A (dining) Room with a View
Lunch at Tokyo’s Ritz Carlton satisfies more than just your hunger
C. James Dale
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
TOKYO — The staff at the Ritz Carlton Tokyo met us at the entrance to the Towers Grill with the requisite smiles and bows.
“Irrashaimase,” they said in unison. “Welcome.”
They took our coats, ushered us to a corner table, then slipped away to get sparkling wine and water.
My wife and I were left to take in the view from our perch on the 45th floor.
To our right — Tokyo Tower.
To our left — Tokyo Sky Tree, the tallest structure on the skyline (all 634 metres of it).
Surrounding it all — the endless concrete, glass, and steel expanse of the Japanese capital.
Quite something, indeed, but our focus soon shifted to what we’d come to enjoy — the food. We made more trips to the salad bar than I’d like to admit. Then the main courses came. My wife had sea bass accompanied by a cloud of mashed potatoes (appropriate, given the altitude). I opted for the catch of the day, a light sea bream, also paired with a helping of mash. The verdict? Well, let’s just say we almost skipped dessert if that means anything.
Almost.
Again, not saying how many trips we made to the dessert bar (correction, how many trips I made). Chocolate cake, crème brûlée, fresh fruit, and on and on. Let’s just say I felt encouraged to fit in an extra run over the weekend.
Our lunch at the Towers Grill (5,555 JPY per person, plus 13% service charge) was timed to mark the Ritz Carlton’s fifth anniversary. The hotel, and its home Tokyo Midtown, opened in 2007. To make the occasion memorable, the RC folks have dreamed up a long list of things to keep visitors coming back: special lunches and dinners (various dates), an early summer happy hour (April 1-June 30), a week focused on whisky (May 1-8), and spa escapes (April 1-June 30). Click here to find out more.
Ritz-Carlton Tokyo, Tokyo Midtown, 9-7-1, Akasaka, Minato-ku; Phone: +81 3 3423-8000
