A note on the words: pintxos are small Basque bar snacks, usually served on a skewer or a slice of bread. Tapas are the small plates of Spanish bar food. Coca is a flat Spanish bread. Jamón serrano is Spanish dry-cured ham, and prosciutto is its Italian counterpart. Txangurro is the Basque name for a crab dish baked in the shell. Pedro Ximénez is a Spanish grape used to make a very sweet dark sherry. Paella is the Valencian rice dish cooked in a wide shallow pan. Nomihodai, translated here as all-you-can-drink, is a fixed-price arrangement that includes unlimited drinks for a set stretch of time.
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EX 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, to “EX nishiazabu,” a modern Spanish place tucked a little way in from the Nishi-Azabu crossing, toward Aoyama Cemetery. My vague memory says there used to be a ramen shop run by Kenichi Mikawa somewhere around here. The famous Kaotan is right in front of it, and there is something like a US military facility nearby too, so I suppose this is the far edge of Nishi-Azabu. It is a quiet stretch.
I got a surprise when I arrived in front of the place, ha. There is an enormous face of Dalí on the wall. ^^ That certainly stands out, ha.
[With 2 hours of all-you-can-drink] [Standard Course] — 9,000 yen
[With a welcome drink of your choice] [Casual Course] — 6,000 yen
[With 2 hours of all-you-can-drink] [Casual Course] — 8,000 yen
There are courses that include all-you-can-drink, and the prices feel quite approachable.
Modern Spanish — it feels like a while since I last had Spanish food, so I am looking forward to it!
As for what the all-you-can-drink covers, there is the usual beer and highball, of course, but also sparkling wine, cocktail-ish things like a spritzer and an operator, plus sangria, red and white wine, vodka and gin. It struck me as a fairly lavish lineup.
Pintxos with something rolled up in prosciutto. The inside is quite crumbly and crisp, which makes for an interesting texture.
A pudding topped with caviar. Sprinkle a little salt over it and the sweetness and the saltiness sit together beautifully — really good.
Around here I switched over to white wine. ^^
From the left: marinated salmon and cream cheese on coca! Coca is a Spanish bread, apparently, and this one is cracker-like, with the marinated salmon laid on top. One bite and it is gone. In the middle, a cream croquette of jamón serrano. That one is good too! And last, a pâté of Iwanaka pork, foie gras and chicken liver.
Scooping the crab gratin up with the bread is the way to eat it, and it is delicious. The red powder is not chili, it is paprika. ^^
Grilled pork, I believe. Tender and good! The sauce is red-wine-based, I would guess. Rich and tasty.
Beef steak is good too, of course, but pork is plenty good on its own! Or rather, with pork I feel like you almost never get a dud, ha.
For the paella they asked at the start which flavor we wanted, and I asked for squid ink!!
They portion it out for you, and one serving is roughly this much!
Mm, this is nice. ^^
The seafood and the deep, rich squid ink are seriously good! When it comes to seafood paella, squid ink really is the one, is it not!
It was so good that I recommend the squid ink (though the others may well be good too, ha).
The menu overall is built around small portions of good things, and it lands just right in terms of how full you end up. Coming in under 10,000 yen with all-you-can-drink included is a happy thing! We were given a private room this time, and the atmosphere is good, and the location is a little off the beaten track, so I suspect a fair number of celebrities slip in here quietly. ^^
EX nishiazabu (Spanish / Nogizaka Station, Roppongi Station, Omotesando Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.3
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
