A note on the words: ajillo is the Spanish dish of something — shrimp, mushrooms, whatever is in season — simmered in olive oil with garlic and chili, brought to the table still bubbling in its little iron pan, and the oil left behind is the point, which is what the bread is for. Jamon serrano is Spanish dry-cured ham sliced thin, and Iberico refers to the black-footed pigs it and the salami come from. Tapas are small plates meant for sharing over drinks. Paella is saffron rice cooked flat in a wide shallow pan so the bottom layer catches and turns crisp. Kuroge Wagyu is the Japanese Black breed of beef, the most common of the wagyu cattle. Nomihodai, translated here as free-flow drinks, is a fixed-price arrangement that lets you keep ordering for a set stretch of time, and a highball is whisky and soda, the standard Japanese long drink.
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Bistro Cresta Azabu-juban on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hey, this is Hangover Meshi. This time, a Spanish place right beside Azabu-juban station, “Bistro Cresta.” It is the one with the bright red neon you cannot miss. Apparently it belongs to the same group as Bistro Chic (in Japanese), and since that place is good, my hopes were fairly high!
They had a private room, so I asked for it. At a glance you cannot see any private room in the dining area at all — but step a little way into the kitchen and there, immediately, is a private room like a hidden chamber! From outside you would never guess there were seats back there, ha.
Casual Course: 4,980 yen
Standard Course: 5,980 yen
Premium Course: 6,980 yen
Five-Tapas Platter and Kuroge Wagyu Course: 7,980 yen
All of them come with free-flow drinks! Cheap, is it not, ha. Astonishing value for Azabu-juban!
Since it is so cheap, we took the Premium Course and kept adding a few a la carte things we wanted to eat on top.
A highball to start!
Salami and cured ham! Whatever is dusted over the top was not hot, so I would guess paprika powder.
They had oysters, so I asked for raw ones. One of them grilled.
The cold appetizers. Generous, and satisfying.
And this is the warm appetizer. Shrimp ajillo. The garlic comes through strongly and it is delicious!
You dip the baguette into it and eat!
Plenty of potato. The quantity of meat is not all that large, but between that and the potato you end up quite full.
The single dishes and the tapas are pretty cheap as well, so you can keep ordering little things!
There was free-flow drink to get through, one way or another, and it looked as though we were going to run short of things to nibble on, so I added an order of potatoes.
The main course! Mixed seafood and meat paella!
The seafood stock comes through powerfully and it is delicious! The paella is finished off beautifully, too. Yes — it is piled with ingredients and looks properly lavish, and above all it tastes wonderful! That is the Chic group for you. You can trust the cooking here!
Between all the extra orders, I was quite satisfied on volume. And after the free-flow drink period ended we wanted to keep talking, so we ordered another two glasses the ordinary way. Even after doing that, the per-person total came out so cheap it surprised me. Honestly, is this not a bit of a find? If you want to drink and eat a lot without spending much, I recommend it. And it is good on top of that.
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
