Address:
I.K.N. BLDG., B1/1F/2F, 7-21-19 ROPPONGI,
MINATO-KU, TOKYO
HOURS: 6PM- 12AM (LO 11PM)
Phone: +813-3479-0065

A ‘MUST TRY’ RESTAURANT

I’ve written about this restaurant before in biancasuitcase.com as one of ‘must try’ restaurants in Tokyo last year. I have been frequenting this restaurant since it was still under the watchful eyes of iron chef Morimoto and named Morimoto XEX. It has since changed chefs and is now named after chef Omae. It has however been awhile since I’ve visited Omae XEX.

The cool, dark dungeon-like interior of this Roppongi establishment is still the same with two large teppanyaki counters and a table that seats about 10. There was however some changes in their menu. They have included a vegetarian menu which seemed rather strange to me for a teppanyaki restaurant , but noticing a lot of foreign guests at the restaurant they must have succumbed to the pressure. The chef recommendation menu that used to be my favorite had somewhat changed. The set menu starts at 6,800 yen and goes up to 18,000 yen for the highest grade of Kobe beef. They do however have an a la carte menu which is pretty reasonable.

My first course was strangely enough a mango sorbet. Sorbet before the main course is common, but at the beginning of the meal ? Well, it tasted alright so I gulped it all down.

Then I had a choice of appetizers. I chose the vegetable dip with crab miso sauce which is always delicious. The crab miso sauce is simply divine. I could lick it all up if it didn’t make me look stupid.

The vegetable dip with crab miso sauce.

My husband chose their shrimp tartare signature dish which never fails and is a ‘must try’ item on the menu.

Shrimp tartare

Next course : Seafood of the day and yesterday it was scallop and mackerel in a creamy sauce.

Mackarel and scallop, seafood of the day

And then it was time for the beef. I chose the dry aging beef this time and was really surprised at how good it was. The meat was tender, juicy, light and really, really good. I couldn’t help comparing it to the most expensive steak I had at Aragawa the night before and had to admit that this was much better.