Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on August 2010

Courtesy of Zetton

Yokohama got more than a new tourist destination when the renovated Marine Tower opened last May. Among the added attractions are a trio of restaurants and bars, including The Bund, a ground-level Italian eatery that offers al-fresco dining on the cheap.

The setting is enlivened by a view of leafy Yamashita Park across the street, with Chinatown just a couple of blocks away. This makes The Bund an appealing spot for lunch or dinner after a day of sightseeing, or even for a beer garden-style party—a current promotion features 90 minutes of all-you-can-drink, plus a tabletop barbecue, for ¥4,300.

Weekday pasta lunches, starting at ¥980, include standard fare like spaghetti peperoncino and Bolognese (¥1,380), plus a few nice surprises, like spaghetti with pork, mushrooms and edamame in cream sauce (¥980). On weekends, the noodles start at ¥1,050, with premium lunch dishes in the ¥1,400-¥1,500 range. The prices stay low at dinnertime—minestrone soup is just ¥480, appetizers are ¥530-¥850, and grilled meats and fish max out at ¥2,100.

At the top end of the menu is the ¥5,000 “Tokusen” course, which comes with a half-dozen dishes; the plan must be reserved three days in advance, though the staff graciously accepted our phone call just two days before. Our meal was highlighted by its bookends: a mixed appetizer plate featured cold roast beef with shaved parmesan, a chickpea fritter, whitemeat fish carpaccio, zeppoline and more. The dessert assortment that ended the meal was like a medley of our favorite sweets: dense gateau au chocolat, tiramisu, panna cotta and crème brulée. With two pasta dishes also included (one of them a nicely done satsuma-imo gnocchi), plus fish and meat courses, this has to be one of the best deals in the Tokyo area. And the white wine sangria went fantastically with everything.