Post #645901 by Michelle66 on Sat, Jul 28, 2012 6:45 AM

Well, the dog days of summer have arrived in Japan, so it's really HOT and humid here right now...

Just the excuse to visit Trader Vic's Tokyo!

I went there today as I was craving the shrimp fritters that are part of a four-course ladies lunch special the restaurant is now offering. (And for those folks saddled with a "Y" chromosome ( :wink: ), you can still get the lunch, but at a slightly increased price.) (Many hotels in Japan offer special lunch deals for women in order to lure in groups of ladies who like to dine together. This type of promotion is quite common here.)

Instead of eating in the main dining room, I decided to sit at my favorite table in the bar area and look out at the trees:

Since I planned to do some shopping in crowded Shinjuku after lunch, my cocktail today was the high-octane "Tiki Puka Puka":

The first course is a bowl of wonton soup, which I forgot to photograph until it was half gone... (guess the 151-proof rum had started to work its magic on me!) The soup has bamboo strips, water chestnuts, slivers of pork, and a meaty wonton dumpling. It's REALLY good!:

Up next is a green salad that's covered with TV's delicious Javanese dressing!:

The main course is a special plate with four different items:

1. Two big shrimp fritters that are covered in sweet chili sauce and fresh cilantro. (It's soooo good!)
2. Chicken, onions, snow peas, water chestnuts, (and usually shiitake mushrooms, which I have them hold), all inside a small crunchy cup. (Another delicious favorite!)
3. Fried rice
4. Steamed veggies.
   (It's hard to judge scale in the picture, but the plate is quite massive. The portion size is more than enough(IMO).
   

Dessert is mango sherbet and coffee:

The price for this meal is 2800 yen for women, or 3500 yen for men. (The lunch special is available Monday through Saturday.)

For the service and the quality of the food, it's really a great deal! (Those shrimp fritters will keep me going back again and again!)