A week of raw fish had left me craving something a bit more European. I had it in my mind that if I could only find a Spanish restaurant, I'd be a happy man. Wandering down from Shinjuku station (South exit), I spied a big Spanish flag on the 3rd floor of one of the high rises, proudly displaying 'Espana Restaurant', so I cut to the chase and went in.
You go up in the lift to the 3rd floor and come almost straight in to the restaurant, which is not unusual in Tokyo. The restaurant floor area is small, maybe 40 covers, with a little bar at the back and the kitchen on the left. It is decked out with Spanishy nick-nacks and the tables and chairs are kind of in keeping with its Iberian cousins. It definitely does not have the look of a typical Japanese restaurant, let's put it that way.
The menu is a good mixture of tapas and rice dishes and the descriptions are in Japanese, English and Spanish. I tried Patatas Bravas (ok), Grilled squid cooked in the ink (good), Gambas in garlic & oil (very good), grilled cod (very good but too small a portion for 900 yen). Each dish varied in price from around 500 yen (about £3) to around 900 yen.
The paellas are very good, and reasonably priced at about 3,800 yen for two to share. I tried the Valencian version, which had a decent amount of chicken and seafood in it. The rice was perfectly cooked and very tasty.
I saw 'Stewed Ram in Verde Sauce' on the menu for 1,400 yen but did not try it.
They have a good selection of Spanish wines here, which included my current favourite - the 2005 Pesquera from Ribera del Duero, well priced at 5,000 yen. It is gluggingly delicious.
Service was OK. Dishes arrived reasonably quickly although the paella took time (which you expect). Interestingly I noticed the head chef plating dishes up with chopsticks (he was Japanese but cooked Spanish food well)!
Puddings were a disappointment. The cheese plate for 900 yen had plenty of cheese, but it was all processed and not a sniff of Manchego in sight. The apple tart was dry, crumbly and probably defrosted not early enough since it was stone cold inside.
But overall I really enjoyed the Espana experience and judging by its popularity on the Saturday night I visited, so do the locals.
Sharing Spanish tapas dishes is a convivial thing to do and the Japanese can do convivial in buckets nowadays. Recommended!
Restaurante Espana
2-10-10 Yoyogi, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo, 151 0053
Nearest station: Shinjuku, South exit
Tel: 03 3379 1159
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