above photo © Mandarin Oriental
Tapas Molecular Bar
(81) 33.270.8188
Mandarin Orintal Hotel
2-1-1 Nihonbashi-Muromachi
Tokyo 102-8328, Japan
Open Hours:
11:00 – 15:30 Lunch
18:00 – 00:00 Dinner
While highly-touted, we found Tokyo’s Tapas Molecular Bar more Vegas entertainment than Michelin Star-worthy. Usually we would not review a restaurant that does not excite us, but here we do as it is so heavily marketed.
Chef Ngan Ping Chow, originally from Hong Kong, is rather entertaining, a very good performer with knowledge of different languages and the main attraction. He creates decent examples of current modernist techniques. This is a good introduction for people not immersed in modernist cuisine, a.k.a. tourists. Tapas Molecular bar is definitely not for gourmets, as the food is not breathtaking in flavor at all.
On top of the food quality, the service not to the Japanese high standards. When you are paying $100’s for a meal, small gaff’s become more noticeable; like most high end restaurants with multiple course menus, TMB hands you a menu at the end of your meal, the beauty and form in-line with the artistic expression of the restaurant. Here, we received a simple printout that did not even reflect the meal we had.
Ok – enough of that – now onto the meal (which admittedly photographs beautifully!)
Dinner commences with a small toolbox containing a small hammer, mini shovel, tweezers, saw and a tape measure with the menu printed on it (which was pretty slick). This is followed with a series of dishes.
