Wednesday, September 3, 2008

GiGi -steak@Numazu- Izu Gourmet GUide

GiGi is situated about 2 kilometers from Numazu in an area with wide streets and several other restaurants.
It is not on a main road and appears to be darker than the other restaurants.
It looks like a wild west steak house and when you enter you see a large teppan style grill which is just one table away from the entrance.
The restaurant is run by a husband and wife team and the atmosphere is very relaxed.
When I went I was the only customers and enjoyed a friendly chat with the owners.

Being a winelover I was happy to see the extensive wine list which included many types of cabenet as well as Crozes Hermatige which I chose to drink.
It was an excellent rich wine that complimented the steak perfectly.














I was given an extra hors d'oevre of bread and cheese which also went well with the wine.










You can choose between pottage or consomme soup and between rice ,garlic rice or bread to accompany your steak.
There are several choices of steak available including the cut of steak as well as normal or high grade Japanese beef.








The soups we tried were both quite orthodox in their style and flavour.
One was a pottage with parsley and the other was a clear consome and they both tasted as if considerable time was taken in their preparation and were very good.








A small but finely selected amount of fresh vegetables were served to accompany the highly marbled Japanese steak which possibly came from Saga Prefecture in Western Japan.
The sight of steak and fresh vegetables made me very hungry indeed.
The vegetables retained their original flavour after being grilled and tasted so good that I ate them quickly and could have eaten a lot more.
The onion in particular was incredibly fresh and sweet without the odour often associated with it.
The steak was cut into quite large cubes(pieces) which helped to bring out the excellent flavour to the fullest extent.
The marbling vanished during cooking and the steak was not oily in any way.
The salad was also very high class with premium ingredients and excellent dressing.

The only thing that disappointed was the garlic rice which was a little too strong and moist for my taste.

I recommed that if you go to GiGi you should either order white rice or ask for the garlic rice to be less concentrated and sticky.

A simple dessert of either vanilla or black currant sherbet icecream, is offered and tasted better than what you would expect to buy from most retail outlets.

High quality and carefully selected ingredients combined with a highly skilled and experrienced chef results in excellent tasting dishes.
To eat a similiar grade of meal in a hotel in tokyo you would have to pay two or three times the price so GiGi offers excellent value for money.

The service provided by the husband and wife team is not what you would expect from a high class Tokyo hotel but the taste and price more than make up for this shortcomming.

If you expect the service that you would recieve in a high class Tokyo hotel you will be disappointed by GiGi but I think the taste and price more than make up for this.
I will cartainly be back to GiGi again to enjoy the excellent tasting and fresh dishes it offers.

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GiGi
Address:370-1, Kamishoji, Shimokanuki, Numazu
Tel:+81-55-932-3986
http://www.steak-gigi.com/
Budget:Lunch:1,500 yen Dinner:8,000 yen
Open:Weekday:11:30am~2:00pm、5:00pm~10:00pm
Closed:Tue.
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