A note on the words: a highball is whisky with soda, the standard first drink in Japan. Karasumi is salted, dried mullet roe, sliced thin and intensely savory. Amadai is tilefish, and matsukasa-age is a technique that fries the fish scales-on so the scales stand up crisp like a pine cone. Ezo venison is deer from Hokkaido. Napa cabbage is the pale, tightly furled Chinese cabbage. Caprese and carpaccio are the Italian dishes of the same names.
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Appia Alta Nishiazabu on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. This time, the far end of Nishiazabu. Honestly it feels closer to Hiroo, but in any case an incredibly upscale area lined with grand houses and apartment buildings, and tucked into it is the Italian restaurant “Appia Alta Nishiazabu.” Here is the thing about this place: there is no menu as such. The style is that they bring out the ingredients, you pick, and you ask them how you would like them cooked. A truly high-end place where even the step of picking something at a certain price off a menu has been done away with, ha.
Put the other way around, you get to eat what you like the way you like it, so if you go with people who are picky eaters, everyone can enjoy themselves — in that sense it may be the perfect spot!
The difference between the original Appia (Hiroo) and Appia Alta
Speaking of “Appia,” the famous one is the original in Hiroo/Tengenji, and this Alta is its sister restaurant in Nishiazabu. The signature style — looking over the cart of ingredients and ordering exactly as you please — is said to be the same at both, and the difference is more or less just the size of the room and the mood. Alta is said to have the roomier space, so date night or an anniversary calls for Alta, while the original is the pick if you want to experience where it all started. I want to go to the original one day too!
This is the view the moment you walk in, ha
There really is no menu. As for drinks, it seems that if you say it, they will more or less make it ^^
The only thing you actually choose from is the wine list! I have come to an amazing place.
First, a highball.
White fish made into a mousse, laid on a tender leaf of napa cabbage.
One bite in and the sweetness of the cabbage and the flavor of the mousse are delicious, are they not.
A big case comes rolling over, ha
While I was still wondering what was going on, it turns out you choose your appetizers.
There are plenty of warm appetizers besides these, and they ask which you would like.
“Everyone tends to overeat, so please choose while consulting the capacity of your stomach!” — that is the kind of thing they say, and after they explain what each one is, we each tell them what we want, one by one.
What is this!! This is fun!!!
At this point there is no which-one-costs-what, no how-much-is-how-much!
Once you have gone this far, you eat what you want to eat! After everyone has chosen, the case is wheeled away and they plate each person’s picks and bring them out.
Bread arrived in the meantime.
And then the appetizers came out, plated. They look sooooo good!
A vegetable salad, and octopus carpaccio. Plus shrimp and turban shell.
You squeeze lemon over the octopus carpaccio to eat it, and my word, is it good.
A carpaccio with an exquisite bite and the octopus’s savor packed into it. Delicioooous. I immediately asked for a white wine to go with it.
The vegetables have their sweetness drawn out exquisitely — so sweet and so good.
The shrimp is properly firm too, and the sauce over the turban shell is outstanding, is it not. Every one of them goes so well with wine.
Next, caprese!
The flavor of this tomato is so deep. The cheese was rich and milky too.
This must be what people mean by the very best version of caprese. Delicious.
Ezo venison topped with cheese. The meat, roasted fragrant in the oven, is so tender and pairs perfectly with the rich cheese and sauce.
Well now, every single thing is good.
After a while, the case appears again.
Fish, meat, sea urchin, vegetables, mushrooms! Just looking at it lifts your spirits!
For each one they explain something like, “for this, this way of cooking it would be nice, would it not” — and it is decision time again.
Ugh, there is no way to choose. At times like this I envy the people with iron stomachs who can eat everything. But you rarely get to come to a meal like this, so let us do our best and eat!
The pasta dish uses sea urchin.
The sea urchin is so rich it is dangerous. I am flying!
Squid and karasumi. Plus a bite each of mushroom risotto.
Karasumi and squid really do go together.
After that, the fish main. The amadai, with its scales standing up crisp, matsukasa-age style.
The flesh is fluffy and tender, and pairs perfectly with the crisp, fragrant scales.
This is true of French and Italian and Spanish cooking alike, but the fish dishes are seriously good, are they not. Not to be skipped.
The mains were beef fillet and a single lamb chop.
This beef fillet is so tender and so good. You get the rich flavor of the meat with a solid punch. Delicious!
The lamb chop, too, wafts up that distinctive pleasant aroma, tender and with sweet, delicious fat. A little squeeze of lemon tightens the flavor and makes it better still. A restaurant whose meat mains are properly delicious is a wonderful thing. This place is the real deal.
So, we finished the mains.
Honestly I have been fighting somewhat past my own limit and my stomach is full, but the case appears for a third time.
And here come plenty of desserts again…!
These I have to eat!!!
A bite each of strawberry cake.
A slightly larger strawberry dessert.
Every strawberry-related thing that came out: conquered!!!!
Ohhhhh! I am stuffed!
Flat out, I was completely satisfied! I did not expect the pleasure of choosing to be amplified this far.
Choosing from the ingredients is fun in itself, and so is listening to the staff explain and then thinking it over. Above all, everything looks incredibly good. So when they say, “Now then, what will it be?” — the struggle with yourself in that moment when you have to decide!
I want to eat a lot! But I cannot eat that much! But I want to choose what I eat!
It is fine, though. Everything really is delicious, and you are going to overeat anyway, so I do not think there is a single regret to be had.
Appia Alta Nishiazabu (Italian / Hiroo Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.7
Appia Alta Nishiazabu — budget and booking
Budget guide
There is no set course; the bill is simply for what you pick from the cart. As a rough guide, here are two figures.
The per-person budget band given in the Tabelog restaurant listing.
The price band tallied from the posts of people who actually visited. Open a bottle of wine and you land closer to this one.
The total moves a great deal depending on how many dishes you order and on the wine. Please read the ranges above as a rough “somewhere around here.”
Booking and payment
The phone number is 03-5774-0960. Because they take each person’s order one at a time while you look over the cart, it takes time, so I recommend arriving with time to spare.
Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays open from 14:00.
VISA / Master / JCB / AMEX / Diners. Electronic money and QR-code payments cannot be used.
Private rooms available (up to 4 people). Entirely non-smoking.
* From the Tabelog listing as of July 2026. Prices and opening hours can change. Please check with the restaurant for the latest.
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
