Nice experience , lunch set menu are value of money!

▶︎ 『小林食堂ラボ』 This is a sister restaurant of "小林食堂", a popular restaurant in Gotanda. True to the name "Lab", its concept is to take on new expressions and combinations experimentally◎ They say solo diners are welcome, so this time I went alone for a weekday lunch. It's about a 3-minute walk from Gotanda Station. It's on the 1st floor of a brick building housing lots of restaurants; look for the black shop-name logo on the white wall. The interior is compact but calm, with a wood-based design and counter seating only. It's so comfortable you can relax without hesitation even on your own♪ The lunch menu is a single price of 1,700 yen. You choose 2 appetizers + 1 main + a drink, the same system as the main restaurant 小林食堂. Honestly though, this price for this content and quality is really aggressive, and I was mildly shocked in a good way✨ By the way, they also accept cashless payment, which is a nice plus◎ What I had this time⬇️ ⬛︎ Lunch menu　1,700 yen ・【Appetizer 1】Carpaccio of fresh Kagoshima fish, komatsuna and urui salad, sanbaizu jelly The fresh white fish from Kagoshima was cut into fairly thick slices, with a moist texture and just the right springiness. No fishy smell or excess moisture at all; you can really tell how carefully it was prepped✨ The sanbaizu made into a jelly sauce was also outstanding. The acidity isn't too sharp and the aftertaste is clean, making the flavor of the fish stand out even more◎ The faint bitterness of the komatsuna and urui added an accent, making for a well-balanced composition in both texture and taste. ・【Appetizer 2】Roast duck, marinated persimmon and umeboshi The duck was moist with just the right chew. No excess fat or gaminess, which shows how carefully the temperature was controlled✨ The persimmon paired with it wasn't watery, and you could really taste its sweetness and flavor as a fruit. The sourness of the umeboshi added to it gave the flavor depth♪ The juicy richness of the duck and the sweetness and fruitiness of the persimmon went together extremely well◎ ・【Main】Minced fish cutlet with shrimp, mashed potatoes, caprese style The surface had a crisp bite, while the coating was finished with a moderate density, not too light. Not crunchy-crunchy, but a pleasant resistance the moment you bite in; the deliberately designed texture was impressive. You could really taste the umami of the minced fish and shrimp, and it was plenty filling. The gentle sweetness of the mashed potatoes and the freshness of the caprese style with tomato and basil kept the whole thing light✨ Every element paired extremely well, a level of perfection that made me groan in admiration. Overall, every dish was high quality, each a satisfying plate with a little extra touch. And with a drink included, 1,700 yen is honestly way too cheap no matter how you look at it—shocking. Personally, it's one of the places I definitely want to come back to. Thank you for the meal.

+2

This is the third location in the popular 小林食堂 group. Just as the name suggests, you can enjoy carefully prepared dishes made from combinations of ingredients that feel somehow new. Every item goes great with wine! There's also a staff member who's a wine sommelier, who will casually recommend something that pairs with what you ordered. But that doesn't mean the seasoning is like bar snacks at all; each dish stands firmly on its own. So I think you'd be satisfied even coming for dinner just to enjoy the food without ordering any alcohol. Also, I personally highly recommend the parfait here! The ingredient selection is very 小林ラボ, the kind you rarely get elsewhere, and it's so delicious you can polish it off even when you're full. Apparently the ice cream on the parfait is homemade too. It's a cozy little space with only 7 counter seats, but the food, the drink lineup, the atmosphere, and the personalities of the chef and staff… everything is wonderful, and I love this place.

+3

The third location of a popular French-Italian restaurant in Gotanda. Since it's an experimental shop, the menu changes every 2 weeks on Wednesday. You choose 2 appetizers, 1 main, and a drink. A mere 1400 yen. Every dish is delicious, but with 7 counter seats it's a bit cramped. My impression was that turnover is slow because the ladies get absorbed in chatting.

+3

I tried going for lunch a few times recently, but for some reason it was often closed, so I just couldn't get there. A few days ago I happened to open Instagram right before lunch and saw they'd posted Stories, so I confirmed they were open that day. While I was at it, I checked on Instagram that their hours start at 11:30. All excited, I left the office at 11:20 and arrived right at 11:30. But, it wasn't open. There were people inside the shop. No choice, so I wandered around. Buy a bento and head back, or go somewhere else…. There aren't many good lunch spots around here, so I couldn't decide. Once it was past 12:00, I passed by on my way back and it was open… so I went in. Coming back after a long time, the lunch had gone up by ¥200. The chef had changed. When I asked the staff, "Your Instagram says from 11:30, has that changed?", all I got was, "That information is old." Oh, I s-see, I didn't know, sorry?. The menu was the same: two appetizers, a main, and a drink. The first appetizer was a cold new potato soup with grilled pen shell. I love cold soups, so I was happy. There was a big pen shell in it, the seasoning was good, and it was delicious. The drink was sparkling grape juice. It was sweeter than I'd imagined and honestly didn't go very well with the food. I should have gotten wine. The second was a tartare of marinated tuna, tomato, and avocado. With this tartare the avocado stays the same and the rest changes with the season, and I'm pretty sure I've had something similar several times at 小林食堂's lunch too; I loved it and ordered it a number of times… but it had no flavor. Since it's marinated tuna, I figured it would be marinated, so I was puzzled, and the tomato and avocado had no sweetness either; it was the kind of taste that made me want to add some seasoning myself. I agonized over the main, but ordered the peperoncino with boiled shirasu, new onion, rapeseed blossoms, and bonito flakes, but…. As an amateur, I picture peperoncino as having garlic, chili peppers, and some saltiness, and that's what I expected, but there was no peperoncino element at all, or rather it had no taste. Even for something lightly seasoned, there was no flavor. It tasted like pasta with shirasu, onion, and rapeseed blossoms on top. So much so that I wondered if they'd forgotten to season just mine. Of course it wasn't bad, but it was the first time I'd ever eaten pasta with so little flavor. I often go to 小林食堂 too, not just the Lab, and their pasta is admittedly lightly seasoned, but it's very delicate and I like it; is this the same type? Is that why it's lightly seasoned? Even so, it had no flavor. Apparently the Lab's concept is to experiment with all sorts of things, and prices and chefs changing is common enough, but this pasta was just disappointing. A few days later I checked Instagram today, and the hours still said from 11:30. Tabelog and Google say from 12:00, so maybe the person running Instagram changed too and it's just been left. For an office worker's lunch break, 30 minutes is a big deal… disappointing.

+2