Trader Vic's Tokyo — Restaurant in Tokyo

November 2017

I happen to find about this, Thanksgiving Special Brunch Buffet, two days before the actual date. Immediately made a reservation. When I got to the restaurant there was already groups of people waiting to get in. It costs 5000 yen + 500 Service Charge (+ 800 yen for Sparking Wine) for this special buffet.

Thanksgiving Special Brunch Buffet: Along with traditional Thanksgiving dishes, they had various other dishes from Asian countries. I did sample most of the dishes they had to offer, except ones that contained tree nuts due to allergies. Neither did I drink the juices. It satisfied my Thanksgiving Meal crave. Also, was interesting to see Japanese variations of some dishes. Way too many dishes, so I'll simply say they were all (mostly) great, but nothing mind-blowing. Not a single bad dish from what I've had. I'll roughly list what I remember:

Hot Dishes:

-Noodle Stir-fry with (Non-Western) BBQ Pork and Vegetables -Vegetable Stir-fry -Thai Spicy Basil Beef -Green Bean Casserole -Caramelized Onions and Mushroom Soup -Coconut Rice -Thai Shrimp Curry with Tofu -Salmon with Mustard Sauce -Omelette with Hollandaise Sauce and Cheddar (Delicious) -Fried Fish Bites (with Tartar Sauce) -Tortilla Chups (with Spinach Artichoke Dip) -BBQ Short Ribs -Steamed Meat Bun (Meh!) -Dumpling (Not Gyoza) (Meh!) -One other dish that contained tree nut(s)

Cold Dishes:

-Chicken Caesar Salad -Kabocha Pumpkin and Quinoa (Interesting flavor) -Shrimp (with Cocktail Sauce) -Two types of charcuterie (some kind of salami, some kind of bologna-like meat with olive inside) -Green Salad (with Vinaigrette, Mustard Mayonnaise, Japanese Dressing) -One other dish that contained tree nut(s)

Meat (Thanksgiving) Station:

-Roast Beef (with beef gravy) -(Non-Western) BBQ Pork -Turkey White/Dark Meat (Properly cooked, juicy) -Chestnut Stuffing (Quite delicious) -Gravy -Horseradish -Cranberry Sauce (YUM!) -Mashed Potatoes

Breads:

-Croissant -French Baguette -Dinner Roll -Bread with Buttercream inside -Cinnamon Sugar Bread -Cornbread (On the cakey side) -Two other breads that contained tree nut(s). -Butter and various jams

Waffle Station: -Fresh Hot Waffle (with Raspberry Sauce, Whipped Cream, Maple Syrup, Powdered Sugar) (Scrumptious)

Desserts:

-Strawberry Shortcake (Too sweet) -Fruit Roll Cake (Delicious) -Cream Puffs (Tasty) -Peanut Butter Brownie (Finely chopped almonds on top) (Great!) -Pumpkin Pie (Finely chopped almonds on top near crust) (YUMMY!) -Apple Crisp (Scrumptious!) -Coffee Jelly -Raspberry Sorbet -Vanilla Ice Cream -One other dessert that contained tree nut(s)

Fruits:

-Red/White Dragon Fruit -Red/ Green Grape -Asian Pear -Honeydew Melon -Cantaloupe -Pineapple -Persimmon

Juices:

-Tomato -Guava -Three other regular ones (apple? grape? orange? cranberry?) I don't remember.

Conclusion: OMG, super happy they had genuine pumpkin pie!!! Cranberry sauce was yummy, chestnut stuffing was great, as well as the omelette. I liked everything, except the mediocre meatbun and dumpling. The turkey was the best turkey I've had. Fruits were all sweet. Absolutely enjoyed my meal here.

Would I go back? 100% YES.

Do I recommend this place? Of course. If you want to satisfy your Thanksgiving crave come for the Thanksgiving Special Brunch Buffet and eat to your...

Putting to the top to save others: don't trust the Google Maps directions! Go to Akasaka Mitsuke station and it's just a couple minutes' walk away. There's a couple buildings on the property, but find the "Garden Tower" if you can, or ask staff for help to find it. Google Maps took us to Yotsuya station for some reason and we had to walk a crazy long time, including through Sophia University and the extensive gardens of the New Otani property.

Drinks good, but note that some are very strong. They have a section of the menu for stronger drinks, but this was the case for drinks I had outside of that section. Happy hour is from about 5-7pm and includes a few discounted drinks and bites.

Food is very expensive- ¥6k for kung pao chicken for example?! We ordered some apps from the happy hour menu, which were fine, but left me happy we didn't spend our money on dinner there. Portions were small; for example, the sliders appetizer included only 2 small sliders, but it's possible portions were smaller because it was from the happy hour menu.

Wish the place was a bit busier. It was dead. I think two other, solo, guests were there the 1.5+ hrs we were there, but saw one couple come in as we were leaving around 7pm. They had some music playing softly, but with the quietness I was wishing for a little more liveliness to add to the ambience. We did visit during the week, so maybe it's busier on weekends.

For tiki enjoyers and fanatics, a must visit for the fact alone that it's Trader Vic's. If not though I would say it's less...

We recently went to Trader Vic’s in Tokyo as part of a week of my birthday celebrations. I have been to Trader Vic’s in other parts of the world and so I was eager to try the Tokyo version. It is located in the New Otani hotel, and the restaurant (like the hotel) feels a bit dated, but then again one comes there for the kitschy atmosphere so it all works. The menu is pretty standard Trader Vic’s fare with spare rib appetizers, seafood platters, Mai Tais, etc. I had the seafood plate as my main and a trio of Mai Tais, and the four of us shared several appetizers. The food as well as the service was all predictably good, and while the food is not going to make any Michelin lists anytime soon, it was all very satisfying. The bill was pretty expensive, and the prices aren’t cheap (which is expected), so be prepared if coming to have dinner here (they also have lunch specials). Definitely come for the atmosphere – while not a restaurant I would come to frequently, I will be back as I enjoyed...