Tama

«Ryukyu Chinese TAMA» is an interesting place, serving a combination of «Ryukyu» style food (Ryukyu is the old name of southernmost island, Okinawa) and Chinese food. In all honesty, I personally didn’t see much of «Chinese» in their dishes and mostly it was Okinawa style. But the food was good even for me who is not a huge fan of Okinawa style food. It’s just very different from what I grew up eating and can’t get used to it.
Putting that aside, the place was packed and seemed very popular. It was lively and the service of the staff was pleasant. I really liked their noodle dishes and it made me want to come for lunch next time. Interestingly, they have lots of wines lined up on the walls, within a reasonable price range.
The downside is that it’s a bit of a walk from any station, but the atmosphere is very good, not fancy but not too casual, thus can be used for a date. I actually saw several couples and it’s definitely a «good to put on your daily-​use list» type of place. By the way, I give it a relatively low score just because I’m not Okinawa kind of guy, and thus it’s very personal. For most other people, this place should be rated higher.

We found this place when looking for La Boutique de Joel Robuchon, which happens to be just above this restaurant in the Maronouchi train station.
Loved the chicken soba in a sesame sauce. It’s a bio restaurant, meaning organic! They did offer an English menu, which was quite helpful. I ordered the chicken soba and my husband ordered the pork soba. My broth was hot and my husband’s was cold. I far preferred mine. His had seaweed over the pork, which gave the whole bowl a fishy taste.
It was definitely full of locals on their lunch breaks. The food came out in a flash and the quality of the ingredients was very impressive! Worth checking out if in the area.