Sweet! Sucre Sale

4 Mar 2006

At the suggestion of my harried dinner companion, I recently journeyed all the way (!) to Araki-cho in Shinjuku Ward. What a discovery! 2 or more very extensive blocks of restaurants (including the famous Pas-a-Pas), bars and pubs - I’ve already told my real estate agent I’m looking for something in that area when my lease comes up in June. There’s everything available from Vietnamese to COuntry music!

This delightful little place (seats 24 on my count) fronts a busy street [map] and sits cheek by jowl with the well-patronized Isshin Ramen and is only a few minutes walk from Yotsuya San-Chome or Akebono-bashi Stations.

Take a tip from me - regardless of some sites that don’t rate Sucre Sale, this is well worth a visit. Despite the fact that it doesn’t open until 7:00 pm, Sucre Sale offers genuinely good food at a reasonable price together with a well-considered wine list. The menu offers five different set course menus: Bouquet at 3,675 yen, Pastel at 5,200 yen, Olivier and Soleil at 6,300 yen, and the Chef’s Special Course at 7,350 yen. We both opted for Bouquet and I started with an Endive and Roquefort salad that was stunning...just stunning. My companion was feeling carnivorous, and chose a Pate de Campagne. Judging by the time he took to eat it, and the way he lingered over each bite, this was also a success.

Suitably charged, we moved onto the main courses with a bottle of excellent Chablis Vieilles Vignes Eric Dampt 2002 at a reasonable price (Y5,775). The Pagan went for some absolutely scrumptious Pork with a light mustard sauce while I had the pleasure of some Red Snapper with a Provencal feeling. I have to confess to not being a big fan of fish that’s been long out of the sea, but this time around I was sufficiently surprised to write a mental note to look at some more Madai next time out of the gate. We finished up with a selection of French cheeses, with the normal suspects all available.

If you’re lost for a place to eat between Yotsuya, Ichigaya and Shinjuku then tell your taxi driver Isshin Ramen in Araki-Cho. Then go next door to Sucre Sale...you won’t be dissappointed. And if my real estate agent can get her act together Update - she did!), you might just see me there. I’ll be the fat fool in the corner, giggling...

Rating: Food 7/10; Wine 7/10; Service: 7/10; Ambience: 7/10; Price: 8/10. Overall 36/50 (3 Forks).
Nao-Bld 1F 9-7　Araki-Cyo Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-0007; TEL:03-3351-8741 FAX:03-3351-8742Lunch: 12:00 - 14:00 (L.O. 14:00); Dinner: 19:00 - 24:30 (L.O. 24:30) - Closed on TuesdayAverage dinner cost: 5,000 to 7,000 yenCredit Card: JCB/Diners Club /VISA/Master/AMEX