ちーちゃん推し
I had lunch on a weekday at Trattoria on the 5th floor of Akiba Trim's restaurant area. It was still just past 1:00 PM, and there weren't many people around when I got off the elevator. I've heard that this floor has struggled with low customer numbers even before the pandemic, and it seemed tough on this day as well. As a high-end restaurant, the interior consists mainly of private or semi-private rooms. I was shown to a private room by myself and looked over the lunch menu. The lunch menu includes several set meals, stone bibimbap, and jjang noodles. I wanted to have some grilled meat that day, so I ordered the "Trattoria Gozen (\2,600)". While sipping on the vegetable smoothie that was served first, I waited for the main dish to arrive. The food was served on a small tray with dishes overflowing, and the meat included kalbi, harami, and loin in pairs, as well as a large, thinly sliced frozen beef tongue. I wonder about serving the frozen beef tongue as is? The side dishes included beef stew, tofu seasoned with gochujang, kimchi, and oi kimchi. Instead of salad, slices of shishito peppers and pumpkin were arranged with the meat. All the side dishes were delicious. The stew and oi kimchi made the rice disappear quickly. The wakame soup had just the right amount of saltiness. Being a high-end restaurant, the quality of these supporting roles was truly outstanding. The marbled kalbi and lean loin were delicious as expected. However, the beef tongue was served frozen, cooked too quickly, prone to burning, and was a bit disappointing. While the food overall was delicious, the service was surprisingly brusque and lacking the sophistication one would expect from a high-end establishment. The staff opened and closed the door to the private room forcefully without a word, served the dishes carelessly, and were engrossed in chatting with each other without acknowledging the customers throughout. I have dined at several Trattoria locations in Tokyo, but this was the first time I found the service to be so poor. I usually enjoy the attentive service at the Kanda and Azabu-Juban locations. I deducted points for the service.