A note on the words: hummus is a Middle Eastern dip of mashed chickpeas, here served with a bread-like flatbread. Prosciutto is dry-cured ham. Fritti are deep-fried dishes, here made with cauliflower and paired with an anchovy-garlic aioli. Moussaka is a baked Greek casserole of eggplant and spiced minced meat, resembling a hearty gratin.
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CICADA on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. When some old friends and I talked about going out for drinks, the place we booked was “CICADA”! It is close to Omotesando, tucked a little way back from Kotto-dori in Minami-Aoyama, right near the Ohara School of Ikebana hall! It has a really stylish, nice feel to it, and since it is an affiliate of T.Y. Harbor, I had been quite curious about it. I finally made it over.
When I went in, they showed me to a spot that felt like an outside terrace.
How should I put it — it was intensely dark, ha! A very moody atmosphere. Well, when you are basically outside with just the bare minimum of stylish lighting, this is what you get, ha.
There are quite a few Middle Eastern and Greek dishes on the menu! Since it is Mediterranean cooking, I suppose that kind of food falls under it too?
To start, hummus, a chickpea dip. You eat it scooped onto this bread-like thing. It somehow went great with beer and was delicious.
Prosciutto, of course! It goes well with wine too. It is the kind of dish you just want to have on the table for now.
Thinking I wanted something fried, I chose the cauliflower fritti.
I somehow thought it might carry a bit less guilt than fries, but it was fluffy inside and delicious.
The sauce was anchovy and garlic, an unmistakable, foolproof flavor. It went great with beer.
Moussaka. It is not a dish I have eaten very often, but it seems to be a Greek staple.
It is like a gratin, packed full of eggplant and meat inside, and delicious!
The first main was the grilled swordfish.
The tender flesh was fantastic! Having potato and kale alongside it looked stylish too.
The meat dish! Bone-in lamb. Lamb chops, but these were tender too and packed with savory flavor. Delicious!
And with that, I had ordered a full round and was done. I ended up drinking quite a bit, wine included. It is a stylish space, which is great, but it might be just a bit too dark, ha. The food itself is truly delicious, so daytime drinking on that terrace on a day off might be just about perfect.
CICADA (European / Omotesando Station, Gaienmae Station, Meiji-jingumae Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
