Shibuya: Mamma Luisa's Table(マンマルイザズテーブル)

Summary: Beautiful, three star Michelin cooking within a casual, cosy setting.

Hidden away from the crowds in Shibuya is Mamma Luisa’s Table, a delightful homely little restaurant, serving down to earth, traditional Tuscan food.

Inside, the restaurant is light and airy, and handmade jams, pickles and cookies are stacked around the walls of this restaurant.

The long communal table in the middle of the restaurant was adorned with dried pine cones and mini lanterns, and individual placements line the table.

very autumn-like!

I like their attention to their smallwares - look at that cute lil' doggy!

The restaurant also features an open kitchen, which further adds to the feeling of being in a traditional Italian home kitchen, whereby cooks chat with guests while whipping up delicious, homemade dishes.

If you love dogs, the cute little mascot lazily wagging its tail while roaming around the restaurant is a sight to enjoy.

You can see in this photo that the floor was also covered with (real!) gingko leaves, making the entire restaurant very "autumn-like".

Gino, the cute little mascot of the restaurant

sniffing the intruder

books line the wall

upon taking a closer look I see that they have some strange taste in books

Mamma Luisa’s Table is owned by Pietro Androsoni, who also does his own cooking in the restaurant.

He first arrived in Tokyo in 1992 to assist with the opening of the Enoteca Pinchiorri in Japan.

※Information from Wikipedia: Enoteca Pinchiorri is an Italian restaurant from Florence, Italy. In 2008, the restaurant was voted 32nd best in the world by the British Restaurant magazine. Since 1984, the restaurant has been a recipient of the Wine Spectator Grand Award. It has perennially been awarded three stars by the Michelin Guide.

He fell in love with Japan, and decided to open Mamma Luisa’s Table, where guests can enjoy Enoteca Pinchiorri’s three Michelin stars cuisine within a casual, chic and friendly atmosphere.   

The name of the restaurant comes from Pietro’s own mother – some of the popular items on the menu come from Mamma Luisa herself.

Like his mother, Pietro believes in using the most basic, simple ingredients to bring out the flavor and freshness of each ingredient, and serves a variety of food fare, from traditional Italian plates to modern, innovative cuisines.

Tonight, we went with their 6000yen dinner course, which includes a small dish to whet your appetite, a choice between antipasto or pasta, mains, dessert and coffee or tea.

Apparently, you can pick anything from the menu for your course.
Even that 4800yen tagliatelle with alba white truffle and parmesan cheese is included..!!

I was tossing between getting either that or their gnudi nacked ricotta and spinach gnocchi sage and butter sauce and black truffle - I decided on the latter. (will get on to that later in this post)

First, for our Amuse, we got a small bowl of chicken salad.

It was refreshing and simple - I like that they added small apple chunks to the salad to give it a slight sweet crunch. Was great as a topping on the bread as well.

The bread was surprisingly good. I like that their bread was slightly salted - I would later use this bread to dip into my pasta's butter sauce.

While others had their wine, I decided to get their freshly made orange juice. 

deliciously yum! I think it was 1100yen..?

Next, after polising off our Amuse, they brought us our pasta. Mamma Luisa's Table is popular for their pasta, so all of us picked their pasta, though their anti pasto was also pretty tempting..

I was pretty blown away by the generous amount of truffle slices on my pasta dish.

gnudi nacked ricotta and spinach gnocchi sage and butter sauce and black truffle

IT. WAS. AMAZING.

The aroma of the truffle was phenomenal.
The gnocchi was wonderfully chewy, and the spinach added an extra dimension to its flavour.
The sauce was beautiful - rich, creamy and oh-so-buttery.

I also took some photos of some dishes my fellow diners had.

trofie with beef ragout sauce flavoured with vanila and salted ricotta cheese

I must have a reputation for being greedy, because my Vice President kept giving me some of his food for me to try.

His pasta was amazing - very traditional Al dente style. Hard, almost crunchy and nutty on the outside, but chewy on the inside. It was gorgeous.

black ink tagliatelle with baby calamari in almond basil pesto sauce and green beans

Next, we had our mains! 
This was mine.

beef meat ball stuffed with caciocavallo cheese, truffle omelet, wrapped in bacon and cumin carrots

I would say the presentation is a beautiful mess - kind of like art that you don't quite understand, but happy to appreciate. 

Taste-wise, I have absolutely no complaints. I was getting a little full at this point, but I managed to devour the entire dish. 
Not too sure what it was, but I really liked their crispy toppings on the dish (might be pumpkin).

peposo dell impruneta bruneleschi's favourite dish, pork stew in chianti wine, potato puree

 This was what my Vice President got, so I got to take a bite of his dish.

Melt in your mouth, fork tender meat. Now I am really tempted to try making my own roast meat some time soon.

rockfish acqua pazza stile with clams, black olives, cappers sundry tomato and parsley

besugo crusted with olive pesto, broccoli, green beans, caramelise onions, radish sauce

Finally, on to the desserts. 
There had quite a number of choices, but the moment I heard cheesecake, I knew I had to get it.

We ended the meal with either a choice of coffee or tea.

Overall, the food here was amazingly fresh -  any fresher, and I think it would be wriggling on our plates.

Service here was impeccably - Pietro and his team were amazing hosts. 

I felt like I was a guest visiting an old Italian friend.

Most staff were very friendly - there was a girl who suddenly stopped smiling halfway through the service, though I am not sure if it was because something happened at a different guests' table, or if she was just exhausted. 

I will be honest with you – the food here is not cheap at all.

Be prepared to burn a few holes through your wallet. However – I can assure you that it is every cent well spent.

Trust me, I just came back from the restaurant, and I am already planning for my next visit. 

Address: 2-20-16 Higashi, Shibuya-ku Tokyo Japan 150-0011

〒150-0011 東京都渋谷区東2-20-16 

Phone: 03-6805-1337

Hours: Mon - Sat 11:30am - 2:30pm, 5:30pm - 10pm
Closed on Sundays
Website: https://www.facebook.com/mammaluisastable/