Ventuno -Italian@Numazu- Izu Gourmet Guide

Ventuno is an Italian restaurant in a building that looks a bit like a country cottage near Numazu City Hall. I went to Ventuno because of its good reputation and looked forward to going there.

I went Saturday lunchtime, and the place was full but surprisingly quiet and I was not sure why the diners were not talking to each other. After being given my menu I waited 10 minutes before the waitress returned and ordered the lunch time pasta course and the meat and fish lunch time course. The courses included a glass of wine or a soft drink and I ordered white wine and grapefruit juice.

It took another 10 minutes for my drink to arrive which made me start to doubt the quality of service. I began to look around and realized that many people appeared to be tired of waiting which would explain why the place was so quite. As the restaurant is small there were only about 7 or 8 diners in total so you would think that the service would be quicker.


Twenty minutes after ordering I was served my ‘hors d’oeuvres’ which was uncured ham with balsamic dressing, scallop mousse and marinated salmon. The presentation and colours were good and looked fresh but the salmon tasted a bit too fishy, the oil was a little too oily and the scallop mousse didn’t taste very nice so I didn’t eat very much of it.













The next course was spicy roast chicken with cheese which was very tender and delicious so I ate it all.

















The next dish was mimosa flavored shrimp pasta. The sauce was oil based and similar to a cream based sauce so it was a little too rich and I couldn’t eat it all. Dessert was tiramisu, cream brule and peach tart which were presented beautifully on a plate decorated with small red flowers.















The cream brule was similar to a caramel pudding and tasted good, the tiramisu was very rich with a strong cheese flavor and the peach tart tasted like the cream brule.

I went to Ventuno with fairly high expectations but was disappointed and I think it was because of poor execution in terms of the service and attention to detail in some of the dishes.











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Ventuno
Address:31-12, Yoshida-cho, Numazu
Tel:+81-55-932-5535
http://www.at-s.com/BIN/GURU/GURU0040.asp?yid=F870028241
Budget:Lunch 2,000 yen Dinner 3,000 yen
Open:Weekday:11:30am～3:00pm、5:30pm～9:00pm
Closed:Mon.
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San Marino -Italian@Numazu- Izu Gourmet Guide

San Marino is one of the oldest Italian restaurants in Numazu and is famous for its handmade pasta. It is down near the port and my friend recommended it which is why I went. It is situated amongst houses and it looks like a traditional Italian house from the outside. Once I entered I was surprised by the Asian style music which contradicted the strongly Italian themed décor.

The menu offers a wide rane of dishes from a la carte to pizza, pasta and set menus and I chose a set called ‘cantare’. My companion ordered handmade pasta ‘Fresco’.










When we placed our order the waitress called out our selections to the chef in a very Italian sounding voice which made us think that food to come would be very good and authentic.









My first course was complimentary and was roast duck with olive oil.
It matched the wine we ordered perfectly and was a great starter.

Next was smoked salmon, meat loaf and olives with semi-dried tomato on bread. The olives and semi-dried tomato tasted of vinegar and were very good indeed.
After that our pasta arrived with mine being bacon and cabbage with salt and pepper. I was disappointed with mine as it was too salty and didn’t have much flavor.
In contrast the fresco was a delicious subtle mix of fresh flavors including tomato, spinach, salt, pepper and garlic.
Next was the set menu meat dish which was fillet steak with mashed potato and foie gras served with Madera liqueur sauce accompanied by a fresh garden salad.
The meat was tender and the mashed potato tasted a bit like ‘kamaboko’ which is a Japanese traditional fish dish. I think if Italians went to this restaurant they might be quite surprised by this dish.
For dessert in the ‘cantare’ set is panna cotta, cheese cake and sherbet.
The pasta course dessert is the same but with gataue instead of cheese cake.
The desserts looked good but were a little too sweet for my taste but I did enjoy the sherbet.

When we paid the bill the chef came out to greet us. He looked very professional and made me think that I would like to come back and try his pizza someday.


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San Marino
Address:12-7, Yoshida-cho, Numazu
Tel:+81-55-931-7466
http://www.at-s.com/bin/yell/yell0020.asp?id=E753746095
Budget:Lunch 2,000 yen Dinner 2,500 yen
Open:Weekday:11：00am～2：00pm、5：00pm～9：00pm
Closed:Mon.
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Please see a page here about detailed information on WIREDiCON.

Mangia Pesce -Italian@Nagaizumi- Izu Gourmet Guide

This restaurant is situated in Clematis-no-Oka which is on a hill over looking Numazu & Mishima. It is next to the sculpture garden museum which makes the atmosphere feel relaxed yet sophisticated. Along the path to the entrance there are flowers including Chiristmas roses and pink main tulips which adds to the relaxed and gentle atmosphere of the place.
We went for lunch on a Sunday and gradually the restaurant filled up with people eagerly awaiting some nice Italian food. The name of the restaurant means please to eat fish so we thought we should order sea food and the fish shaped door knobs and sign board of the restaurant all added to a very strong seafood theme.
It was a rainy day when we went and the towels offered on our arrival by the staff were much appreciated. I wondered if there would be many guests on such a rainy day but when we arrived there were already 2 other couples eating. You are not able to make reservations for this restaurant but there were a wide range of people of all ages there.

At first we ordered drinks but because I drove I chose a non alcoholic wine and my companion had a red orange juice. The juice looked like tomato juice but tasted sour and was made from Mediterranean blood orange which didn’t interfere with the delicate flavors of the food and contains vitamin C and antioxidants. It is available for take away too but is quite costly at 1,200 yen /ℓ. The non alcoholic wine was a kind of carbonated grape juice with a slightly astringent taste. While I didn’t see the winelist when passing the cellars I noticed it was well stocked.

The lunch menu has a choice of 3 set menus, ‘Kaze’, ‘mangia pesce’ & the chef’s recommendation. They are priced at 3,500 yen, 5,200 yen and 8,000 yen and I chose the ‘mangia pesce’.
The first course was a warm carrot soup which was rich and tasted of the natural carrot sweetness. Because if was rich the small serving was a perfect amount.

The appetizer was steamed organic vegetables from local providers with a soft boiled egg in the middle. The taste was mild but it was served with a balsamic dressing which would complement it well if you like balsamic which I don’t. As it was the full flavor of the vegetables came through and I enjoyed it a lot. The next appetizer was a scallop and squid salad which was delicious and very fresh.

The pasta was a red shrimp and rocket sauce with fedelini which was cooked ‘al dente’. It mixed with the sauce perfectly and I could have eaten a lot more of it. The other pasta was spirals with ‘Aji’ and ‘Komatsuna’ in a tomato sauce. ‘Aji’ is a type of mackerel and komatsuna is as spinach like vegetable. The sauce was not very good as Aji is very fishy and didn’t go well with the tomato leaving an unpleasant after taste and smell. This dish was disappointing and nowhere near as good as the scallop and squid pasta.


The main dishes were fish and meat. The fish was grilled big eye with crispy skin and the flesh was moist, tender and well balanced. The flavor was delicate and satisfying and made me wish that the serve was a little larger. This dish represented my expectations of mange pesce and was served on a soft boiled turnip base which went well with the fish. The meat dish was a type of chicken that were traditionally fighting cocks whose flesh is a little different to chicken due to their more muscular nature. The meat was grilled and served with potato. The skin was deliciously crispy and the waiter said that the chickens were very active which was why the flesh was firm yet tender and delicious. It was served with a part of the chicken’s stomach or gizzards which were a little tough and chewy and quite different from what you get at a yakitori bar.


We ordered tiramisu and caramel mousse for dessert. You can choose from 5 or 6 types of dessert and our selections were soft, delicious and had beautiful aroma which made us wish we could order more. With dessert you can choose from blend or espresso coffee, English tea or herb tea and we had the tea. The herb tea was very mild and delicious and was better than the English tea.

Overall the food was good but some male diners may find that they are left wanting more. The highlights would have to be the fish and vegetables which were very fresh, healthy and delicious. The staff was helpful and asked if we had any allergies or didn’t like anything which was a nice touch. The staff also sang happy birthday in Italian to a guest whose was celebrating their birthday and this can be arranged when you make the reservation which makes this a good place to celebrate special occasions. While the location of Mangia Pesce makes it a little inconvenient it is well worth the drive and is frequented by many people from as far away as Tokyo. This might explain why it is listed under the Italian category of the Tokyo restaurant guide.

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Mangia Pesce
Address:347-1, clematis-no-oka,Tono, Nagaizumi-cho, Shizuoka
Tel:+81-55-989-8788
http://www.clematis-no-oka.co.jp/012_shisetsu/013_mangia/013_top.html
Budget:Lunch 3,500 yen Dinner 10,000 yen
Open:11:00～15:00,18:00～22:00
Closed:Wed.
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Please see a page here about detailed information on WIREDiCON.