Late last year, I had the pleasure of staying at Tokyo’s Shiba Park Hotel. However, due to my always being busy in the Japanese capital, I rarely have the time to sit down for dinner. Fortunately, I had a rare few days of break on my most recent Tokyo visit, so I was able to try that hotel’s sole restaurant, appropriately called The Dining.
Firstly, here are the opening hours, and available meals:
Breakfast 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Entry by 9:45 a.m.）
Lunch 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.（Course L.O. 2:00 p.m.)
Afternoon Tea Reservation basis
Weekdays 1:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (Entry by 3:30 p.m.) / Weekends & Holidays 11:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. (Entry by 3:30 p.m.)
Light Meal 2:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (L.O. 5:00 p.m.)
Dinner 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. (Course L.O. 8:00 p.m., L.O. 8:30 p.m.)
For my dinner at The Dining, I ordered a seasonal set menu. Although I was quite enticed by the wagyu, the catch-all phrase for “Japanese beef,” and sushi, vegans would be pleased to know that the restaurant even has a vegan multicourse menu.
I was seated in a quiet table in the back — my choice — and service started off a bit slow. However, once I started chatting with the waitstaff, things resumed to a more manageable pace.
For my one drink of the night, I ordered a very local nihonshu (what we like to call “sake” just means liquor), called Edokaijo (Edo referring to Tokyo’s former name) Junmai Ginjo Harasake:
I tend to prefer sweeter nihonshu, but not sugar cube-sweet. This one did the trick…I wonder if the brewery offers tours.
Sakiduke (先付け) refers to appetizers. These two were pleasantly light, and included crunchy fish on the lower left, and tofu on the upper right.
Then came the suimono, the clear broth course. Again, it was simple fare, with a mere hint of salt. The shrimp dumpling was fun.
As usual in Japan, I was interested to know where the tableware came from. Could they have been discovered in Kappabashi, Tokyo’s kitchenware district?
I can’t recall which fish the lower left sashimi was, but the maguro (tuna) was excellent. For me, wrapping it in the perilla leaf (shiso), and dabbing it with soy sauce and wasabi makes it tough to beat. On the other hand, squeezing a hint of yuzu juice on it would have been a parallel level of deliciousness.
Tempura…it’s fried, yet airy, and not overwhelming. Thank Portugal for the original recipe.
Here we have a paragon of tempura quality, in the forms of eggplant, sweet potato, shrimp, and green beans.
Condiments (from left) include minced daikon (a whitish radish), tempura sauce, and tasting salt, which went quite nicely with the eggplant.
The cattle breed: kuroge, or Japanese Black. The sukiyaki: a soothing stew, already filled with choice mushrooms, cabbage, and tofu, ready to take on the beef.
All I can say is– wow, that was a unexpected treat. The broth, slightly sweet due to the presence of sugar and mirin, didn’t take away from the natural flavors of whatever had been in the vegetable sauna.
Do you know the trick to eating nigirizushi, the rectangular version of sushi? Separately dip the fish in the soy sauce, then place it on the rice. No fuss, no muss.
I apologize for the brightness on a couple of pieces of sushi, but individually editing each of those two really white slices didn’t do much. Still, the squid, salmon, and sardine were fantastic, as were the tuna and the one that I can’t recall.
Plus, miso soup…always welcome.
The final course was a creamy fruit blancmange. I would not have complained if there were no dessert course included, but since it was, I quickly downed it.
Really well done, The Dining! And I’m afraid you have some tough competition at your sister property, the Park Hotel Tokyo. Stand by for the second round….
Disclaimer: I was invited by the Shiba Park Hotel to take dinner at The Dining.
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