Primo Passo

⭐⭐⭐

🇮🇹 Italian / 📍 Shintomicho

📓 Visits: 1

I'd been sitting on the fence about visiting Primo Passo but it suddenly became difficult to book and the course fee was going up from JPY 16,500 to JPY 19,800 so I bit the bullet.

20 minutes after the scheduled start the first dish of chestnut and shiitake chawanmushi is served.  It needed to be hotter and the acidic ikura, sweet chestnuts and umami shiitake felt like a forced use of ingredients that happened to be in season, rather than a dish in harmony.  7.5/10.  8 had it been hotter.

Next up "tre formaggi".  The cheese oozes out.  The ham is from France rather than Italy (due to import restrictions).  7.5/10.

After this cold capellini with shiro ika.  It was fine, but I wanted the hamaguri dashi to punch through a bit more.

Next up sawara.  The fish is delicious, as is the sauce of myoga and red vinegar.  The texture of the thin slices of pear works well with the fish.  But sesame can dominate anything and there's a bit too much on the plate.  Nonetheless, the strongest dish so far. 8/10, and an hour and ten minutes into the meal, my hunger is finally quelled.

Next risoni with ubagai.  The horseradish gives the dish a pleasant kick instead of the smackdown that wasabi brings.  The unadvertised additional of meatballs rich in tarragon are welcome.  The pace of the meal improves and the cooking moves up a notch again.  8.5/10.

Next duck ravioli tortello, kabocha and kabocha broth.  A little understated.  A dish like this at Chiune would blow your mind. Here it's just good or very good.  8.5-9/10.

No notes on the linguine.

Before the main course a palate cleanser of "Prosciutto, Melon, Mint".  It's the same raw ham as before, so not actually Prosciutto.

Sirloin from Chiba has good flavour and there's a good char but I'm unsure of the overall cuisson: it's not the thickest piece of meat so a lot of the outside is well-done.  The renkon is top notch.  Good use of acidity again with sherry vinegar.  8/10.

"Cappuccino" is actually mushroom pasta.  The flavour profile is fresh whereas I'm looking for heavy.  You can specify what size of pasta you'd like.  Of the three pasta dishes that are served, it's the only one made from scratch in the kitchen.

Dessert is kinoko (yes, mushroom, not kinako) mascarpone.  The matcha somewhat kills everything.  An interesting combination.  8/10.

A choice of after-meal drink to finish.  My hot coffee is served cold.  It's served with a choux bun that I would prefer sweeter.

It's another two-turn simultaneous start counter-only restaurant.  The chef introduces all the dishes but keeps his head down cooking throughout the entire meal.  He has a commis and a waiter/restaurant manager who doesn't seem too experienced and makes some blunders.

Apart from cheeses and ham, and maybe the pasta, all the ingredients are Japanese.  It's about as Italian as Aca is Spanish, and that's why I didn't like it and why so many people in Japan love Aca.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1313/A131301/13280320/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.7

📱 Booking: 🟧 Omakase.  Seats go within an hour of being released each month.  Regular cancellations.  English menu, English spoken.

📍 Location: 

B1F ACN Tsukiji, 1-5-11 Tsukiji.  1 min south-west from Shintomicho station Exit 1.  B1F dedicated street-facing entrance.

Map data ©2025 Google

📅 Visit Autumn 2025

Salmon roe,Chestnuts
Riccotta,Scamorza, Parmigiano, Prosciutt
Cappellini,Squid
Spanish mackerel, Pear, Sesame
Risoni,Surf clam, Horseradish
Tortello,Pumpkin, Maitake mashroom
Linguine,Pacific saury
Prosciutto, Melon, Mint
Beef
Cappuccino
Pione grape, Matcha, Warabimochi

💴 Damage: 22,500 incl. two drinks
⏱️ Time taken: 3h