Wellington's

Rating: OK
Meal:  Dinner for 2
Price: ~$125
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Caprese salad, escargot, soups of the day (french onion and lobster bisque), beef wellington, lamb t-bone steak, warm chocolate tart, mango creme brulee
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No smoking

Our 19th anniversary was last week, but we decided to celebrate it on the weekend as we were going to be in Tokyo anyway for a church picnic near the New Sanno hotel.  The final restaurant we had yet to try is called Wellington's, a fancy, upscale steak restaurant with prices to accompany.  Definitely anniversary meal material, so we decided it was time to give it a shot.  It is also, by the way, a handy way to get a room there, as it is commonly sold out on the weekends, but they always reserve a few rooms to go with a Wellington's meal reservation.

If you are going for the fine dining experience, I think they did a pretty good job.   The room is quiet and well appointed, the staff excellent, and it ticks all the right boxes.  My wife and I were highly amused to get the "different menu" treatment, in which the man gets to see all the prices, while the woman does not.  This was a novel thing for us, and my wife thought it an excellent idea. 

This blog, however, is all about the food, and unfortunately, while edible, the food's quality wasn't as high as the prices might indicate.  Overall my wife and I thought it deserved no more than an Ok.  I'll comment on each food item below.

Escargot

I think I liked the escargot the best of all the dishes.  It was rich, buttery, and the texture of the snails was excellent.

Caprese salad

 My wife's caprese salad was decent, but the odd decision to make the vinaigrette into little pearls of agar agar meant you didn't really get the mingling of the flavors that you do when it is drizzled properly.

French onion soup

 Wow...quite a disappointment.  The soup itself was decent, but the cheese topping was one of the most tasteless, chewy things I've ever put in my mouth.  I'd much rather just have the soup.

Lobster bisque

 Pretty good, but minuscule.

Salad

 The endives were interesting, but the artichoke hearts tasted like they were from a bottom shelf jar at the commissary.

Lamb t-bone steak

 My main dish...the amount of meat was quit a disappointment, mostly taken up by the bone.  The flavor was not really all that impressive.  The risotto was too al dente, and very lacking in taste.  The vegetables were good however.

Beef wellington

 My wife's main dish, we were both very interested in the signature wellington, have never had it before.  I thought the pastry was underdone and wasn't too impressed, but my wife liked it well enough.  Again with the teeny tiny amount of food.  She opted for the truffle mashed potatoes, which definitely had that truffle taste we remember from the time we used the Costco truffle oil in everything for a while...and then decided it was possible to overdose on it.

Warm chocolate tart

 Ugh...this was down right gross, and I did not finish it.  Chalky, moisture absorbing, and tasteless.  The ice cream as all right.

Mango creme brulee

My wife's dessert, it was all right, but quite sweet and she regretted it later.

Well, that's it...we probably won't bother with Wellington's again.  For the price, you could go to a lot of interesting Japanese restaurants of much higher quality.  I should take that back...we might go again, if we have to make a reservation in order to spend the night!  Though I hear you can do the same for the teppanyaki place, which is probably better.