Shibuya - Fusion

Legato - Fusion ****

Address - Maruyamacho 3-6, E Space Tower 15F
Opening hours - 11:30 am- 2 pm, 17:30-22:30pm (LO) daily
Telephone - 03-5784-2121
Menu - In English and Japanese
Credit Cards - OK

Legato is a fancy fusion-type restaurant located in the top (15th) floor of the Space Tower building, about 10 minutes by foot from the station. This restaurant belongs to Global Dining, which also owns some addresses in Tokyo (Stellato, Tableaux). The view on Shibuya is quite nice, but to enjoy it, you will have to sit at the bar, as the tables are located in the middle of a large room, a couple of stairs below the level of that bar. In fact, there seems to be some tables in private rooms with view on the town, you might want to ask when you reserve.

The food is really good and imaginative. Fusion with a strong French touch, as well as using lots of Japanese ingredients. There is a fairly good selection à la carte, and three menus are available, at 3980, 4980 and 6300 yen. Those menus are a good value, but all dishes are fixed.

We went for the 6300 yen menu, which started with some excellent fish carpaccio followed by a soup, then a sauteed foie gras starter; main dishes were first a fish and then some chicken. And a simple dessert concluded the meal. To be really honest, apart of the carpaccio and the foie gras, the rest was tasty but lacked a little originality. You go to Legato to enjoy the nice surroundings - the dining room is really posh - rather than to taste extraordinary food.

The wine list is interesting, featuring wines from Europe, America and Oceania. Especially interesting is the 3900 yen wine list, which features about 15 bottles at that fixed price. Other wines are available, but they are more expensive (the Bordeaux were fairly overpriced, while wines from Australia were still reasonable).

The service was far from perfect (we had to ask several times for bread - home made, the sommelier was not available when we required some recommendations). Still, it was a very nice dinner that did not come too expensive (count on about 8000-10000 yen per person with plenty of drinks).

Internet - www.legato-tokyo.jp/en/shibuya