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

It has most definitely stopped. There is no doubt about it. I feel like I am walking underwater. The adrenaline rush that kept my sleep deprived body going for the past 3 days has disappeared along with my friends who are probably boarding the plane as I type this.

It was an awesome 3 days. It is up there with one of the best ever. I could not really ask for a better birthday bonanza. But as Soul II Soul sang it is “Back to life, back to reality”.

It is going to be a long week. I can feel it. I have looked at the clock 5 times already but unfortunately it is still only 10:07.

I am too tired and brain dead to think of anything interesting to write today. So instead of leaving you with a thousand words. I will leave you with one picture

Edit:

Had to take the photo down Will post a different one when I get home.

I woke up on sunday and flew to Narita to pick them up. We then flew to their hotel to get them checked in. I wanted to take them sightseeing but first we needed to get some food.

I decided Shibuya would be best. They were all crying about how hungry they are and how much they could eat. I took them to a steak place where they had a huge hamburger steak with pilaf rice.

Their moans of hunger soon turned into moans of being stuffed. The share mass of the steak had TKO’d them.

I decided to take them to heaven. They were not sure what I meant by “Heaven” but as soon as I took them to the gates they understood. Any man who has been to Shibuya would understand why that building is heaven.

After running wild in heaven for a while we went to play some arcades to get rest, and then walked to Harajuku.

The group split and 3 of us went to an izakaya called Hanbei. I love the place, it is cheap and has an old Japan feeling to it.

However, one of the waiters was a dick. He spoke to us rudely, used rude hand gestures and even ignored us a few times.

The worse thing he did was give us a plate of Yakitori we didn’t order. I suspected I didn’t order it but ate it anyway since I wanted my friends to experience it. Then, 1 hour later he tried to stealthy slide another plate of the same dish on to our table. I saw it and called him out on it. He didn’t even say sorry or anything or insist that we did order it, he just walked away. Dude was a scumbag, I really wanted to **** him up.

Since then I have met them at lunch time and taken them to a chicken place near my work.

Last night we went to MO MO paradise. It is a sukiyaki and syabusyabu buffet. We must have eaten nearly half of the meat in the shop. Each one of us had about 2-3 bowls of rice and 4-5 drinks.

I have a new nickname for one of my friends. I call him “The Arsenic”. He dropped his plastic chopsticks into the fire and nearly set the shop on fire. Funnily enough the same guy dropped his chopsticks on the floor 4 times and the waitress had to keep brining him new ones..

So, it is my birthday tomorrow. Tonight we will eat some yakiniku and play some Wii and poker in my house. After that hit Ageha where there is a Notorious BIG album release party.

Saturday is a 20 man food fest at TGI Fridays followed by some more clubbing and drinking.

Sunday will be their last day here before returning to their far off land. Will probably end up going out with them to do some stuff.

So old man, will your body be able to withstand the next 3 days of madness?