Ode to modernity, ode to creativity, ode to fabulous food. That’s how I would sum up Ode restaurant in Tokyo. Located in the lovely residential neighbourhood of Hiroo, which has more than its fair share of cool cafes and shops, it was a pleasant stroll around the area before settling down to lunch at Ode.
The Ambience:
With GPS, never fear. Not even in Tokyo which is notorious for hiding its best restaurants. The entrance to Ode already sets the tone to the setting inside. All grey, muted with stylish metallic accents here and there, still, there is a clever use of wooden furnishing and décor to bring some warmth to the place.
There are 13 seats by the counter and we sat down, ordered our bubbly (decided against wine pairing on account of having had one the night before at awesome Shirosaka, plus it was lunch and we were not up to many glasses) and prepped ourselves to be amazed. After all, Ode was recommended by a well-known foodie friend in Tokyo, so expectations were high.
I was off my game with taking mental notes of the details of every dish, but you’ll get the drift when I say, absolutely go for Ode when you are in Tokyo. It’s… (add in a positive superlative here!) 🙂
The People:
It’s definitely not a raucous scene, the staff and chef are polite but reserved. Chef Owner Yusuke Namai came out to greet us and when he found out that we were from Singapore, he spent some time chatting with us, and that reminds me, I am supposed to be sending him an email with tips on where to eat when he comes to Singapore in 2019!
The other chefs under him politely explain each dish when they place it in front of us. They were very helpful with googling the English names of certain dishes when we had no idea what they were in Japanese.
The Food:
To simply classify the cuisine here, I guess I would say innovative, modern French with Japanese and Asian ingredients thrown in.
But not just that, really. I mean, when was the last time you had a meringue made out of fish innards? So here is the run down, sorry if it appears skimpy in parts, but as I said, I was just too focused on enjoying everything that I couldn’t be bothered to take copious notes.
The Price:
Again, because my Tokyo foodie friend is very much in the know, he was able to dissuade me from trying other more well-known (and more expensive) options and suggested places that were great but didn’t cost a bomb.
Lunch at Ode is at ¥6000 for 7 courses (S$70) and dinner at ¥14000 (S$170) for a 11-course meal.
Again, I had recommended Ode to a fierce food critic friend of mine who was visiting Tokyo and she was happy as well. So, yes, make the booking (especially for the reasonable lunch plan) if you’re headed to Tokyo!
Ode:
Address: ST Hiroo Bldg. 2F, 5-1-32 Hiroo, Shibuya Ward, Tokyo
Contact: +81-3-6447-7480
Opening Hours:
Lunch: 12:00-13:00（last entry)
Dinner: 18:00-21:00（last entry)
Closed Sundays