Malca
⭐⭐⭐⭐
๐ฎ๐น Italian / ๐ Gaienmae
๐ Visits: 3
Lunch at Malca is an omakase course which was priced at JPY 12,000 but increased to JPY 14,000 from October 2023. At night the same course is available or you can dine a-la-carte. On all my visits I've been for lunch.
๐ Visit December 2023
12:36 Oma bluefin tuna tartare, bruschetta
12:39 Buri carpaccio
12:43 Kaki frit, sauce gribiche
12:51 Tajima beef "bollito misto"
13:05 Shirasu, fruit tomato spaghetti
13:16 Hakusai and "Parmesan" pasta
13:26 Rib rosu sumiyaki
13:36 Mont Blanc
๐ด Damage: 16,390 (14k + 1 drink @900 + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h25m
๐ Visit September 2023
Fewer notes from this meal. The ikura and white aubergine starter was the standout dish: 9.5/10. No complaints about any other dish and I booked my next visit after my meal. The meal was substantially quicker.
12:50 Ikura, nasu blancmange
12:55 Bluefin tuna tartare, bruschetta
13:02 Managatsuo carpaccio, green tomato
13:10 Uoze frit, nasu tartar, nama ham
13:27 Hamo, matsutake spaghetti
13:39 Ko aka ika puttanesca
13:50 Noir de Bigorre pork sumiyaki
14:00 'Mont blanc'
⏱️ Time taken: 1h30m
๐ Visit February 2023
Things did not get off to a great start with a tiny portion of minestrone that took 10 minutes to come out and was served without bread. The minestrone at Il Lato (review here) is much better. But that would turn out to be the weakest dish in the course with things (relatively) quickly improving with a tuna bruschetta. This was packed with hon-maguro tossaki, topped with shallot and burrata. Next tachiuo aburi, urui and nanohana. This was better than the tachiuo dish I had at Seizan (review here) a day later. After a fish course the first pasta dish was shirao, seri and fresh tagliolini. There was a huge amount of huge shirao that had been lightly fried to maximise the flavour. The second pasta dish of orecchiette, salsiccia and broccoli was richer than the first. The meat dish was Kobe ichibo simply charcoal-grilled and served on endive that had had most of its bitterness removed.
12:34 [Olives]12:42 "Vegetables from Suzuki Farm, Minestrone"
12:48 "Bluefin tuna, Tartare, Bruschetta"
12:58 "Carpaccio of Cutlassfish from Naruto"
13:14 "Charcoal-grilled Cardinal Fish, Lily bulb"
13:31 "Whitebait, Water dropwort. Handmade Tagliolini"
13:47 "Iwachu pork salsiccia, Broccoli"
14:02 "Kobe beef, Charcoal grill"
14:21 +[Spaghetti Bolognese]
14:28 "Mont Blanc cake"
๐ด Damage: 15,180 (12k + 1 drink @1800 + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 2h15m
There are two private rooms but the action is at the eight-seat counter. There's been less conversation (in Japanese) with the chefs and staff on my 2nd and 3rd visits. On my first visit one of the servers could speak some English and prepared an English menu for me. That's not been the case on subsequent visits and the two newest staff need a lot more training. My first visit took over two hours but subsequent meals have run at much preferable pace to me. I recommend you take the 12:30 lunch start if you want a quicker meal. The room is cold in winter.
Before dessert staff should ask if you want an extra (and not charged) dish of spaghetti Bolognese. I took a small portion on my first visit, though I didn't really need it. It was much like the spag bol at Tacubo and indeed unnecessary. I've declined it on subsequent visits. Upgrades to dishes are possible and white truffle is available when in season. Pasta is from Pasta Mancini. Bread is not replenished (unless you ask?) but is not so good anyway.
Dessert has been 'Mont Blanc' each time. I wince whenever I see 'Mont Blanc' on the menu but it's delicious here. Chestnut cream (black sesame in summer), vanilla ice-cream on coffee cookie: perfectly sweet and a great kick of espresso from the cookie. Coffee (or tea) is included and fine. There's a bit more choice of drinks by the glass compared with Tacubo. Spumante is very good, as it should be at JPY 1,800. Ginger ale is not listed on the drinks menu but is available. 330ml of Hildon is included and not charged.
Malca was another restaurant pre-publicised as featuring in the 2024 Michelin Guide Tokyo. I congratulated Kitano-san on my September visit. Unfortunately, when The Guide was published, it was only listed as a "selected" restaurant, failing to achieve Star status. Simultaneously, Tacubo (which has held a star since 2017) was removed from the guide altogether. I did not enjoy the lightly-flavoured dishes and expensive course menu at Tacubo on my visit but I've enjoyed all my meals at Malca. The course is 10K more at Tacubo but comparing my 2020 visit there with my first visit here, the ingredients are at least as expensive, there were fewer disappointments and overall the cooking had more punch.
Malca is one of the best new Italian openings in some time. Really high quality of ingredients treated with respect. That said, I'm pausing my visits for a while. As it failed to get that star it's probably not going to be as difficult a booking as I was expecting. The hottest Italian reservation in Tokyo right now is Commedia. They are only open for dinner and meals take in excess of three hours so I'm yet to make the time. I also plan to revisit Il Lato for the more expensive menu. The flavours are more robust at Malca and the cooking probably has the edge.
๐ https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1306/A130603/13277748/
❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.2
๐ฑ Booking: ๐ง Online reservations fill up quickly after the 1st of each month. More availability by phone.
๐ Location:
Shinozuka Bldg, 2-27-16 Minami-Aoyama. 2 mins from Gaienmae station Exit 1b. Down the steps to the left of Fritz Hansen, Gaien nishi-dori.
Map data ©2023 Google
๐ถ Free WiFi? ✅ Yes
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