The Eye of Patrick / 2007 / January

Ninja Restaurant in Tokyo

25-Jan-07

Hello and Happy New Year!

I am finally back from my vacation in Europe and my vacation from my vacation (doing nothing but relaxing in my town) So I thought I would catch you guys up with my winter vacation, as I won’t have much stuff to post about in my town until next month.

My vacation started Dec 22^nd when I flew to Tokyo to visit a friend who was returning from America. We had made plans to go to one of the most unique restaurants in Tokyo; Ninja. Ninja restaurant is located in Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan. It is one of those restaurants where you only go on special occasions, as it can get expensive, but it is worth it.

As from the moment you enter, the journey begins. With most restaurants the entrance is easy to find. But at the ninja restaurant, like with everything ninja related it is hidden into the wall. We thought you had to enter the mall to which the restaurant was supposedly located. But when we went in, there was a note saying we should look to enter from the outside. So we did and we noticed a door that was built into the wall, if you were walking by and not looking for the restaurant you would not even notice it.

After you enter the restaurant, you go to the reception area and are met by a waiter dressed in ninja garbs and told to wait for your personal ninja guide to your table. When the waiter comes, you are guided through a maze of sorts. It is like a ninja castle with many trap doors and hidden passages. While in most restaurants people would be annoyed to have to bend over backwards to reach your table, at Ninja it is part of the experience. It is as if you are actually entering that ninja castle. My most enjoyable moment of the trip was when we had reach a point in our journey and were faced with a pit filled with water and no way to cross. An then suddenly the waiter clapped her hands and a draw bridge drops for you to cross. It was at that point I knew the event was going to be fun.

The amount of tables is fairly limited (you need to make reservations roughly two months in advance) and this is to add to the feel and experience. The tables are fairly darkly lit and your table is some what built into the surroundings. Then the waiter comes and brings you the menu and then you realize wow this is going to be one expensive evening. (Two people 14,000 yen, 8,000 yen of it mine) They suggest that you start off with an aperitif and I ordered some drink with tea and alcohol. While my friend order some drink that had shavings of gold in it.

While for my appetizer I think I ordered a ninja special something. I can’t really remember it, but it was like a hot pie with cheese over it. Maybe it was a salad or something. I remember being surprised when I got it. My friend ordered a caser salad where they made it in front of you.

This was followed by the main course and for that I went all out and ordered the beef. The beef was 4000 yen (roughly 40 Canadian dollars) and was going to be very small. But I thought to myself, how often you get to go to such a unique restaurant and experience such amazing food. So I went all out and ordered it. When it arrived I had to give a chuckle as the portions were so small. But after trying Kobe beef in Kobe, I realized that quality sometimes is worth it, even if the quantity is not there. The meat was delightful and when it came for me to share with my friend the meat, I hesitated like Gollum in Lord of the Rings. I wanted to share, but at the same time I wanted to enjoy the meat. The meat was like heaven and as it melted in your mouth you wish you could have a 10 ounce steak of it.

Seeing that the meat was so small and how positively surprised I was of it, I thought about ordering something else. The chicken wings seemed interesting and so I made the order and they were delivered promptly. They were placed in a basket and mixed with nuts and chili peppers. Just the production value of it made it worth while and they tasted good too.

Then finally we finished with the dessert. The desserts where simply amazing and unique. It is hard to give them credit in words and so I won’t and just leave you with photos of them.

After that we were lead outside by our ninja and off we went to return to our hotel. But not before we went to McDonalds to have some food to fill us up.

Take care, and look forward to hearing from all of you soon,

Patrick

PS, I apologize for the blurry nature of the photos, the low lighting combined with no tripod meant the photos did not turn out well.

The Eye of Patrick

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Ninja Restaurant in Tokyo

25-Jan-07