VIDRIO Kichijoji Store — Restaurant in Tokyo

My wife and I went to Vidro Spanish restaurant in Kichijoji last night. We had been wanting to try it for some time. The first thing that hit me was that this being a Spanish restaurant, and their signature dish being paella, they don't know how to pronounce it correctly or spell it correctly in Katakana. The double "L" confuses them. I explained to the staff that a double "L" in Spanish makes a "Y" sound. I even played a Spanish speaker pronouncing paella on my phone. So, to the owner of this restaurant, paella is not pronounced pa-e-ri-a, it is pronounced pa-e-ya. OK, let's get on to the meal. First, we had to choose a wine from the Spanish wine list. Unfortunately, they were out of my first 2 choices, so we opted for their "original" wine (I assume produced in Spain specifically for this restaurant). The price was 4,000 yen, not cheap, but reasonable. (There were other more expensive wines.) The taste was nothing to rave about. It was a bit sharp, not full-bodied, low tannins. 4,000 yen was way overpriced for this particular wine. I can buy similar tasting Spanish wines at Kichijoji wine shops for 300 yen, so that was a negative. Next, we ordered a mixed salad from the salad list. This was a good choice. It contained many ingredients: lettuce, tomato, anchovies, olives, arugula, thin onion (I believe) and slices of parmesan cheese, with a delicious dressing. This was a positive. Our next order was lamb chops (2). They were spiced well, and cooked to perfection, however, one of them was 50% fat, which we cut away. This, I felt, was a waste of money, another negative. Then came the paella. We chose the shrimp from a long list. It had 4 good sized shrimp, pieces of squid and scallop, and a few mussels and a couple of clams. These shellfish were quite small, about the size of a pea. But the main problem was (and I suppose it's the same with each paella dish) the center area of the hot iron plate it's cooked and served in, the rice is soft and flavorful, but the rice in the outer area is almost burnt. It's hard and crunchy, difficult to chew. If you have weak teeth or wear dentures, avoid the outer rim. you could break your teeth. Another negative. Now comes the dessert: a custard with a glass-like sweet glaze, chocolate cake, and vanilla ice cream (We put it on the cake.). These were all very delicious, plus, since I told them it was my birthday (which it really was), they gave us a great cheese cake with whipped cream and blueberries on a plate that had "Happy birthday" written in chocolate. The desserts were a positive. Our bill came to over 20,000 yen, over priced we felt. I don't think we'll be coming back here....

Buen restaurante español. Probé su paella de mariscos (魚介のパエリア), que estaba bien, con algo de socarrat, aunque un poco pequeña (está bien para una persona o para dos si pedís más cosas); la tortilla de bacalao (塩だらのオムレツ), que estaba rica; y el pulpo a la gallega (タコのガリシア風), un poco demasiado tierno y de sabor suave, pero bueno. Todo eso más una sangría de cava (カヴァデサングリア) y una sangría (サングリア) hicieron un total de ¥7,238 para dos personas. No es un lugar excepcional, pero es una buena opción si quieres comer comida española. El menú está en español y japonés. El personal es simpático y profesional. Puedes pagar...

A Spanish retaurant with an old feel to it. In a good way. Spanish wine along with the usual drinks. Food tastes good but the service was a bit on the slow side. All and all wouldn't...