In honor of my birthday today, we wanted to tell you about our number one highlight of the trip, where I had my first birthday celebration this year: Luida's Bar.
This story requires a bit of context. First, Josh has been playing "Dragon Quest IX" like crazy lately. Once we decided we were going to Tokyo, he mentioned he'd read about a Dragon Quest-themed bar there, and we decided to check it out.
So on Nov. 8, after a full day of sightseeing (as they all were), we dressed up and went to the Roppongi district of Tokyo, to Luida's Bar, a theme restaurant based on the Dragon Quest series of video games.
The bar is tiny. There are no chairs, and to keep the crowds from overwhelming them, they do 75-minute "seatings" and are fairly quick to shoo you out when your time is up. But what a time we had in those 75 minutes!
Playing songs from the games and boasting decor to impress new and old Dragon Quest fans alike, Luida's Bar also features staff who were extremely attentive (and proficient in English). One girl was dressed as Luida and the others as maids. Since it was a Monday, only three other patrons were there besides us, so we got lots of personal attention from Luida. She helped us with the menu and chatted with us about Japan, local culture and, of course, Dragon Quest. I told her about where we were from, and how the trip was a birthday gift from Josh. We chatted about the katakana I'd been learning and she asked how I wrote my name in English and in katakana, so I showed her, pleased to show off my skills.
In addition to the attentive staff, the food and drinks were quite good. Josh had pork on sword skewers and some mini pizzas, and I had a pork bao shaped like game's trademark Slime enemy; a ball of mashed potatoes rolled in nuts and deep fried, then topped with butter and set on fire at the table (which resembles the bomb rock monster in the game); and then I ordered a dessert plate that included ice cream frosted with chocolate mousse, pound cake, chocolate walnut cake and fruit. It's meant to look like a hammer-wielding villain in the game (the hammer was made of the chocolate cake and a stick of Pocky).
But when the dessert arrived, I was in for a surprise. First, Luida got on the microphone and started speaking Japanese, and the next thing I knew, they were all singing "Happy Birthday" in English and brought out my dessert with a sparkler on it (glee!) and "Happy birthday Annie!" written in chocolate.
Even though my birthday was weeks away, it was so fun to have an early, impromptu celebration. And Lord knows I'm a sucker for a bright, shiny sparkler, so that alone made my day.
We took lots of pictures of the bar, so rather than post them individually, we made them into a fun, short video below. Enjoy!
This story requires a bit of context. First, Josh has been playing "Dragon Quest IX" like crazy lately. Once we decided we were going to Tokyo, he mentioned he'd read about a Dragon Quest-themed bar there, and we decided to check it out.
So on Nov. 8, after a full day of sightseeing (as they all were), we dressed up and went to the Roppongi district of Tokyo, to Luida's Bar, a theme restaurant based on the Dragon Quest series of video games.
The bar is tiny. There are no chairs, and to keep the crowds from overwhelming them, they do 75-minute "seatings" and are fairly quick to shoo you out when your time is up. But what a time we had in those 75 minutes!
In addition to the attentive staff, the food and drinks were quite good. Josh had pork on sword skewers and some mini pizzas, and I had a pork bao shaped like game's trademark Slime enemy; a ball of mashed potatoes rolled in nuts and deep fried, then topped with butter and set on fire at the table (which resembles the bomb rock monster in the game); and then I ordered a dessert plate that included ice cream frosted with chocolate mousse, pound cake, chocolate walnut cake and fruit. It's meant to look like a hammer-wielding villain in the game (the hammer was made of the chocolate cake and a stick of Pocky).
Even though my birthday was weeks away, it was so fun to have an early, impromptu celebration. And Lord knows I'm a sucker for a bright, shiny sparkler, so that alone made my day.
We took lots of pictures of the bar, so rather than post them individually, we made them into a fun, short video below. Enjoy!
1 comments:
Awesome. Just awesome.
Post a Comment