Boschetta, Shirokane

In a back lane in Shirokane, near the top end of Platinum Street you'll find a near-new residence that has been converted into a lovely Italian restaurant called Boschetta. If the building had stayed as a house it would have been a trendy little family home, but it has made for a restaurant with a homely, yet stylish atmosphere.

Recently I went there for dinner on a Saturday night and ended up having an excellent experience in one of the bedrooms (and just with the food). For 10,000 yen you can order the Menu Degustazione which comprises three starters, two pastas, one main and a dessert with a coffee and petit fours.

My dining partner and I kicked off dinner with a couple of glasses of lovely, refreshing Mumm champagne and an amuse of fresh mozzarella topped with a transparent tomato jelly and basil powder. This delicious, buttery concoction was served on an artistic glass spoon. Indeed though the meal each dish was served on a beautiful piece of glassware - a unique feature of this restaurant.

The first starter was a fish carpaccio, topped with sliced fresh tomato and sweet watermelon jelly. Usually I'm not a great fan of fresh tomato or watermelon but this dish worked really well, especially owing to the successful contrast of the tomato and the sweet jelly. The next starter was a small foie gras crème brûlée topped with an apple mousse. The crème brûlée tasted deliciously strongly of foie gras and was a delight to consume. The last starter was a soup of hamo fritter and truffle. Again, usually I'm not such a big fan of eel, but this dish of the utmost freshness worked really well for me.

The first pasta I ordered was an asari (baby clam) and avocado spaghetti. The second was a lobster linguine. Both were competent and tasty. For the main event I ordered the Shamo chicken with sauteed vegetables including morels, which I think taste really special. The chicken was about the best chicken I've had in recent memory - slightly underdone with a confident, strong taste that's how I imagine fresh, happy chickens must taste!

For dessert, I ordered the chocolate cake, and this was followed by a chamomile tea and some delicious petit fours. As most of the dishes were seafood I paired the meal with an Italian chardonnay, and this turned out to be a good choice. The service was good - a little solemn and lacking in warmth of personality for my liking, but I can overlook this as the food really shone through.

The only real complaint I had is that eating in a small room with only two other tables meant we had to hear every work of the loud guy adjacent to us trying to impress his date the whole evening. Poor girl!

All in all, I'd feel very confident in recommending Bochetta to you and would be very happy to return in due course.


http://www.boschetta.com/
Tel: 03-5798-2442