Ninja izakaya

Where do ninjas go to eat? Well you can be pretty certain that they don’t go to a ninja themed izakaya, but for the rest of us the option is thankfully available. If you have the money and the patience to wait out a long reservation, then the ninja themed izakaya in Akasaka Mitsuke is highly recommended for a fun and memorable dining experience.

The place is set up as a kind of hideout cave, and even once you have made your reservation the journey has only just begun. As you wait expectantly in the reception area your ninja waiter will pop out of a secret door to greet you, or in my case scare the hell out of you. After the apologies and introductions you are led through a series of winding passageways and through a drawbridge (seriously) to your table. The small cove you get is dark and atmospheric but the noise of other revelers means you unlikely to feel completely secluded.

The set course menus cost from between 8,000 and 15,000 yen excluding drinks so perhaps this is more of a special occasion type of restaurant for those of us that usually dine at Yoshinoya. For your money you get around six to eight courses which are predictably miniscule but delicious nonetheless. The food itself is a fusion of traditional Japanese with French haute cuisine leading to some interesting combinations. No matter how you find the taste the presentation is bound to impress you. The egg stuffed with jellied vegetables will have you reaching for your camera, only to realize that it’s probably too dark to take pictures, as will the ice cream bonsai tree that I had for desert.

All the staff are charmingly dressed in their ninja attire and try to appear with as much mystique and finesse as they can muster whilst serving you food and certainly this is another of Tokyo’s spectacle dining experiences, but I warn you not to anticipate the promised ‘ninja magic show’ too much. It is sweet and funny but unless ninjas were armed with rubber bands and playing cards then it isn’t exactly authentic.

The ninja themed izakaya is a fun place, and judging by the other clientele, a popular place to take foreign business people that you want to impress. It is an experience that you will certainly want to tell to friends and family, just don’t expect to make it a frequent hangout unless you work in investment banking (actually in the current economic climate they are probably more likely to be found in Yoshinoya too). A shameful word of warning, after eating at the ninja izakaya I felt the need to pop to McDonalds to fill myself up completely. Just saying.

GAME bar

If you can find it, GAME is another interesting videogame bar in Shinjuku. But finding this bar is somewhat akin to finding a needle in a haystack of host bars and hostess clubs. It’s in a nine story building around the Golden Gai area near a Mister Donuts on the fifth floor with no sign outside… good luck finding it. Every other establishment in this exceedingly shady building is host or hostess related and it’s quite a shock to find this small ocean of otaku calm amongst it. Once you do get inside the decoration is hardly impressive, especially compared to the more appropriately themed 8 bit café. Its previous purpose is made abundantly clear through the small faux oak paneled bar and cabinets, leather seats and large mirror that extends across one wall.

This place is aimed squarely at those people who just want to play games with their friends. Whilst the 8-bit café invites you to drown in the comforting atmosphere of retro games, at GAME bar you play them. There are four TVs ensuring that you don’t need to wait for others before getting to play, and the mirror is covered with a crude paper screen onto which games can be displayed using a projector. There is a greater variety of consoles to play as well, and those of you who really want to have a four player match of Wii tennis can do so with minimal risk of injury. Except if you drink heavily of course, in which case all bets are off.

The drinks are pretty reasonable but rather unexotic and there isn’t much in the way of food available. Lump that with a 1000 yen table charge and it all seems pretty unappealing. However, this place has its own kind of charm generated by the friendly Master (who you can challenge if you feel confident) and the focus on playing games competitively. For those who need a little extra incentive, according to the Master quite a few of the hosts in the building like to drop by after their shift. If you ever wanted to see groups of immaculately dressed effeminate men kicking each others’ asses at Street Fighter 2, this may be your best bet.

The Elephant Cafe

The Elephant Café is another trendy chain of restaurants in Japan, focusing on an Asian style dining experience. Whilst the food itself draws from a number of different sources of inspiration, the décor is largely reflective of Thai culture. Depending on the restaurant the décor changes slightly, but whilst the food is by and large excellent, it does suffer somewhat from being too ‘atmospheric’.

To put it another way, it’s dark. Not so dark that you grope blindly around hoping to grasp your drink rather than another patron’s hand, but dark enough for spineless types like myself to feel a little oppressed. Combine that with the unwillingness to crank up the air conditioning and you have recreated the famous Thai humidity perfectly, at a small cost to the comfort of the customer and a general feeling of drowsiness. From another, less pedantic point of view it does create a nicely intimate and romantic atmosphere.

There is a 3500 yen set course including nomihoudai and the real surprise is the quality of the food. Considering that many restaurants seem content to wheel out the less appetizing aspects of their menu in such deals, the Elephant Café provides a delicious and complete set menu, though the variety of the food is somewhat questionable. For example, three of the courses served featured shrimp with salad. Each was prepared and tasted differently, yet it does feel as though more effort could have been taken in providing a more diverse palate. Again, having said that, the food is excellent and plentiful meaning that you bound to leave as a satisfied customer. The set course drinks menu didn’t include beer, but surprisingly included things like whisky. The staff are friendly and accommodating, but perhaps due to the popularity of the place the service can be a little slow.

Overall the Elephant Café provides an excellent dining experience, and depending on your preference, is a charming and intimate restaurant. With food that is above the usual standard for such chains and being undeniably trendy (it occasionally hosts club events) it is worth checking out. However, those with poor vision though may want to reconsider.

Christon Cafe: the Christian themed restaurant

For those looking for an special dining experience and can handle the ridiculously sacrilegious décor, Christon Café is an interesting place to go. As the name might imply, however much you may not want it to, Christon Café is a Christian themed restaurant. In fact the interior comes off more as Roman Catholicism meets an upscale discothèque with more than a hint of gothic. There are all the trappings of a Cathedral such as alters, stained glass windows, elaborate renaissance era wall paintings, gargoyles, and even papal robes but also leather sofas, elegant glass furniture and a disco ball. It is unusual to say the least, and for many downright offensive but at least it is a somewhat unique setting.

The theme extends pervades the restaurant. One example being that the menu on each table is stored within a Christon Café ‘Bible’. Oddly enough they seemed to show some restraint when it comes to the menu. Despite searching for religiously named food or drinks the only one I came across was the ‘Tower of Babel Beef Carpaccio’. The food itself is excellent, liberally borrowing from Italian and French cooking but providing interesting twists with the presentation. The combination of the Italian dressing with shrimp and mayonnaise served in a glass mounted with pineapple slices was surprisingly successful. The aforementioned Carpaccio was also very good, but hardly subtle. One thing likely to catch many customers unaware is that the portions are larger than perhaps you would imagine, so bear that in mind when ordering, as well as the fact that most of the courses seem to come with salad.

As befitting the trendy nature of the establishment, the staff are helpful but rarely drop their lucid demeanor, and there is a dress-code, but it isn’t especially strict, mainly enforced to keep out school kids or those who dare trying to enter wearing flip-flops. It is definitely worth visiting at least once as a point of interest, and the soft-glow lighting and ambient vibe might really appeal to you. There is one in Shibuya and one in Shinjuku so, if you don’t fear an afterlife of damnation, you might want to experience what the Vatican would be like if it was transformed into an up-market disco bar.

Momo Paradise aka 'the food of the Gods'

If you like meat and alcohol, and consuming vast quantities of both for a relatively cheap price, then I can’t recommend Momo Paradise highly enough. This charmingly, and slightly misleadingly, named restaurant chain serves shabu shabu and sukiyaki. Shabu shabu is simply thin strips of raw beef or pork dipped into boiling water and shaken gently until cooked (shabu shabu is meant to be the sound created by this action). Sukiyaki is more of a sweet stew containing beef, tofu and vegetables and the meat is dipped in raw egg prior to consumption. Both are very delicious.

For only 1680 yen you can get tabehoudai (all you can eat) for 90 minutes of either, and a few other variations. For an extra 1500 yen nomihodai (all you can drink) of alcoholic or soft drinks is also included, as well as tabehoudai for rice and vegetables. In addition to this very low price, once you have been to the restaurant they will provide you with a business card that entitles you to get a 10% discount on all future visits, or a free desert. So bearing in mind that it cost around 3000 yen for all you can eat and drink, there really aren’t many better deals out there. And in my humble opinion, shabu shabu is the food of the Gods.

Despite how busy they are the staff are frightening cheerful and friendly, admirable indeed in a restaurant which is essentially serving gluttons. Service is excellent and due to the fact that the food has been prepared in advance, you rarely have to wait longer than a minute or so before you can continue your quest for obesity.

Of course because it is such a good deal, inevitably Momo is very busy, particularly on weekends and you are strongly advised to book in advance if you don’t want a long wait. There are plenty of branches of this chain restaurant around Tokyo, so do a little research to find out where your closest one is. They also have special deals with karaoke bars and bowling alleys around the area, so if you can stomach the idea of actually moving around having gorged yourself, you can do so as part of a cheap package.

Cheap, delicious, good service and as much alcohol as you can manage; Momo is one of my favorite restaurants in Japan. But be under no illusions, it is a fast track to severe weight gain unless you are willing to burn off the meat with some guilt-induced exercise.

Momo Paradise website