Massimo Mariani: Good for the atmosphere, needs more stars on the food

Area: about 600m south of Ikeshita station 池下駅
Restaurant:  Massimo Mariani  マッシモマリアーニ
Website and Info:  http://massimo-mariani.com/access.html

Hours:  12pm-1am


This cafe is in the middle of a seemingly run down neighborhood among residential housing.  Having said that, it looks like a castle with its tall brick outer wall and curving long, narrow entrance.  Upon entering, the dim lighting, the bar, and brick walls make it seem like a fine dining night for a special occasion.  I was told to take a seat anywhere, so I went to the terrace area where it was nice and sunny.  The slow jazz vocal music playing gave this place a relaxing atmosphere, a good place to come with girlfriends to chat (the patrons were mainly women).

The menu included a lot of sweets and the most popular seemed to be the cake set.  The other popular options were 3-tiered set (includes fruit, canapés, and cake), but that was for 2 people only.  However I was looking for something for lunch, so my options were limited to a list of appetizers or sandwiches.  There was a croissant sandwich (¥800) and a raisin bread sandwich.  You can try half and half for both (¥1400, I wonder why it's considerably more expensive than one whole sandwich).  

After waiting quite a while, I was told the sandwiches would take some time.  I didn't mind however, it was my day off and I had all the time in the world! 

I guess I misunderstood because I did end up getting two whole sandwiches.  The croissant sandwich was filled with a creamy, but light egg salad, a moist prosciutto and a slice of white cheddar (not the processed stuff!).  The mustard mayonnaise kind of took over and the one thin slice of ham's flavor was lost.  It's a shame because it looked of good quality.  The croissant came warm and had a mouth watering buttery smell.    

The raisin sandwich was filled with smoked salmon, onion slices, red pepper and lettuce, the same cheese and mustard mayo.  It would have been nice to have some variety on the spreads.  But this time there were thick slices of salmon so it was noticeable flavor-wise.

On an internet search, I saw that this restaurant has received 3.88 stars out of 5.  I suppose it's more of the atmosphere than the food and price.  Although I think I'd need to go back for dinner to really make that judgement.