Dining and Drinking Hotspots, Openings and Recent Sightings

New restaurants in Tokyo have been popping up like mushrooms after rain in the past few months. Our new Tokyo Table Talk will introduce you to newest additions to the city’s dining and drinking scene. This month, we're introducing a German bakery in Ebisu, a Canada-inspired campfire grill in Jiyugaoka and a top quality meat diner with a stunning view in Ginza. Bon appetit!

Campfired Grill & Cafe The Banff

The smell of smoke from the wood crackling in a fire. The hunger-inducing smells of meat and seafood sizzling on on iron grill. No, this is not someone’s log cabin barbecue. It’s the newly opened Campfired Grill & Café The Banff in the usually coffee-and-sweets inclined area Jiyugaoka. Inspired by rustic, gourmet cooking found at lodges and glampgrounds on Canada’s west coast, The Banff serves up open fire-seared rib-eye steaks, grilled salmon and seasonal roasted vegetables among other hearty field, mountain and ocean fare. Among wood bundles and antler chandelier racks, you can also enjoy signature drinks like mojitos and sangria or Japanese craft beer on tap like Yona Yona Ale. To finish off the meal, The Banff even offers its take on a Canadian campfire favorite: s’mores!  

The Deets

Address: Minami Bldg 2F, 1-8-1 Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
Open: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. (Lunch) 5 p.m. – 11 p.m. (Dinner)
Average Cost: ¥1,580 (Lunch), ¥4,000 – (Dinner)
URL: http://www.the-banff.com

Frau Krumm Bakery

Japanese pro tennis player Kimiko Date-Krumm has opened the Frau Krumm as her newest endeavor — a fresh, new German bakery she says she’s dreamed of opening all her life. Okay, at least after she married her German husband and had the pleasure of tasting the secret spices of the Deutsche wheat and yeast. Located just a 5-minute walk from Ebisu station, it has been attracting local bread-lovers for morning takeaways and freshly brewed coffee since it opened on August 4. On the menu are traditional German baked goods such as pretzels, stangen, croissants and the bakery’s original “Krummbrot” made of 100 percent organic German rye. Customers can also find savory pastries and non-traditional varieties of pretzels. A tiny store with only four seats for eat-in, but the European vibe and authentic smells attract plenty of take-out traffic.

The Deets

Address: 1-16-20 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Open: 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Average Cost: From ¥200 apiece
URL: www.fraukrumm.com

37 Quality Meats

If you’re paying several thousand yen for a steak — which you can easily end up doing in Tokyo — the quality better live up to the price. Trust us, at Ginza’s newest dining complex, 37 Quality Meats (which opened July 27) — it does. This carnivore-friendly diner is an upscale grill serving top-quality beef, pork, chicken, lamb and anything else meat lovers could crave. With a classic upscale steakhouse interior and a strategic location on the ninth floor, this offshoot of 37 Steakhouse and 37 Roast Beef is perfectly suited to a romantic culinary adventure and a bottle of big, nosy red wine. Don’t shy away from visiting at lunch either — the “Roast Okinawa Ryukyu Royal Pork Rice box” (¥1,800) is as good as it gets.

The Deets

Address: Puzzle Ginza 9F, 2-5-19 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Open: 11:30 – 3:30 (Lunch), 5:30 – 11 p.m. (Dinner)
Average Cost: ¥2,000 (Lunch), ¥8,000 (Dinner)
URL: http://www.37steakhouse.com/37qualitymeats/