Reviews written by denbushi

Dropped in to this place last week after seeing the listing here. Overall quite impressed! 5-6 reds and whites by the class, with almost all of them from France, including a number of interesting VDP wines from down South. The food menu mostly consists of tapas-style dishes and galettes, and everything I ordered was good. The ground-floor venue is long and narrow, and was mostly full for the time I was there (10-12 PM). As you might expect from a standing wine bar in Ebisu there was good mixed of Japanese and foreigners, with French dominating the latter group. The people were all friendly and place is cozy and relaxed. I'll be going back for sure.

With regular monthly wine events it's easy to sample much of what Jeroboam has to offer, and I can tell you that ALL of it is good. I particularly like their Southern French wines, but the ones from NZ and Oz don't disappoint, either. The service is great and very personal. If you don't know them already, take my advice and give Jeroboam a try!

Like this place a lot but it seems to be vacant now? Anybody know the status?

Went for the first time to a "wine dinner" arranged by the owner and announced via mixi. Nice lineup of Rhone wine, 50 ml pours. The "course menu" was mediocre at best and I could have (and often do) prepared a better dinner at home. After going through all the wines each bottle had maybe a third left in it, yet the owner made no move to offer them around. When I asked what the plan was for the remaining wine he told me there was so little left that it would be difficult to share them the the 9-person group fairly. Why he didn't do the original pours so that we wouldn't have the "difficult problem" of leftover wine is beyond me.

In the end we paid 6500 yen for maybe 2 glasses of wine and a wholly unremarkable "meal," and when we left (feeling pretty dissatisfied) the 6 bottles--wine in each one of them--stood in a line on the counter while the glasses of those still seated sat empty. All in all I'd say the dinner was a rip-off. We won't go back, and I recommend you give the place a miss as well.

Had this recently at a tasting at the Kimono Wine Bar. Very nice balance of fruit and acid, with a long, crisp finish. Better than a lot of the Sauvignon Blanc coming out of NZ these days, I would say.

Roti always does a fantastic buffet, and the Hotei wines that went with them were first-rate. Hotei doesn't do events like this very often but I'm really hoping that's going to change. Great evening!

Very good made-to-order pizzas and other fare, reasonably priced and tasty. A smallish, open wine cellar offers a good selection of mid-range wines, all at 1900 a bottle. Worth a look if you're looking for something cheap and easy. Standing only.

The Vine tops my list of places to buy fantastic, reasonably-priced French wines. Owner James Dunstan has created an exceptional portfolio of hand-picked, high-value wines from the Rhone Valley and beyond. With names like Charvin, Bois de Boursan, Usseglio and Heymann-Loewenstein you know you're in capable hands. The site is full E/J and all typical payment types are supported. The Vine also does great, intimate wine dinners in Tokyo each month, so look for details on the website.

Dropped in last night after the Kings of Convenience show nearby. Finding it is easy if you just walk up the hill along the left side of Mark City, or if you're coming from the other side (Dogenzaka) you can go through mark City and then take the exit to the right at around a 3rd of the way into the building right after the AM/PM.

At any rate, Tokyo Wine Club Raku is visible from the street but the signage is in Japanese. Look for a lighted bow on the steps that lead up to the entrance. The interior has an izakaya/pub-type feel to it, with an open kitchen flanked by a long bar. The place was mostly full and buzzing when we arrived at a little before 10 PM.

After getting food menus (Japanese) I took a look at the wine cooler, a large glass-fronted cases with around 50 kinds of wine. Pricing is set at listed price plus 1000 yen, which is a huge savings over typical restaurant prices. I found a 2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape for 3,470 (+ 1000) and grabbed it. Our waitress uncorked it and brought it back to the table. As expected, it was quite good. ;-) I was impressed with the wine selection overall, which includes numerous wines from lesser-known regions such as Columbia Valley, Bolgheri and Patagonia.

The food was well-prepared, tasty and reasonably-priced. No real wow factor here, but none of the 6-7 dishes we ordered disappointed at all.

Overall an excellent late dinner in a relaxed and wine-centric setting. Will definitely be going back!

Took me a long time to find this place but so very glad I did! Can't say anything bad about it. The wine selection is plentiful and affordable, with healthy pours by a knowledgeable staff. No tables means you can pop in and out very easily, and also facilitates conversation with your neighbors. Love the food, too. They have an Iberico ham pizza that just rocks. If you order cheese don't leave it up to the kitchen or you'll get cheddar, gouda or worse. I recommend going with 2-3 others so you can share a bottle or two and walk out having spent next to nothing. Go!