About food in Japan

Recommendable lunch options at Tokyo Bigsight area

In our two previous posts as the feature of this month October 2012, we picked up two nice restaurants with each unique value. 

For those who have not checked them, here we post the links for these two restaurants.

1. Kagaya(加賀屋), a fine Japanese restaurant - Tokyo Bigsight area

 - Upscale Japanese restaurant operated by a famous luxury Ryokan (Japanese traditional inn) in Wakura Onsen, Hokuriku.  

2. Mexico, seafood restaurant - Tokyo Bigsight area

- Casual restaurant offering Western style dishes with fine Japanese seafood.

 

At the end of the month, we would like to add a few more lunch options for Tokyo Bigsight visit  briefly.

3. Akitsu, western style buffet

Sometimes, you might not be able to reach consensus on what to eat with your accommpanying people. Tired with Japanese food? but what to have, pasta, steak or some vegetable dishes? still miss Japanese taste a little? or just hungry?

In that case, we recommend a buffet style restaurant Akitsu. It is a typical and casual restaurant that everyone can imagine as a Western style buffet service.

The buffet menu offers mainly Italian pasta and variety of small side dishes from Western meat plate to Japanese cooked vegetable. Try some unfamilar dishes or take some vege plates to keep your health balance. 

Don't miss to take some nice pieces of bread there too, because the restaurant's owner is a baker doing wholesale of its high quality products to some hotels. 

 

Restaurant name: Akitsu

Address: 2nd floor, Wanza Ariake Bay Mall East Wing, 3-1 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo

*5 minutes walk from Tokyo Bigsight

Official site in Japanese: http://www.akitsu-tft.com

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 4. Blend Meister Cafe

The German inspired cafe (as name shown) is on the ground floor of Sunroute Ariake Hotel. It is also a five minute walk from Tokyo Bigsight as well as the nearest station behind Panasonic Center.

The price less than Yen 1000 for lunch set is not expensive like a typical cafe accommodated in a hotel but the cozy blight space is comfortable as much as some space like a typical hotel lounge etc. We understand that the cafe is often busy with business people working in the area for lunch time 12h-13h during weekday. 

The lunch set is quite typical for business people in Tokyo. It offers Western style pasta or meat, fish plates as maindish with green salad side dish and self-service free drink and soup.

Need to be mentioned is that the cafe is pround of the skilled "barista" serving the best quality of coffee.           

In the international convention area, it is also a scarce option that brings you relaxing time with familiar choices and taste.

For evening time, the cafe promotes some selections of prize-awarded draft beer. So it can be used to chill out after the convention visit before going back to central area. 

 

Restaurant name: Blend Meister Cafe

Address: Hotel Sunroute 1st floor, 3-6-6 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo

Website in English: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/e730404/lang/en/

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Mexico, seafood restaurant - Tokyo Bigsight area

The second recommendation for lunch at Tokyo Bigsight visit is an unique seafood restaurant, "Mexico", followed the first post on early this month, Kagaya(加賀屋), a fine Japanese restaurant - Tokyo Bigsight area. As you can recognize, the name in alphabet represents the central American country. It is pronounced as "me-hi-ko" (メヒコ) in Japanese and for Japanese that does not sound to be a Mexican restaurant at least. We are not sure where the name comes from but anyway, it is not a Mexican restaurant but is one featuring Western style plates with Japanese high quality seafood.

We never know about the restaurant till we found it near Tokyo Bigsight. It has over 30 years presence as a seafood restaurant chain in Tohoku region, offering good quality fresh seafood like crab from the local region at reasonable price. In Tokyo, only two units serve in this convention center area and Asakusa. 

Apart from the fresh seafood, another unique point of the restaurant is casual and resort like interior with large rattan funiture set and water tank creating atmosphere like an aquarium. It can be regarded as a bit upper scale family restaurant. You do not have to be uncomfortable even with young kids.

Well about food, their specialty is variety of crab dishes. The most popular menu, pilaf (flavored rice) is offered with choices of size and with-shell or without.

 

Traditional Mexico fried rice with crab meat (メヒコピラフ)

My pilaf rather simple

ordinary size and crab meat without shell

 

Other seafood selections on the menu include sea urchin pilaf, starter dishes with crab meat, steamed Zuwai Kani(ズワイガニ, Snow crab) and Taraba Kani (タラバガニ, King crab), seafood tempura etc. With the long years as seafood cooking professional, the restaurant knows the best way to cook each ingredient. 

 

 

Crab guts  (紅ズワイ蟹のカニ味噌)

served along with fresh meat

is another distinguishing crab menu.  

 

Even in this gourmet city Tokyo, it is rare to find such wide selections of fine seafood plates.

Your object of travel to enjoy fresh high quality seafood in Japan may be accomplished at Mexico near Tokyo Bigsight area, even you do not have so much time to go around central Tokyo.

Don't miss the chance!

 

Mexico has English menu and opens without break through lunch to dinner time.

Its regular close day is Monday.

 

Restaurant name: Mexico (メヒコ)

Address: 2nd floor Ariake Park Building, 3-7-11 Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo

*5minutes walk from Tokyo Bigsight and the building next to Washington Hotel

Official site in Japanese : http://www.mehico.com/shop/suizokukan3.html

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