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,

Ricos Kitchen (Ebisu | Tokyo)

The first time a friend took me here during a sunny weekend and without a reservation, we were turned away; it was chock full and there was a wait line. Because of that, I made a reservation last night to guarantee a table for a Saturday brunch, at the earliest time, 11:30, when they just opened. By chance, after a wonderfully sunny week, I awoke to a grey and rainy Saturday. I figured that even without a reservation, it would be easy to get in because the weather was crummy.

Ricos is a small restaurant, located not too far from the Ebisu Garden Place and the Tokyo Westin. When my friend told me that it was a good brunch place, I

Mu Hung (Minami-Azabu | Tokyo)

[CLOSED as of February 28, 2007; Review kept here for nostalgic reasons; there is another branch at Nishi-Ogikubo, but I have not yet tried that location.]

When the "Achar" (pickled vegetables) we ordered as appetizer tasted very much like how Singaporean/Malayisan/Indonesian achar (or "acar") should be, I knew that either the owner and/or the cook must have come from that region. And with that, I found a new eatery that served delicious and authentic Singapore and Malaysian food. On this first visit,

Com Pho (Shimokitazawa | Tokyo)

The search for a perfect or a near perfect Pho in Tokyo is unfortunately not yet completed. Com Pho, located not too far from the Shimokitazawa station (the Keio-Inokashira line from Shibuya will take you there within two stops only -or one stop with the express line), offers a clean and modern interior with dark brown furniture in a long clean line of vision from the entrance to the back of the restaurant. About 2/3 of the way the space was broken by a see-through divider made of stained wood slats, which made me think that there was a smoking and non-smoking section, but I was mistaken.

The menu offers six entrées, three appetizer, desserts, and several drinks. Out of the six entrées, the last one was a combination of two of the previous entrées; I chose that one: Pho Ga and Vietnamese rice. My exposure to Vietnamese restaurants has always confronted me with a long list of entrées, appetizer, desserts, and drinks, but this place not only has limited entrée selection but also not the one that is the most representative of all Phos: the one with beef. Maybe this was just the lunch menu, and maybe they rotated the items. There might be some days that they would serve Pho Bo Vien, as one could clearly see in the website.

(Vietnamese, not unlike Japanese restaurateur, usually name their business according to what they serve or what they mainly feature. Japanese, for example, would focus on a tonkatsu or a curry; Japanese pasta or okonomiyaki; sushi and sashimi only and so on. Only in some restaurants can you find all kinds of Japanese food offered [this seems to be more common in California or outside of Japan, where the survival of the restaurant may hang on the restaurant serving many different types of food to satisfy the customers' different wants]. Thus, in California, a restaurant that has the name "Pho" in it will no doubt offers an endless list of Phos, and then it may offer other things, but the dominating feature will still be the variety of Pho.)

The key to a good Pho lies in the broth, but unfortunately, that was not to be found in my Pho. My partner ordered a full bowl, while my bowl was half of his because mine was a combo with the Vietnamese rice. Neither of our Pho Ga came with the traditional serving of basil leaves, fresh bean sprouts, and sliced green chili peppers, although it did come with a small slice of lemon and one slice of red chili pepper. The Vietnamese rice was good. The tiny slices of barbecued meat that came with it tasted like any BBQ meat I have ever had in other Vietnamese restaurants. I would not mind returning to Com Pho for this entrée, but not for the Pho.

Too bad we did not have the space in our tummy to try out the desserts, but perhaps I will do an updated review when I will finally get to order the dessert, if I return to this restaurant. There is actually two branches of the restaurant: one in Toranomon and another inside the Maru-biru in the Marunouchi district. For more information, go to their website (see the URL down below).


Com Pho
Vietnamese Canteen
2-13-4 Kitazawa
Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 155-0031, Japan
Tel & Fax: (03) 5481-0564


M-Su: 12:00-16:30 and 17:00-24:00
Closed on Tuesdays

(Accompanying photograph was taken from the Com Pho website)

Hainan Jeefan Shokudo (Roppongi | Tokyo)

The proprietor Shiro-san is reason enough to come to this small but delicious Hawker-Style Asian Canteen, a Singaporean food restaurant, tucked in a quiet road only a block away from the bustling Roppongi Hills. His modest and shy appearance betrays the bubbly personality that resurfaces every now and then. Head to the bathroom and you will see a photo history of his life: pictures of his time in Singapore, and images of friends and family that made the place very familial.

Offerings include the traditional Hainan-style chicken and rice, coming in three different sizes; a spicy shrimp dish; kwee-tiauw (that ubiquitous wide flat rice noodle) and Roti Prata (an Indian influenced bread) with the curry dip.

Recently the place added a front deck that is covered and is equipped with heating during the cold season. The main dining room, painted white and sparsely but creatively decorated (he sawed an old Asian birdcage and used each half as a light-bulb shade), always exudes friendship and camaraderie. During dinnertime, reservation is always a safe bet, since an impromptu appearance has a slim chance of success. No separate non-smoking area.

Hainan Jeefan Shokudo
6-11-16 Roppongi
Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032
Tel/Fax: +81(03) 5474-3200
http://www.route9g.com

Mon-Fri Lunch: 11:30-14:00 (LO 13:30)
Sat, Sun & Holidays Lunch: 11:30-15:00 (LO 14:30)
Mon-Sun Dinner: 18:00-23:00 (LO 22:00)

Closed on 3rd Monday of every month.