Il Lato

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🇮🇹 Italian / 📍 Shinjuku

📓 Visits: 5 (2026, 2021-2023)

Il Lato opened in January 2021.  The restaurant is located right in the heart of Shinjuku, an unusual choice of location for a quality restaurant but is actually just a block away from the well-renowned Osteria Oliera where owner/chef Shigenori Furui previously worked.  Furui-san's CV also includes Pegaso.

It was over five years before prices were raised with a modest increase from June 2026 (about 1,000 yen).  A choice of three omakase course menus priced at 11,000, 16,500 or 19,800 at dinner or 7,700, 11,000 or 14,300 at lunch.  The cheapest two courses appear to differ only in quality of ingredients rather than quantity of dishes while the top two courses menus add extra food.  They say they don't add service charge but there's always another 10% on my bill and they add a 500 yen cover charge.

A large counter seats about 7 and faces a very open kitchen.  There are also two tables seating up to four and another table for two.  The dining room gets plenty of natural light but bizarrely they always keep the blinds down so it's quite dark.  (Being in Shinjuku I was half expecting a load of guys in suits and dark glasses to come out at some point :)  Furui-san can speak a few words of English but there's little interaction unless you speak Japanese.

Across my five visits there has been little or nothing to fault in the food.  Ingredients are fresh, vibrant and high quality, as is the cooking.  Chef uses very high quality and fresh oils.  Too many times I've been to restaurants where the dish has been finished with a cheap oil and ruined, but not here.  Pasta is handmade in-house and has excellent flavour.  The minestrone, the only identical dish in all my visits, is thick and packed with vegetables.  Desserts have a touch of innovation and mignardises are good.  If I saw  Gorgonzola ice-cream on a dessert menu I wouldn't order it but it was surprisingly good.  Less to my taste was a sansho gelato.  Bread is replenished and the foccacia had lots of olive oil but both breads were very doughy and the small roll had no flavour at all.  Coffee is very high quality.  On the downside there's a poor choice of non-alcoholic drinks (just blood orange, still or sparkling water) no Champagne (well, I suppose it is an Italian restaurant) and not the finest sparkling wine.

It appears that the mignardises have been dropped at least from the cheapest lunch menu but with lunch at my other favourite Malca now twice the price of lunch here, Il Lato is still far better value.

I unreservedly recommend Il Lato.  The lunch course is just the right amount of food and for this quality it's excellent value.

📅  Visit July 2026

Shima aji carpaccio 
Passion fruit, apple, blueberries, kiwi, orange, banana
Minestrone
Tagliolini, Tajima ragu
Suzuki, kuromutsu, hamaguri dashi
Pineapple, blue cheese, sansho gelato
Coffee (or tea)

💴 Damage: 9,570 (7700 + 1 drink at 500 + 500 cover charge + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h

📅  Visit April 2023

Aji aburi, white bean salad
Aori ika sumibiyaki, fukinoto, tomato concasse
Minestrone
Fresh pasta, shiga ragu
Amadai aqua pazza
Macerated strawberries, pistachio, white chocolate ice-cream, strawberry soup
Financier; caramel meringue, hazelnut paste
Coffee (or tea)

💴 Damage: 8,690 (6000 + 1 drink at 1400 + 500 cover charge + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h5m

📅  Visit June 2022

Aji carpaccio, tomato, piman
White asparagus mousse
Minestrone
Handmade tagliatelle, shiga ragu
Pork belly
Milk gelato, ichigo, ichigo soup
Hazelnut crunch, vanilla sable
Coffee

💴 Damage: 8,580 (6000 + 1 drink at 800 + 500 cover charge + 500? + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h5m

📅  Visit October 2021

Nishin aburi
Katsuo
Minestrone
Kue, tomato, hamaguri soup
Homemade tagliatelle, amaebi
Pork shoulder, porcini ragu
Gorgonzola gelato, mont blanc
Financier, sable
Coffee

💴 Damage: 8,690 (6000 + 1 drink at 1400 + 500 cover charge + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h

📅  Visit May 2021

Cold corn soup
Masunosuke, kuro negi sauce
Minestrone
Mehikari
Handmade tagliatelle, beef and tomato ragu
Ainame aqua pazza
Matcha granita, matcha moichi, milk, mango
Coffee
Lavender sable, waffle, meringue

💴 Damage: 8,030 (6000 + 1 drink at 800 + 500 cover charge + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h15m

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1304/A130401/13256289/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.4

📱 Booking: 🟩  The restaurant is only open for lunch on Sundays and public holidays.  A day in advance for lunch.  Book via phone or TableCheck.  Children accepted.

📍 Location:

4F Sakae Bldg, 3-6-2 Shinjuku.  1 min from the B1 (Marunouchi Line) or C3 (Shinjuku Line) Exit, Shinjuku Sanchome station.  4F multi-tenant building above Sakae Sushi.
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