Wine Bar Mayu @ Shibuya

There is my favourite wine bar in Shibuya called "Wine Bar Mayu". "Mayu" means Cocoon in Japanese and it is because they have 8 separated rooms, just like Inside of Cocoon.

I love their concept: You don't have to show off your knowledge about wine, don't be so stiff, just enjoy wine, food and your company. This is also why they set chopsticks as well as folks and knives on your table. There is no rule to enjoy your time, just be yourself.

I took a good friend of mine there one night. My favourite Megu who loves drawing and helped this wine bar creating their Christmas cards last year. You know, our nice girl's night out.

In this bar, so called "Otoshi" is a glass of sparkling wine. In Japan, most of restaurants and bars ask you for a table charge (JPY 800 at Mayu) but instead, they serve you a small nibbles usually, and I believe that from what they serve there, I can pretty much guess their quality.

We started with their "Otoshi", sparkling wine and ordered a fresh oyster from Hyogo, Japan.

It is very simple, yet it is the perfect beginning of the night for me.

Then a plate of assorted appetizers arrives.

From your right;
Gorgonzola and Pumpkin Terrine with Prune.
Brandade with Tapenade Sauce.
Cured Snapper Carpaccio with Yuzu Dressing.
Raw Horse meet Sashimi. (They don't usually have it)

Then the warm appetizer is foie gras served with gnocchi and black sesame sauce.

Sweetness of Sesame matches perfectly with the well cooked foie Gras. Crunchy outside and melting soft inside.

What's next? yes, Poisson du jour, Suzuki poêlé with red wine sauce.

Then Roasted Venison which was hunted by a friend of the owner. Very fresh, doesn't have the stinky smell of venison, but has a lot of flavour. We matched with Chateauneuf du Pape '06 (Juliette Avril), ah, this is the heaven.

We had so much more food and wine after this although it was still Thursday night. This course (menu B) is JPY 5800 including home baked bread and tea or coffee as well as delicious dessert which we didn't have on that night as we wanted to keep drinking. I think it's more than worth it and maybe you get something free or a bit of discount if you mention my name there...?



Beautiful Oysters and drunken Megu-chan

We decided to order one more oyster each with sparkling wine instead of desserts... that's our style.

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