Shunju – Tokyo, Japan When it comes to Japanese cuisine, my knowledge is quite limited to sushi and sashimi. So to try something new, we headed over to Shunju, a Japanese restaurant that is a short walk from the Peninsula Hotel in Tokyo where we were staying at the time. The restaurant is located in the basement of a nondescript building so I was expecting that it would be a bit shabby. What a shock to find, the moment we walked in, that it was an über chic and trendy restaurant. I was completely blown away with its interiors.

Designed by renowned restaurant designer Takashi Sugimoto, the restaurant is highly conceptual. It was divided into a slew of small seating areas—some with two tops, some with four, some with seating for six, eight, ten or more. What really made it interesting though was how each area was uniquely designed with a completely different theme for each. One had a wall made of wine bottles, another area had a wall that was decked out in children’s toys, and another was in dark red with red lighting, very romantic. Other themes include metals, glass, and wood. It was simply amazing to just walk around and see the different imaginative, chic and trendy designs.

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The food, on the other hand, was not quite as amazing. We were there for lunch and ordered a lunch special (2000 Yen about $21.00). It included assorted sashimi (six pieces), salad, homemade tofu, a cooked fish of some type, noodles, rice and pickles. No one at the restaurant spoke English so we had to make do with a lot of pointing and hand signals, which on one hand, made it kind of fun and memorable but on the other hand, subtracted from our experience of the cuisine as we did not know exactly what was on the menu, what exactly we were eating, and how it had been prepared.

While the food was not of poor quality as far as I could tell, it just did not do much to impress me. I am sure that not knowing what the food was (apart from the sushi and salad), contributed to my lack of enthusiasm for it.

Service was fair, but again, the language barrier did nothing to help. Probably the most unforgettable part of the whole experience was seeing the quirky designs.

If you love neat, chic and trendy interiors, then I would say make a trip to Shunju. If not, bypass this restaurant and head over to XEX, a favorite of mine.

Overall rating for Shunju, between bombastic and not.

What I liked: the decor

What I didn’t like: Not having anyone there that spoke English and not knowing exactly what I was eating.

Rating: Between bombastic and not.
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