu himself was present, although he was not in his usual uniform of the Chef's jacket, the colorful and patterned pants, plus his sneakers; instead, he was donning a suit and made his way through all the guests. (Pictured here, Chef Shimono and Nobu). Needless to say,

Forty Five at the Ritz Carlton Hotel (Tokyo)

Four out of the five dining experiences at the new Ritz Carlton Hotel in MidTown Roppongi are located at the 45th floor of the MidTown Tower (the lone one, the Ritz Carlton Café and Deli, is located at the ground floor near the alternative entrance to the hotel and close by the main portal to the shopping complex); one of these dining places is "45" (Forty Five), located adjacent to the Lobby Lounge and Bar.

Last night (Friday night, April 13, 2007) at a glance from the Lounge area, the restaurant looked elegant with dim lighting and darkened interior. On a gorgeous sunny day like

Zetton (Hiroo, Tokyo)

The unassuming outward appearance of Zetton betrays the coziness of its interior and the deliciousness of its offerings. Located near the corner of Komazawa-dori and Meiji-dori in Hiroo, this venue by a Nagoya-based restaurant design group (which operates some 20+ restaurants and a couple of bars in both Nagoya and Tokyo) is quite busy during lunch hours. While Nagoyan-cuisine must have had some outlets somewhere in the city, apparently Zetton seems to popularize this cuisine even more by opening this restaurant back in 2001 (the first Zetton restaurant opened in 1995 in Nagoya).

There is al-fresco dining (two tables plus a plastic-covered love seat); there is even a pole to tie your dog's leash. (I forgot to ask if dogs were welcome at the al-fresco table.) Upon entering the indoor dining, to your left is a sunken area with four tables for two. To your right, another sunken area with two tables for up to four people, above which is

Pourcel Café & Bistro (Hiroo, Tokyo)

The former Café des Pres On Gaien-nishi-dori at the mouth of the Hiroo Garden Hills complex closed at the end 2006. The café, owned by the Francophile Hiramatsu group, reopens today, April 10, 2007, under a new name (Pourcel), a sleek decor (yawn . . . ), and black-uniformed staff members (following l'atelier de Joël Robuchon?). Gone is the pseudo-feeling of sitting in a French café (the old Café des Pres employed the use of chairs normally used in Parisian cafés, the two-toned woven rattan-resembling plastic chairs).

Instead of one venue, you now find two: a café on the ground floor and a bistro in the lower level (basement level). The strip of tables and chairs that normally occupy the

buzz at Alila Jakarta (Indonesia)

Buzz is Alila Jakarta's restaurant cum coffee shop located at the lobby area. Service was good, but food took way too long to arrive. Even our drinks took some time to come out: we actually had to summon the waiters to remind him about the drinks. When the fruit juice finally came, it was lukewarm and watered down. I had to send it back to have it re-done.

The Nasi Goreng, a typical Indonesian hotels' staple and perhaps the best-known Indonesian food known to all foreigners, was not good at all. How can an