Tsuki No Shizuku

Our first night in Ginza we requested the hotel staff make reservations for us at Tsuki No Shizuku.  They were excited to assist and printed directions that looked just as puzzling as the directions we had found.  It put the restaurant in the middle of a roadway.  They were kind to explain that the restaurant is below an elevated roadway. Oh!

  The stroll to restaurant was short and took us past Chanel, Cartier and DeBeers shops.   One of us was in window-shopping heaven.  We arrived at the restaurant and gave our name.  We were quickly seated after stopping to remove our shoes.  We attempted to put on the wooden sandals in the hallway and were told no.  We later surmised these are the sandals provided for us in the going to the restroom.

  We walked past a few rooms with boisterous entertaining and were shown our own room which had seating for four at a table in a little nook with a sliding wood door for deliveries of our food and drink.  We had a doorbell to ring for anything we might want.  They also provided an English menu for our convenience.

  We sampled the complimentary amuse bouche of what we will describe as squishy tofu aperitif with fish roe.  Let's just say this is one dish we wouldn't order on our own.  We begin by ordering the premium draft beers.

  Ready to order our first selections, David rang the bell for the waitress.  He began by ordering a bottle of Shochu called Yumemonogatari "Tuki".  The waitress was surprised as there were only two of us, but accommodated his wishes.  

She arrived with a jumbo bottle of Shochu and our first selections.  The fried tofu with cream cheese was an interesting texture and was a good choice for two people who never usually order tofu.   An assortment of pickles was ordered for David consisting of four selections.  This round of food also consisted of  Jane's favorite of the night, a Yuba roll (a type of wide noodle) with tuna & avocado. We also had duck and leek served on Hoba leaf.  The display of this alone made it worthwhile.  It was served on a dried leaf with a little pot of fire below to cook the duck to your liking. 

  After passing on the horse meat sashimi in honor of the KY Derby, we rang the bell for our second round selections.  This was the fried food round.  After indulging in a little Shochu and traveling for more hours than we could count, we went for comfort food.  Spicy fried okra and David's favorite, Fried Mugifuji pork with Camembert cheese (a house speciality).  This dish was as beautiful as it was tasty.  The final dish we ordered was fried crispy things from the picture on the non-English menu.  It ended up being octopus that was too heavily breaded for our liking.  

  Our night ended with David falling asleep at 8:30, something he'd never done before in his life. I might need to keep a bottle of Shochu at home, it could come in handy.

  Cost: 9,401 Yen