Japan In Focus

Specialty Dishes Served by Long-Established Restaurant Loved by Great Novelists

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Toshio Kawashima serves meat croquettes. The specialty dish is lightly fried and then slowly cooked in the oven.

By Yurika Akazawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

14:14 JST, September 17, 2024

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Shiseido Parlour’s red building is one of the symbols of Ginza.

Shiseido Parlour Restaurant, with over 120 years of history, serves Western specialty dishes and pursues aesthetics in every detail of tableware, decor and customer service. It is the meat croquette, on its traditional menu, that has raised the restaurant’s fame. I savored the dish that many great cultural figures have loved and written about in their novels and essays.

The meat croquettes I ordered, priced at ¥3,100 including tax, were brought to my table on a plate with great care. The two oval-shaped croquettes were placed side by side in the rich tomato sauce, which was spread in a beautiful circular pattern.

As soon as I bit into one, a rich bechamel sauce oozed from the crispy batter, harmonizing perfectly with the sweet and sour tomato sauce. The veal and ham inside added to the mouthfeel and flavor.

The recipe was developed in the early Showa era after the restaurant’s third executive chef marveled at a croquette served at a luncheon. Toshio Kawashima, 44, the current executive chef, said: “We make the sauce from scratch and shape the meat into a cube. The recipe has remained unchanged since it was first created.”

Shiseido Co. began as a Western-style dispensing pharmacy in Ginza in the early Meiji era. The restaurant originated from Japan’s first soda fountain, modeled after those in the United States, which opened in the pharmacy in 1902. It offered soda and ice cream, which was rare in Japan at the time, as well as a bottle of face lotion as a prize with each soda, which contributed to the soda fountain becoming a popular spot in Ginza. Orange and chocolate syrup were listed on the menu for mixing with soda.

Yomiuri Shimbun photos
**Left:** The stained-glass windows are from the early Showa era. **Right:** Shotaro Ikenami wrote in his book, “I was amazed. The chicken rice was served in a silver bowl.”

It began serving authentic Western cuisine in 1928. The restaurant was mentioned in the books of many famous novelists such as Ogai Mori, Osamu Dazai and Shotaro Ikenami. Hideko Takamine, a great actress of the Showa era, also loved the croquette. The restaurant workers carry food on a silver plate and serve it to the customers. Because the workers frequently polish the silverware by hand, it retains its beautiful luster.

Atsuo Akutsu, 56, in charge of public relations, said: “We have taken great care of our quality items and continued to use them. One of the charms of this restaurant is that it has preserved the memories of the good old days.”

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