Chef Jeff Ramsey, Molecular Tapas Bar, Tokyo
And so we’re back from Japan, and feeling a bit depressed not only at the prospect of coming back to the daily grind, but also at leaving a wonderful, magical, astounding and vibrant country and people. This is not to say that we didn’t feel some travel fatigue at the end of our trip, having had our good fill of various temples and shrines over first 2 weeks. By the time we reached Tokyo, the urge to see these lovely and ancient structures was definitely not as strong as it initially was at the beginning of our journey.
The Tapas Molecular Bar at the Mandarin Oriental was a perfect last dinner for us. We had spent this last day running from Tsukiji Fish Market in the early morning to the Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. The next day, we would head out for Narita and for home.
The Mandarin Oriental hotel is a swanky establishment, and it seemed that virtually every staffperson there spoke excellent English. We were a little early for our scheduled 8:30pm dinner slot (every evening there are only 8 seats for 2 dinner slots – one at 6pm and one at 8:30pm) and thus were able to peruse the cocktail menu, which contained a nice selection of original as well as classic cocktails. Alas, I can’t remember the name of the cocktail I eventually chose but it contained gin, yuzu liqueur, ginger ale and sudachi juice – my kind of drink — light, refreshing, gently acid.
