Mark's Tokyo @ Meguro

Daikon radish and turnip soup with homemade focaccia and Shodoshima olive oil

Seared Hokkaido scallops with yuzu koshō and tomatoes

Homemade ‘grown-ups’’ macaroni cheese

Kuroge wagyū short ribs with roasted figs and mashed potato

Homemade ice cream with popcorn sprinkles and caramel crumble

Having never gotten around to visiting the brief but adored Mark’s Table in Ginza, it was a happy day when news of owner-chef Mark Sekita’s second coming in nearby Meguro reached us. 

Located on a quiet side street just a few doors from Locale, Mark’s Tokyo is small yet comfortably appointed space in which kitchen, counter and chef take center stage in a convivial (and eminently repeatable) experience akin to dining at Mark’s own kitchen table.

He brings his Japanese-Italian lineage and culinary experience in the kitchens of New York together to create ‘Japanese-inspired modern American cuisine.’ The several course options (although not currently available an à la carte menu is apparently in the works) utilize ingredients locally sourced throughout Japan to create simple yet refined dishes that elevate the seemingly mundane, such as the ‘grown ups’ mac and cheese,’ to the sublime. 

Mark’s Tokyo

03 6417 0664

 

Bistro Boléro @ Nakameguro

Red seam bream escabèche

Foie gras and lentil terrine with brioche

Sautéed cod in fish soup

Shirako cheese frite

Duck confit

Grilled beef steak with mustard sauce

Beef cheeks stewed in red wine

Créme brûlée

Cheesecake with lemon yogurt sorbet

Chestnut cake with Japanese chestnut ice cream

Chocolates

Bistro Boléro is housed within a tastefully refurbished two-story minkan property located betwixt Nakemeguro and Yutenji. The ground floor centers on a lively counter seating area around an open kitchen, while the upper floor offers a more spacious individual table setting, with occasional partitions, beneath a vaulted open-beamed ceiling.

Since the pandemic, à la carte menus have been unavailable, but a selection of lunch and dinner courses have been put together to suit a variety of appetites and purses. The resident sommelier keeps a respectable cellar, including some deliciously sweet Jurançon wines.

Chef Ichikawa’s Bib Gourmand-winning cooking utilizes produce sourced throughout Japan to create dishes infused with the ‘inspiration of the day.’ The result is enjoyable, generously portioned bistro fare that although not always exciting, rarely disappoints. 

Bistro Boléro

03 6712 2390

 

Arcadia @ Hiroo

Chilled pea soup

Zensai moriawase of basashi carpaccio, anago frites, cauliflower mousse, roast duck and leek quiche

Fried white fish with pickled red cabbage

Raisin bread, herb grissini and fried nori dough

Handmade tagliatelle mushroom ragu sauce

Handmade tagliatelle bolognese

Oyster risotto

Salmon on puréed potato

Hokkaido venison with lotus root, Japanese taro and turnip

Hokkaido pork roast

Bonet with Earl Grey gelato

Chocolate cake with Muscat and cream

Arcadia is a cosy little Italian restaurant, with a focus on the seasonal ingredients of Aomori, that’s really found its groove in the couple of years since it opened.

Owner-chef Fujita’s (previously of Ebisu’s ALMA) lunch courses arguably offer some of the best cooking and cost performance in Hiroo. A variety of antipasti, handmade pastas, risottos, fish and grilled meats are complimented with fresh-baked chestnut and olive breads, grissini and fried dough, followed by neat little desserts. 

High frequency lunchers may be invited to order from the delicious à la carte evening menu to keep things interesting.

Arcadia

03 6456 4376

 

Angkor Wat @ Yoyogi

Lunch set

Spicy chicken salad

Spring rolls

Pork stock soup

Chicken and pork kuyteav rice noodles

Roast pork set lunch

Onion and chive egg fried rice

Coconut tapioca

Yoyogi is blessed with an abundant ‘ethnic’ dining scene, amidst which Angkor Wat is perhaps its most venerated incumbent, having been established in 1982 and recognized as Japan’s first Cambodian restaurant.

The set lunches and delicious kuyteav rice noodles are the main attraction, with a flavour profile somewhere between the spiciness of Thai cooking and the coriander-heavy herbiness of Vietnamese cuisine. 

Angkor Wat

03 3370 3019

 

Chez Shimizu @ Okusawa

Prosciutto with olives

Beetroot salad and chilled pumpkin soup

Carpaccio of katsuo with tomato, green beans and garlic and lemon vinaigrette

Vegetable marinade

Pate de campagne with couscous, asparagus and Japanese ginger

Gorgonzola on Moroccan couscous with Japanese ginger

Kohada (gizzard shad) on Napa cabbage bed with red pepper puree

Sautéed hirame (olive flounder) with olive and aubergine sauce

Roast duck in red wine sauce with grilled vegetables

Iwate tankakugui rump steak with seasonal vegetables

Apple sorbet with mascarpone pudding

Chocolate gateau with almond yogurt blancmange and strawberry sorbet

A one-man operation helmed by the erstwhile head chef of Blue Note Tokyo, Chez Shimizu is a delightful omakase-style French restaurant in Okusawa. 

The stylish simplicity of the interior allows the broad dining counter and alluring collection of cookbooks it faces to take centre stage, without any open kitchen distractions.  

Lauded for the cost performance of his lunch and dinner courses, sensitivity to seasonal ingredients and combinations of French, Japanese and Moroccan flavours, owner-chef Ikuo Shimizu’s cooking and hospitality never fail to impress. 

Chez Shimizu

03 6421 8233