Yesterday we went to eat at a high end restaurant. It was in an area called Ikebukuro, on the 58th floor of a department store called Sunshine City, at a place called Sky Restaurants. Sky restaurants are made up of three themes Japanese, French and Contemporary. They just opened last week, March 18th.

Why are they called Sky Restaurants? Because they are 210 Meters above ground and have a superb view. Take a look here:

http://www.ginza-cruise.co.jp/ikebukuro/index.html

Here is a picture I took of the scenery. I took it with a compact digital camera so I could not really get too good of a photo.

We reserved a table at the Contemporary restaurant at 8PM and ordered the Five Cuisine Course which consisted of:

Starters
Appetizers
Fish of the Day
Light appetizer featuring organic vegetables
Meat of the Day
Dessert

From each course you had a choice of 2-5 dishes.

Starters

This was not something you could choose. We received a form of Miso soup. It was bean based and came with a pea inside of it. It tasted ok. It did not have any fancy spices or seasoning inside it. It was just the bean in a mousse form. So it was either you like the taste of the bean or you didn’t.

Appetizer: Assortment of today’s hors d’oeuvre “Jubako Style”

With a choice of 5 appetizers I decided to go with the hors d’oeuvre. Three of the appetizers are within the cost of the course, but the other 2 cost extra money to order. The hor d’oeurve was the most expensive appetizer: P

My food came in a brown closed brown box. The waiter opened it up and there was food on the top and bottom. The presentation of the fish was beautiful. I was also impressed with the taste. It was fresh and seasoned to perfection. This was my 2nd favorite dish of the night.

The Fish: Tuna rare saut with various spices and Korean chilli burnt butter sauce

Ding ding!! And the winner is!!!!!!

This was hands down the best dish of the day. The tuna was so succulent and tasty. Below it was buttered risotto which was the best I have tasted in my life. The chilli sauce, while not hot, gave the tuna the extra zing that it needed. If we were at a cheaper restaurant I would have licked the whole plate. I wish I could have got more of that…

Light appetizer featuring organic vegetables:
Suruga bay sakura shrimp and spring cabbage salad, Chinovinaigrette

This dish was ok. Nothing great. I was expecting some juicy meaty shrimps, but to my disappointment it was tiny deep fried shrimps. They were really crispy and tasted nice. Along with the shrimp was some crispy deep fried seaweed. The shrimp and seaweed were salty and the cabbage was crispy and sweet. I felt that they complemented each other well. Also I have to say I never knew cabbage could ever taste so good.

The Meat: Smoked Lamb roast with bone, flavored with cherry blossom tree and with Kenji tomatoes

I found out last night that I am not too much of a fan of smoked meat. But even still, this was some good lamb. The best I have ever eaten. It was juicy, succulent and rich in taste. The red sauce it came with went really well with the lamb. I should have asked somebody what was in it. The green plant looking thing was also edible. It was thick and crunchy. The tomatoes were just regular baked tomatoes. This was the 3rd best dish I ate.

The Dessert: Fromage ~ selection of cheese with melba with a light honey scented pain d’ epics

With a choice of cheesecake and normal cake I decided to be adventurous and get the expensive cheese. I made a big mistake. It came with 2 crackers which were nice and 4 or so pieces of a gingery cake/bread. I don’t think the cake slices went well with the cheese. I regret ordering this. I should have just got the cheesecake. It was the only bad thing I ate all night.

During the night we were given freshly baked breads and drank different type of wine. I had strawberry plum wine, a sweet wine and some mango juice.

There was also a birthday cake for the birthday girl. Unfortunately we were all too stuffed to even eat it all…

The only bad experience was the floor staff. It was a lot of trouble trying to get someone to take your order. Almost as if they were not paying attention to the people dining. But the chefs were awesome.

Based on the people sitting around us, it seemed like we were the only people eating the course. Across from us was a group of three who ordered one plate of spaghetti between them and drank water all night. I am happy that not only were we able to experience such a nice restaurant, but that we also got to dine like kings. Total damage for the three of us was 30,000yen (208.8328 GBP or 306.499USD) .

In the coming months I plan to visit the remaining two Sky Restaurants. I think I have just found a new expensive hobby. If anybody has any dining recommendations, do drop me a line.

Thanks

Tags: High End Dining, Sky Restaurant, Social