TAPAS&TAPAS – Japan’s Best Spaghetti Restaurant
I still sometimes meet people who think that all Japanese eat mostly (if not only) rice, fish and noodles. This assumption is as wrong as it can be. Yes, Japanese people do eat rice, fish and noodles. However, they also eat many, many other kinds of food. I genuinely hope you knew this already but in fact many Japanese people actually rarely eat sushi.
That being said, today I’m going to introduce you one of Japan’s most popular pasta restaurants, TAPAS&TAPAS. They also serve pizza and some small Italian style dishes.
Tapas&tapas has spaghetti dishes in 3 categories: oil, tomato and cream sauce. I have never ordered anything tomato based since my Japanese friends always stop me when I try telling it’s not good. I suppose there are those people who like tomato dishes though since I doubt they would be in the menu if no one ordered them.
I personally like oil based dishes the most, and my all time favorite is named tapasufuu, Tapas’ original spaghetti. Being the number one and also the recommendation of the chef, this spaghetti dish has clams, prawns and squid in a oil sauce with a moderate amount of garlic, all this topped with nori seaweed and daikon sprouts. Probably not a dish that you will imagine first when you hear the word spaghetti but I definitely recommend this dish if you ever get a chance to try this place. I also like the cream based, spicy version of Tapas’ original. If you wish to a look at the menu of this place, click here.
For pizzas, Tapas&Tapas doesn’t offer too many choices but the few choices they have all taste amazing. I really loved the seafood pizza they used to have but nowadays they only have four kinds of pizza available: margherita, mix pizza with tuna, bacon & veggies, teriyaki chicken with mushrooms and mayonnaise, and quattro formaggi (four cheese pizza) served with honey. I really recommend the last one, especially if you have never tried eating your pizza with honey – it’s a heavenly combination!
As for prices, well, this might not be the cheapest place for lunch or dinner in Japan as you can eat for 500yen or less as well but it’s definitely not expensive. You will get high quality pasta dishes with enough volume for around 1000yen a dish whereas pizzas cost around 800yen a piece. In lunch time there’s also a drink bar included (this should be a no-brainer but there are no alcoholic beverages available – for those you have to pay for per glass). Also, remember that this is one of those restaurants where you’re allowed to order dishes to be shared so don’t be afraid to order many kinds and share them with your friends!
The restaurants of Tapas&Tapas are centered around Tokyo so if you wish to try their spaghetti or pizza, you ought to visit Kanto area on your trip. You usually have to line up if you during the busy lunch time but remember: the longer the line, the better the food will be.
Okay, I lied. The quality of food doesn’t always correlate with quality. However, in Tapas&Tapas, I honestly think it does.
I will be introducing more restaurants later so stay tuned if you are planning a Japan trip, or if you are like me and just love reading about food, looking at food and wondering what something would taste like. Also, if you have any favorite restaurants you would like to be featured, tell that in the comments! 🙂