Address - Tokyo-to, Nakano-ku, Chuo 5-46-5 Ikeda Bldg 1F Opening hours - Closed on Wednesday Open from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm Map - Yes Telephone - 3384-3981 Menu - In Italian and Japanese CC - Dunno

The first time I went to Il Primo, being a cook myself, I didn't even have to taste the pasta to understand it was excellent. I just had to look at what other people were eating: everything looked just splendid. The rest of the menu is just OK, but owner Shin Yamamoto is right in saying that pasta is his specialty, even though or perhaps BECAUSE he is a heterodox cook (but what the hell, who cares for orthodoxy anyway...). Many of the dishes are as unusual (to an Italian) as they are well invented. At 1800 yen a shot they don't come cheap, but they are worth every penny. The reason I give him only four stars is that the menu offers little more than pasta. Meat and fish dishes are OK, but the choice is too limited, and this has cost Mr. Yamamoto a star.

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