La Bottega - Italian
Takadanobaba****

Address - Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Takadanobaba 2-6-6 Opening hours - Closed on Sunday Map - La Bottega is right next to La Dinette. See La Dinette's map Telephone - 3208-0598 Menu - in Italian and Japanese CC - No

The first time I went to La Bottega I didn't know what to think. Yes, pastas were excellent and so were the risottos, but NO BREAD at all, in any quantity? No main courses? Just two desserts? Extremely unorthodox salads and pizzas? Limited wine menu? There was a lot to be hesitant about. I am Italian, after all, and I admit to being picky when it comes to my own national cuisine.

But my friend Claus liked it and so we went once in a while, and I am happy to say I have learned to like it.

The place is smallish (maybe 12 tables) and is run by two efficient women who often wear baseball caps and both cook and serve customers at the tables. I like the atmosphere, even if it’s a little low-brow for a restaurant which charges 4000 yen and up for a meal. It does look like a real Roman or Neapolitan restaurant.

The menu consists basically of pastas, risottos and pizza. Pastas are excellent, without exception and even without bread (you can't eat the sauce remaining in your dish with a baguette. What a waste ... ), but I would recommend their penne al gorgonzola or the carbonara.

Risottos are also good, but there isn’t that great of a choice.

There are few disappointing appetizers, among them a dish of raw ham with figs which turns out to be just four slices of ham with two figs that costs 850 yen.

Pizzas are good, the dough fluffy and soft as it should be (rare thing, in Tokyo), but toppings are kind of strange: they take some getting used to.

What can I say? La Bottega has its very conspicuous limits, but it does well what it does, so if you don’t forget that pastas here are the ticket and that it's not a place for a date, you will be OK.

October 2005