Mussels at Pinze Loca

c'est bon!

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Welcome to Kagurazaka! Tokyo's Little Paris.

 Kagurazaka is in Shinjuku Ward and is easily accessed from Iidabashi station. This area was teeming with Geisha Houses in the early 1900's. Today it has a significant French presence. With many of the restaurants and eateries here being either filled with French expatriates or staffed by French University students. Kagurazaka is home to the l'Institut Franco-Japonais de Tokyo and the Lycee Franco-Japonais de Tokyo's primary section. So lot's of French culture mixed in with what is still a distinctly Japanese neighborhood. I don't think there is anywhere else quite like Kagurazaka. Maybe a Little Tokyo in Paris? Just a thought. Kagurazaka has Tokyo's largest concentration of French eateries, bakeries and cheese shops as well as an impressive number of wine bars.

Pinze Loca, Pots of Mussels

Tonight we are having mussels! Lots of them! We'll be checking out Pinze Loca. I was sold the moment I walked in. The Japanese take French Food and remove all the pretentiousness that I think it has been associated with in The States. You feel like you're in your French Granny's house and Granny is serving Mussels and cheap plonk.

Serving French Realness

Tiny and to the point. They've got an awesome line up of red and whites. Glasses starting at around 5USD and bottles starting at around 22USD. What could go wrong?

Mussels by the bucket

Here is how it works. They have around 50 different types of variations on boiled mussels.

Flexing their mussels

We went with the aioli because garlic and butter. The majority of the options are definitely French but there are some Italian variations and even some Japanese ones. They had a white wine and sansho pepper one that I'll be trying next time. On the menu they list the top 10 customer favorites so if you're confused just get the one with the "人気＃１" written next to it. This translates as "most popular".

Once you have chosen your style of mussels you then need to choose a pot size.

We apprehensively did the medium but it was plenty! Besides it's time to look at the starters.

Taste Tokyo LIVES for oysters and these guys are a knock out. Pinze Loca serves Oysters from Miyagi Prefecture. When I saw the price I incorrectly assumed they would be on the tinier side but I was thankfully mistaken. 5 oysters for around 4USD. #cheaptokyo. These guys are awesome and we should have gotten 10 of them.

We went for the cheese platter instead though. I am always, always disappointed by the size of cheese boards. A table could buckle under the weight of a brie and my facial expression would still be "socks for Christmas presents." Which is nonsense because a little French cheese goes a long damned way. They'll also bring you more bread if you ask for it.

Dinner has arrived! My bucket of mussels is finally here and it did NOT dissappoint! Hot, fragrant, garlicky and filled with some very meaty mussels, it was truly a bucket of mussels to remember!

Which is good because it sure didn't last long. A prolonged silence fell over our little table as we slurped away. Now, here is the tricky part. You need to fight the urge for using the shells as a spoon and finishing off the broth because...

When you finish the mussels they take the broth and make you pasta! Success! They don't only offer pasta either. You can choose pasta, risotto or...wait for it, Pho noodle soup! Which seems brilliant! I will give it a go next time because there will definitely be a next time. This time however, perfectly al dente, steaming hot pasta definitely did the trick!

Dessert or more wine...

So, if you've ever had a Mussels Linguine and thought "Why can't it be all mussels!?" then this is the place for you! After dinner here I highly reccomend wandering the streets of Kagurazaka looking for wine. There is so much to see and do in this area!

Enjoy!