Tokyo - Ninja Restaurant...

After Sumo we met up with some of our friend’s friends to trek to the Ninja restaurant.  Yes I typed Ninja restaurant!!  It’s apparently a chain restaurant but all review were glowing for the food and for the ninja surprises.

Though a little kitsch, the ninja atmosphere was very well done. The entrance to the restaurant was just a foreboding hole in the side of a big shopping building. 

Once we entered the restaurant, we were asked to wait at the reception area while a ninja was called for us. Suddenly, a “ninja” just appeared at one of the door high up on the wall. She gave us a speech about a ninja training that we were about to undergo then took us through another secret entry and then we found ourselves in a small box of a room, she said that we had to use ninja magic to get the door open and we had to chant “nin nin nin nin” and the door opened.  We walked past a river where the ninjas apparently train everyday, and then there was a broken path running over the river, but luckily our ninja used her magical powers to restore the bridge, but we had to be fast and as soon as we all past the bridge it was broken again.

The interior was decorated like a ninja village of the feudal days and it was designed like a maze. Individual rooms and seats were laid out in different areas and completely hidden; the ninja told us that the purpose was to hide from intruder. 

To go with the whole ninja theme, the menu was designed like a scroll. Very cute! 

They recommended the tasting menus. But as the basic menu was something like 5-6 courses Michelle and I opted to go off the menu.  We started with the fiery chicken wings and roasted cashews.  When this came to the table I assumed the red chilies were deep fried and edible.  It was not deep fried and super spicy!  Just as I was finishing my first bite the ninja waiter finished explaining to the table (in Japanese) that the chilies were not meant to be eaten. Message delayed but received. 

Our friends ordered the tasting menu and part of it was the special stone-boiled soup (Japanese bouillabaisse) made at the table.  Vegetables in the wooden bucket. She used scissors to cut them into small pieces and poured hot soup into it. Then, she put a piece of stone that was very hot into the bucket to cook the soup.

 

This is was the end product.  It tasted something like miso soup with a basil and some other veg hints.  All in all delicious!

My main was a lamb dish.  I have no idea how it was made but it was so good.  Meat was super tender.

The set menu included a sushi course.  The "typical" excellent sushi you get in Japan. 

Halfway through dinner a "master" ninja showed up with his bag of magic tricks.  Nothing too crazy but still amazing as it is performed right in front of you.

For dessert we ordered the snowy frog cheesecake - cheesecake in the shape of a frog sitting on top of a chocolate lily pad.  Seriously cute! The ninja grated freshly grated parmesan over the frog to make it look like snow. The cheese cake not what you'd get in north america but good, fluffy yet rich and creamy.

Set menu dessert was a strawberry panacotta made it to a ninja shape with a sword hanging on his back.

Even the washrooms were cute...rustic style with faux rock and a huge fresh flower arrangement.

I was hesitant about going to Ninja at first, because I thought it’d be a lame gimmicky restaurant with high priced by crappy food.  Boy was I was wrong. The food was excellent, service very Japanese (aka excellent) and they did the Ninja concept very well.   Ninja was a bit pricey, but we knew that going in so as long as you add to your budget, it’s well worth a trip.