Piacere Mio: Somehow different than the regular Italian in Japan

Area:  5 min walk north of Osu Kannon station  大須観音駅
Restaurant:  Piacere Mio  ピアチェーレ　ミオ
Map and Info:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230102/23051481/dtlmap/

Hours:  Lunch 11:30am-2:30pm, Dinner 5:30-10:30pm, closed Mon (unless it's a holiday)



I read somewhere that the chef of this restaurant was Italian so I wanted to see what it was like.  For today's lunch, I chose Pranzo A (\980) and added on a dessert (\180).

The appetizer salad was a good size.  It was dressed with a Japanese style sesame dressing.  The beans and sliced potato salad was dressed with olive oil and a mild vinegar (a nice change from the usual mashed and dressed with mayo potato salads).  This one kind of reminded me of my mom's bean salad, but with slices of raw garlic.

In between dishes, I noticed the Italian pop music.  The tables were garden table-like with marble tops, but it was a little uncomfortable as there was a bar that prevented my legs from fitting under the table.  

There were two pastas to choose from, but the tomato cream was recommended as opposed to the olive oil base.  Fresh tomatoes and parmesan were used.  This sauce had zucchini and fresh parsley to garnish.  It somehow reminded me of the flavours found in Italian restos back home.    

The dessert banana cake was very moist, not overly sweet and went nicely with whipped fresh cream.  The coffee was different, and although it tasted like instant coffee, it also reminded me of the instant coffee I often drank back home.