Kaffir Lime - Thai
HarajukuAddress -Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Jingumae 6-1-5 2Fl Opening Hours Open Tue to Sun Telephone 3400-2918 Menu In English and Japanese Map See directions CC No
This was a good find, great food and a nice, friendly atmosphere. Set up two years ago by the Japanese owner and his Thai wife, it's very popular and reservations are wise. We got in at 7 on a Friday night but by 7:30 it was full and when we left at 8:30 there were people waiting outside, which in winter shows how good it is. My friend, who is a regular, says there are many regulars, another good sign. The menu is full of lots of good, surprising dishes. I especially liked the the fish cake appetiser, the fried Tofu with original sauce, the Kushin salad ( a green vegetable), the shrimp with garlic, the fish with herbs and curry sauce and the nama harumaki, but all the
dishes we ordered were very nice. This was followed by a delicious taroimo/coconut dessert. There are also a number of soups but we didn't have any.
One thing I liked was that, unlike some Thai restaurants where the food is so hot that you can't taste the flavour of the dishes, here the heat and flavours are very well controlled so they don't overwhelm the dish, yet it is very authentic Thai food, and not a japanised version. The menu marks especially hot dishes. The name Kaffir Lime in Japanese is a kobu mikan, a basic flavour in Thai cooking apparently used as commonly as lemongrass. They use the rind and the leaf of this fruit, it is not eaten.
We paid ¥14300 for four people, two drinking beer and two natural juices, and we ate plenty. Dishes are ¥730 - ¥1500 with most under ¥1000. The most expensive dish, ¥1500, is a large whole crab and looks pretty good value. Beer ¥500 a glass, ¥600 Singha, natural juices ¥580, desserts around ¥500.
There are also other drinks besides beer and juices.
Directions:
Take the small road which goes from Cafe de Rope (near Kiddyland) on Omotesando-dori to Oh God. There's an orange sign on the left on the corner before Oh God and it's on the 2F. One minute walk from Omotesando-dori.