A note on the words: free flow is the phrase Tokyo restaurants use for an all-you-can-drink option attached to a set course, sold by the hour. Ceviche is the Latin American way of curing raw fish in citrus juice, so ceviche-style here means the carpaccio is dressed sharp and acidic. Peperoncino is the plain Italian sauce of garlic, olive oil and dried chili. Kuroge Wagyu is the black-haired Japanese cattle breed that most wagyu beef comes from. Kajiki, sold in Japan alongside the tunas, is billfish — swordfish and marlin. Kesennuma is a fishing port on the northeast coast, and Saga is a prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu; Japanese menus name the place a thing came from the way French ones name a vineyard.
Grill & Pasta es 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. So, dinner this time was at Grill & Pasta es Azabu-juban, over in Azabu-juban. Apparently it’s a sister restaurant of Chick (in Japanese), and while the prices feel really quite reasonable, the food looks promising as well. We had something to celebrate this time, so I booked a private room and headed over. It sits a little way back off the Azabu-juban shopping street.
You go down the stairs and inside, and it has a nicely aged feel to it — I like it. Even so, it’s dark in there!
Premium Course [2.5 h free flow] — 6,980 yen
Luxury Course [with 2 hours of free flow] — 5,980 yen
Standard Course [with 2 h free flow] — 4,980 yen
Summer-only Special Course [with 3 hours of free flow] — 8,980 yen
Basically all of it is cheap! With free flow included they sit on the 5,000 to 7,000 yen line. I get the feeling you don’t come across that very often in Azabu-juban. This time I also wanted to drink at a leisurely pace, so I went for the 9,000 yen course with three hours of free flow.
The private room is right at the very back, and the lighting in it is unbelievably red!
Red, and pretty dim with it. At first I had them switch a light on so I could take photos, but partway through that got to be a hassle and I just shot as it was. In the photos it looks fairly red, and when you’re actually sitting in there it looks even redder — though not so red that you can’t see. ^^
This one I took with the light switched on for a moment. You can see it nice and clearly. ^^
The menu said scallop, but this is salmon carpaccio! This one is still easy to see too, because the outside light is on. ^^
Right! This is what it’s like. Seriously red lighting. Moody, or maybe not. ^^
![[Extra order] Raw oysters](https://cimg.eat.hangover.work/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/17072414/th_DSC05343-scaled.jpg "Grill & Pasta es, Azabu-juban: A Summer Course 10")
They had raw oysters, so I added some on. Wine is in the free flow this time, so the timing was perfect!
![[Extra order] Baked oyster, gratin-style](https://cimg.eat.hangover.work/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/17072410/th_DSC05354-scaled.jpg "Grill & Pasta es, Azabu-juban: A Summer Course 11")
This is the gratin-style baked oyster. Another one I ordered as an extra. The base price is pretty cheap to begin with, so extras like this are easy to justify! And even then, the total comes to next to nothing, so you walk out happy.
It comes with a baguette, so dipping that in the broth is the way to go!
The slightly assertive saltiness of the anchovy is outstanding. Perfect with beer.
And then the pasta arrives. The color comes out bright red, but it’s swordfish and summer vegetables! Good.
Nicely grilled Kuroge Wagyu! Loaded with the savor of the beef and delicious. This calls for red wine, I decided, and ordered a red.
![[Extra order] Two-kind grill platter (3,850 yen)](https://cimg.eat.hangover.work/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/17072406/th_DSC05376-scaled.jpg "Grill & Pasta es, Azabu-juban: A Summer Course 16")
With three hours of free flow, you end up running out of food.
So we ordered more meat as an extra. Two kinds, 400 g. That much is plenty! It was good.
So: even eating all of that, split per head it comes out pretty cheap. And with three hours of free flow on top, I thought it was a seriously good-value place for Azabu-juban. I went on about the private room being red, red, red, but honestly, while you’re actually eating in there it doesn’t bother you all that much — it’s more that if you’re going to take commemorative photos you might want to give it a thought?! That’s about the size of it. A place I’d happily use again.
Grill & Pasta es Azabu-juban (Italian / Azabu-juban Station, Roppongi Station, Akabanebashi Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.4
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
