Seirinkan
Seirinkan things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
Description
Acclaimed Neapolitan-style pies, plus pasta & sides, in a steampunk setting with Beatles tunes.
attractions: Don Quijote Nakameguro, Saigōyama Park, Kyu Asakura House, Sakura Bridge, EXILE TRIBE STATION, Total Health Care and Beauty Salon KADOMORI Shibuya/Daikanyama, Naka-Meguro Park, Yūten-ji, Naka-Meguro Tsutaya Books, Tokyu Store Nakameguro, restaurants: Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo, NAKAMEGURO GALERIA, Mitsuyado Seimen Nakameguro Branch, Spring Valley Brewery Tokyo, Ivy Place, Onibus Coffee, Afuri Nakameguro, Pizzeria e Trattoria da ISA, YAKINIKU PONGA EBISU, Hacienda
Ratings
Description
Acclaimed Neapolitan-style pies, plus pasta & sides, in a steampunk setting with Beatles tunes.
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I first sought out this restaurant because I had heard the story of the owner having travelled to Italy and faced discrimination when he was trying to learn how to make pizza. In the true defiant Japanese spirit he returned back to Japan and over the next 40 years taught himself how to make the perfect pizza. As you enter the restaurant the first thing you’re greeted with is the man himself cooking the pizza in a large oven. While the majority of the seating area is either above or below the level you’re currently on. Please if you can sit at the bar and witness the pizza making. The Beatles songs are played throughout the evening, but it’s not in such a manner to achieve a certain aesthetic or ironic vibe but rather you can sense he has a real appreciation of music, particularly a love of the Beatles. Apparently he is a musician, a drummer I heard him say in fact. The owner has way about him that exudes a coolness while he goes about his business while making the pizza. Interestingly it is not the pizzas that he makes but the pizzas that he chooses not to make. As I saw him throw away one of the pizza doughs as it was not up to the standard that he deemed servable to customers. When it comes to the pizza itself, I thought long and hard, “is this the best pizza I’ve ever had?”. This led me to think, does it really need to be the best pizza I’ve ever had. Because I can say it’s the best pizza experience I’ve ever had. The dough was chewy but not overly doughy, it was lightly salted, enough that you can taste the salt and burnt in a way that accentuated the flavours. The flavouring was simplistic, just a smear of red sauce, basil, mozzarella and a drizzle of oil. The side I had was nice but not particularly noteworthy. If you had combined this dough with a range of more flavoursome toppings then the discussion around best pizza could be had. But would you then lose the experience or the magic of the story that is this pizza place?
Michael MMichael M
00
Seirinkan has been on my list forever! Happy to have finally been able to try their awesome pies with the help of our Tokyo fam in securing reservations. I don't think we would've found the restaurant without both Google Maps and luck! The restaurant is located in a small dark alleyway and if we didn't see a queue forming, we definitely would've kept walking around in circles. Not sure on what determines what floor you dine on but we were seated on the second floor with other guests who had reservations. Seemed like everyone in front of us (without reservations) ended up on the third floor. The decoration is very unique and as others have stated, the owner/chef appears to be a huge Beatles fan. Started off the meal with an arugula salad and the sautéed broccoli. Both dishes were more than enough for 2 of us to share. I loved the light lemon/oil dressing that the arugula was tossed in. The broccoli was also pretty tasty and was glad it wasn't spicy though it was sautéed with a lot of red pepper. Next came out both the margherita and the marinara pizzas. Both were pipping hot and both were amazing. The pizza dough has the perfect amount of salt and char. As it was our first time, we also opted to try the arrabbiata pasta. The sauce was awesome with the perfect amount of kick. Pasta was cooked to a perfect al dente and needless to we were both stuffed. Would definitely come back to try other pasta dishes along with the bianca pizza.
Derek WDerek W
00
Famous restaurant living on its past glory. As former expat who lived in Japan for more than 5 years I came here couple of times. First time coming back to Japan post pandemic on a nostalgic trip visiting all the places I frequent in the past. Many of them have changed and unfortunately Seirinkan is one of them. Food: Margherita - 70% of the pizza was crust only 30% had toppings on it. Understandably a good portion of the Margherita is like that but not at this proportion. Pre-pandemic theirs definitely weren’t like that. Crust was overly salted and heavily burnt at the bottom. The couple sat next to us basically left all the crust and the server did not bother to ask them if there was anything wrong. Bongole Bianco - They switched to the smaller clams and did not purge the sand out properly. Because of the change the pasta no longer has the umami used to have. Pasta was too soft I personally like more of al dente. Toromisu - Their version of Tiramisu, didn’t have this before. Bits of lady fingers saturated with espresso and no rum or any other liqueur , the cream could not taste the mascarpone at all. Because of the over saturated lady fingers bits you will have one bite that’s is overly bitter and another has none of the coffee taste. Service : The most unpleasant portion of the meal. Walked in at 6pm. Asked if there were seats for two without reservation in Japanese. Luckily not like other reviews we weren’t turned down because we are foreigners. The male chef politely asked us if we were okay if dining time was only one hour, which we accept as we were heading elsewhere anyway. As soon as we got seated the female server with the shxtface came asked if we were ready to order. We literally just sat down and I still had my jacket on didn’t have time to take it off. Told her to come back in five. As their menu is all in katakana and we thought will be easier to just read the English Menu thus we asked her to brought us one. This is when everything went down hill. Her attitude changed from I could care less to I don’t want you guys here. Took our order and asked “what drink you want?” Literally this in Japanese, normal Japanese service this is not acceptable at all. We told her we only want water, she replied we must order one drink each. We ordered, but it was not written anywhere on the menu or in the restaurant. We quickly finished our meal and got out of there.
Curt ChuCurt Chu
60
Came here before covid, Really disappointed...... What happened? We used to come here 5 years ago when the restaurant was not that famous. At that time we had a great time, great service and great time, and we were really happy to see the restaurant on TV. (maybe I should blame Netflix). So we came back today with the idea to have a good experience. Mistake.... Today it's just a cash machine, surfing on Netflix marketing and we really took no pleasure by coming here. Here is the two bad parts : - The staff... We just felt we were not welcome. But why they would care. If it's not you, there is people waiting outside.... The guy at the entrance could give you a smile.... No, it's too much. The waitress was really unfriendly and not polite. Urging us to eat and leave quickly. - The business... Fast fast fast, they have business to do! You have 1h to eat no more. So be ready, your first order is already your last order. they pack everyone next to each other so they can do rotation easily. And when you finished your food, don't need to ask for the bill. The waitress might be ready behind you. If you didn't order enough, it's your fault. The food? Of course it's good. But does it worth the experience? I'm not sure. You can find other pizza places in Tokyo. Maybe the quality will be a bit under. But you should have time, a friendly service and definitely a better experience. Of course the restaurant don't worth 1 star. But we want to give you a warning. Remember where you come from and what made you who you are.
H DelH Del
00
Food 3/5 Pizza was pretty decent, though the dough was slightly salty. Toppings were quite sparse given the high price. Versus other competitors in the same bracket Service 1/5 Walked in at ~730pm and asked to takeaway - was greeted by a waitress who asked we wanted to eat at the counter instead. I asked if we could do so with just 1 pizza as we had read somewhere that you required drinks to eat in. She said “OK”. I went to sit at the counter and she said to wait, then she began to clean the counter top. After she was done I asked if I could sit and she shook her head, I was slightly confused but went along with it. In a short while she brought our pizza out in a takeaway box - I then asked again if we could sit but she said no and shot me a dirty look. She said no repeatedly and asked waved her arms in the direction of the exit. I spoke to the chef and he had a chat with her and he said it was ok to sit. But at the point the damage was done. No idea what was her deal and why she offered it in the first place without any intention to follow through. Her terrible reaction was honestly unwarranted. Atmosphere 3/5 Seems like a cool place but quite cramped TL;DR: above average pizza that’s slightly overpriced. Not worth it if you have to wait. Honestly
Joel ChengJoel Cheng
00
As an Italian, I have heard from many that Tokyo has some of the best pizzas in the world. So, when I finally made it there, I decided to try at least one pizza. It ended up being at Seirinkan, and it proved all those rumours right. The pizza was Napoli style, with a thin base but a crunchy crust full of air bubbles. We had a Margherita and a cheese one. Cooking was spot on on both, with a little bit of charring on the crust, that gave it a light flavour of the fire, but without overwhelming any of the other flavours. The tomatoes were definitely good tomatoes, and made for a delicious Margherita. I had heard that Tokyo style pizza has more salt and oil, and that proved to be the case. I enjoyed this modification, but would have probably preferred the pizzas with a little bit less oil and salt, as the aftertaste mostly came from these 2 ingredients rather than the delicious tomato and quality cheese. Overall, as my only pizza experience in Japan, I’d say this was delicious, and would frequent it often if it had been near my home. The price was maybe a little bit too high for a pizza, but I understand they try and use quality ingredients here.
Froggo McFrogginFroggo McFroggin
00
Nearby Attractions Of Seirinkan
Don Quijote Nakameguro
Saigōyama Park
Kyu Asakura House
Sakura Bridge
EXILE TRIBE STATION
Total Health Care and Beauty Salon KADOMORI Shibuya/Daikanyama
Naka-Meguro Park
Yūten-ji
Naka-Meguro Tsutaya Books
Tokyu Store Nakameguro

Don Quijote Nakameguro
3.8
(1.8K)Click for details

Saigōyama Park
4.0
(700)Click for details

Kyu Asakura House
4.4
(536)Click for details

Sakura Bridge
4.6
(499)Click for details
Nearby Restaurants Of Seirinkan
Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo
NAKAMEGURO GALERIA
Mitsuyado Seimen Nakameguro Branch
Spring Valley Brewery Tokyo
Ivy Place
Onibus Coffee
Afuri Nakameguro
Pizzeria e Trattoria da ISA
YAKINIKU PONGA EBISU
Hacienda

Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo
4.5
(4.9K)Click for details

NAKAMEGURO GALERIA
4.8
(1.6K)Click for details

Mitsuyado Seimen Nakameguro Branch
4.4
(1.5K)Click for details

Spring Valley Brewery Tokyo
4.2
(1.3K)$$
Click for details