RAMA — Restaurant in Tokyo

This may well have been the best restaurant I have ever visited. Everything from the food to the service and atmosphere was perfect. The three hours we spent savoring the course menu melted away, feeling more like thirty minutes.

Service: Before even arriving the service was exemplary. I called ahead to make the reservations and ask if it was possible to make the course menu vegetarian (fish okay). While over the phone the chef said it would not be possible, after we arrived, he informed us that he had come up with an adaptation to the course menu to make it vegetarian for us. Throughout the meal he made an effort to speak to us in English, explaining each dish. Everything about the evening service followed suit.

Food: Every dish is just the perfect size for you to enjoy the full taste of each and be perfectly satisfied once the dessert and coffee come around. We were neither too full nor left wanting more. A particular standout was the uni (sea urchin). I have never liked uni, but this was incredible: creamy and rich without any of the strong ocean flavors I normally associate with it. There was also a splendid risotto, ravioli, pasta, and swordfish entree (among many others! All delectable but it's been a few weeks since the meal so I unfortunately can't recollect them all). A watermelon shaved ice dessert made for a great palate cleanser.

Drink: A highlight for me was the gin and tonic made with an English gin that had heavy floral notes and a home made syrup mixed with sparkling water to make up for the lack of real tonic water in Japan. A wide variety of wines, over a dozen options of either red or white. For beers there were two options, an Italian and a Japanese. The cocktails were as limited as our imagination.

Atmosphere: A curved bar allows for 9 people to be seated at once (only 6 were allowed with a seat between pairs to create social distancing). The kitchen was only 2 meters away from the bar and made for an intimate setting.

I wish I had taken pictures but that would have taken my attention away from...

Had high expectations coming to this restaurant due to the good reviews on Google Map and the concept behind the menu sounded fun (Italian - Japanese fusion).

After the meal ended up disappointed quite severely for several reasons: Lack of transparency on charges and what’s included in the course. For fine dining course menu it is of course expected that wine pairing is charged, but they even charge you for the end of course drink (they offered it before serving your dessert and asked what you want from options like green tea, houjicha, English tea, coffee, or dessert wine). I’ve been to plenty of high end French, Italian, and Japanese restaurant serving course menus and the dessert drink was always complimentary. Whole course had a boring tasting palette. Flavours were too mild and dishes were not tasting much different from each other. It is a fusion between Japanese and Italian, but as if taking the worst from both sides to create this menu. Charged a 10% service fee on top of 10% tax and charging premium for drinks; without giving service per se. We came for a Birthday celebration dinner and deliberately left a remark on TableCheck that the purpose for the visit was Birthday. They did not give us any Birthday plate when we saw previously other people left review of having gotten it.

All in all, the food was average at most, and if they want to be on the list of best restaurants in Tokyo, they have a long way to go. Unfortunately, I will not be...

Excellent kitchen run by two very young Japanese chefs. The concept is an Italian-Japanese fusion experience where you interact with the chef, who cooks and presents their course in a Tokyo-like counter style. They offer two courses options with nine and eleven dishes respectively. The result is truly creative course, integrating ingredients, techniques and eating cultures from the two countries. One example of such fusion is a sauce that resembles and substitutes soy sauce, elaborated by them from tomatoes, that is finally served with Modena vinegar. Very good value for the level of cuisine and a very though-through atmosphere.

The wine is quite unique, with wines from southern Italy, Croatia and Armenia, among others, even some wines from Japan. When I asked the chef why this atypical selection he told me that after drinking all the French, Italian, Spanish and Californian wine, he wondered if there was other things that he could try. After investigating, he found these other options that you do not see in a wine menu in Japan....