A real jewel!
Service: Kind, attentive and smiling!
Equipment & Facilities: Splendid cleanliness overall. Superb washroom (this is a hotel!)
Prices: Appropriate to expensive
Strong points: High class Italian gastronomy. Excellent wine list by the bottle and the glass. Great dessert plate!
As a general rule I do not look too much forward to eat and dine in hotels in Japan, but Al Porto Italian Restaurant is certainly the exception which confirms the rule!
Located on the 15th floor of Hotel Associa Shizuoka it is the only restaurant I would recommend to anyone inside a hotel.
And this all thanks to a great young chef named Satoshi Kakiyama, whom I know personally. But I didn’t give him any advance news of my visit for lunch the other day!
Because it is part of a hotel Al Porto can afford a wine list above average. There some real good offers by the glass even at lunch time!
I started with a glass of Gewurtzstraminer from northern Italy!
A rich wine wine equal to the same grapes wine in Alsace, France!
Home-made bread, naturally!
Antipasto misto with Parma ham, Shizuoka Sole and octopus!
Insalata di granchio e avocado con caviar: avocado, snow crab, ameera tomato from Shizuoka and caviar with a raspberry coulis!
A jewel!
Next I had a glass of Barbera Monte!
I almost forgot to take a picture of this rich red wine full of red fruits!
Capesante al gratin: Scallops Gratin!
Local charcoal-grilled Wagyu beef and local vegetables!
Potofu di fegato e ravanello giapponese: Foie gras atop stewed daikon! A must in Japan!
Spaghetti di scampi e porcini fughi: spaghetti with scampi prawns and porcini mushrooms!
All the while I also enjoyed a solid Cotes de Castillon from South West France!
Very solid and fruity indeed!
The dessert plate is brought to you so that you can have a good look before choosing your sweet tooth sin!
I actually left the choice to the eminently capable waitress!
Little details that make the difference: change of service and coffee brought to your table before your dessert is served.
Actually the cutlery was changed with every dish!
Blanc manger/panacotta, tiramisu,tart and more morsels I didn’t have the time to note down! LOL
Be sure this is only the start of a long venture!
AL PORTO
420-0851 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Kurogane Cho, 56, Hotel Associa, 15F
Tel.: 054-205-8633
Opening hours: 11:30~14:00, 17:30~21:00
Reservations advised
Credit Cards OK
HOTEL HOMEPAGE ENGLISH
AL PORTO HOMEPAGE (Japanese)
RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES
Shop with Intent by Debbie
BULA KANA in Fiji
Kraemer’s Culinary blog by Frank Kraemer in New York,Tokyo Food File by Robbie Swinnerton, Green Tea Club by Satoshi Nihonyanagi in Shizuoka!, Mind Some by Tina in Taiwan, Le Manger by Camille Oger (French), The Indian Tourist, Masala Herb by Helene Dsouza in Goa, India, Mummy I Can Cook! by Shu Han in London, Pierre.Cuisine, Francescannotwrite, My White Kitchen, Foodhoe, Chucks Eats, Things that Fizz & Stuff, Five Euro Food by Charles,Red Shallot Kitchen by Priscilla,With a Glass, Nami | Just One Cookbook, Peach Farm Studio, Clumsyfingers by Xethia, PepperBento, Hapabento, Kitchen Cow, Lunch In A Box, Susan at Arkonlite, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Bento Lunch Blog (German), Adventures In Bento, Anna The Red’s Bento Factory, Ohayo Bento,
Must-see tasting websites:
-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Another Pint, Please!, Beering In Good Mind: All about Craft Beer in Kansai by Nevitt Reagan!
ABRACADABREW, Magical Craftbeer from Japan
-Whisky: Nonjatta: All about whisky in Japan by Stefan Van Eycken
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery
Non gastronomy must-see sites by Shizuoka Residents
HIGHOCTANE/HAIOKU by Nick Itoh in Shizuoka City
SHIZUOKA GOURMET 