Tanghla

Two new restaurants just opened at Parco, Tanghla and La Maison de Curry (or something like that). Last night Matt and I went to Tanghla and ordered the special course they're offering for their opening. When we arrived, we asked what type of cuisine it was and the woman said "simple, with a little Asian."

Ambience -- nice view of the city. In addition to the western style tables there is a pseudo-tatami area with pits under the table for your legs, and there is a "counter" against the big window so some guests can eat looking out directly over the view. Pretty neat.

The menu was 5 courses and a beverage (wine or soft drink). First course: some sort of shell fish, probably hotate (scallop) diced raw with a dressing, on the half shell. Second course: salad of tomato and cucumbers chopped up and dressed with a heavy dairy based sauce, described as a cheese sauce, although it didn't taste much like cheese. Third course: there were two choices, so we had one of each; seasoned hamburger and fish. The hamburger was tasty but the fish was overcooked. Fourth course: rice (not warm) with shredded crab on top. I wasn't a huge fan. Fifth course (dessert): sliced kiwi with a cheese (probably marscapone) dressing. Yep, three of the courses were uncooked (but pretty tasty) and the two cooked courses didn't measure up except for the hamburger patty. They did have a beer called Heartland beer (or the Japanese equivalent -- Haatrando) which was good and a little more bitter than the regular Japanese beer... more like an American beer.

Anyway, for 1500 yen it was a good price. I think they were offering a deal to expose as many people as possible to the new restaurant and their specials. It was fun and interesting... but I don't think we'll be back.

Verdict: Eh...