Atlantic cafe: Liking the big hunks of meat

Area:  about 500m Northeast of Osu Kannon station 大須観音駅
Restaurant:  Atlantic Cafe アトランティックカフェ
Website and Map:  http://atlanticcafe.jp/access/index.html

Hours:  11am-11pm, Sun and Holidays 11am-9:30pm, closed Mondays


Although lunch was over, this was was one of those restaurants where I could still order from the large a la carte menu.

The smoked salmon salad (¥580) was comprised of lettuce, mizuna, tomato and a rarity in Japan, black olives. Dry cured smoked salmon had a nice smokey flavor and was not too salty.   The dressing was a simple Italian dressing.

The spicey lamb chop (¥400 for 1 piece) was not all that spicey.  Maybe they wanted to say herbed lamb, because it tasted more like basil.  The accompanying sauce was like a BBQ sauce with perhaps red wine, but it was way too salty.  Especially on top of the salt seasoning the lamb, it didn't work too well.   Size wise, this was a large lamb chop and looks like it came with two pieces, but one piece only was a small bone-in chunk.  The red meat didn't have a strong lamb flavor but the fatty parts did.  Although grilled, it somehow seemed a bit steamed as well.  The fried potato wedges were a bit dry and were not seasoned, but like a Western restaurant, salt and pepper were on the table to adjust to one's own tastes.

It was written on the menu that you can choose 2 antipastos for the price of ¥555, but then I realized it's no better than the ¥278 each!  I chose the  homemade pickles as one.  They were vinegary and more on the salty side.  It kind of reminded me of namasu (usually daikon and carrots pickled with vinegar, salt and sugar).  

The caprese salad had a mozarella more on the dry side than creamy, but was still milky in flavor.  The tomatoes were juicy and fresh and matched well with the parmesan, salt and pepper seasoning. 

The spare rib 1piece (¥340) was gigantic.  I think the chef gave me a bit of a service (freebie), he said red meat was also included.  The sauce was a nice BBQ flavor, thinly applied to gave just enough smokey flavor.  The meat was juicy (even the lean part).  It was a bit tough to cut through the fat, but overall a thumbs up.   The accompanying salad included arugula carrots and a light vinaigrette.  The only problem here was that it was undercooked and it had to be grilled a second time.  It came back with a side of fries and salad.  In the Japanese way, the cook profusely apologized, bowing his head many times, so I forgave this small blunder.