I was only in Japan last summer but I couldn’t resist a $550 return sale fare (thanks Jetstar), so I jetted back there recently! This time I set out to try a few themed restaurants which I didn’t get to try last time. First up on the list was Alice’s Fantasy Restaurant (絵本の国のアリス), an Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
The restaurant is located <5 minutes from the JR Shinjuku station, but is located on the underground level B2, so it can be a bit hard to find from the street level (look out for the sign in Eng/Jap). We actually weren’t able to get in the first night we visited as they were booked out, so we made a reservation for the next night. When the lift doors open, a hostess dressed like Alice takes you through a large door resembling a giant book into the restaurant. It’s dimly lit and busy, but it looks magical with many Alice-themed waitresses walking around, a grand chandelier on the ceiling and cartoons on the walls.
We’re seated in a booth and receive an amazing welcome – a notice that there is a ¥500 cover charge per person, 10% service charge on the bill and that each person much order 1x food item and 1x drink – welcome to an expensive dinner! Once this is out of the way, we’re presented with a menu which contains pop up pictures on the front and back to keep us entertained.
To kick us off, we’re given some complimentary crackers with a sweet potato and pesto/cream-cheese dip. Nice nibbles while we wait for our food.
Mad Hatter’s Homemade Hot Chocolate – ¥880
My hot chocolate is the first of the orders to come out and it’s very underwhelming. It has been served lukewarm and tastes like chocolate powder with water – it doesn’t taste milky or sweet. I’m very disappointed.
Avocado and Fried Shrimp Rice Roll Smoking Caterpillar Style – ¥980
Our first main is the fried prawn sushi, served up looking like a caterpillar. It tastes good, but little did I know it would be downhill from here.
Pizza with Chicken Teriyaki, Beets and Avocado – ¥980
The pizza is comes out next and is quite small – it’s slightly larger than an envelope. It looks and smells tasty but in reality was quite bland and needed salt and seasoning. My friend started dipping her slice in the soy sauce from the sushi which made it taste better.
Eggplant & Beef Spaghetti al Ragu – ¥980
Our last savoury dish was the spaghetti ragu, artfully presented like the cheshire cat. Once again, it looked and smelled tasty but it lacked flavour. A big dose of salt would’ve helped!
The White Rabbit’s Brulee with Backwards Clock Macaron – ¥650
From here onwards, we moved to desserts with the vanilla creme brulee and macaron. Beautifully presented, this dessert was a nice surprise from the mains – the creme brulee was smooth with a thin crackly top, and the chocolate macaron had some nice crunch to it.
Cheshire Cat’s Mixed Berry Parfait – ¥700
Our last dessert was the mixed berry parfait, which contained layers of whipped cream, ice cream, cornflakes and mixed berries, all topped with sweet puff pastry. The pastry was a bit hard and wasn’t that nice, but otherwise the contents underneath were ok.
Although the Alice-themed restaurant contains some sense of allure, charm and fantasy, my overall experience was quite disappointing and I wouldn’t return. The food was not up to standard, their dining rules made the meal more expensive than other restaurants (which serve better tasting food), and the restaurant only served up a visual theme rather than an actual experience. Many other themed restaurants in Japan have entertainment of some sort which makes you feel a part of the theme, justifying the cover charge. Would I return? Nope. Unless you’re an Alice in Wonderland die-hard fan, you’re better off visiting a different themed restaurant.
Alice’s Fantasy Restaurant (絵本の国のアリス)
〒160-0021 東京都新宿区歌舞伎町1-6-2 T-wing ビルB2
Ph: +81 3-3207-9055
View Comments (15)
I have no idea how expensive it was in AU$ but all dishes look like something that a regular housewife would make for her children.
When I was there, AUD$1 was ¥93, so the most expensive dish was just under AUD$11 which isn't too expensive, but for the same price in Japan you can get a much better meal.
But you're quite correct, the dishes weren't particularly out of the ordinary!
I was in Japan just recently as well! I miss the ramen over there a lot. Shame about the seasoning especially because the presentation is quite cute haha.
OMG, the Cheshire cats!! Haha, so many weird theme restaurants. I wanted to go to a ninja bar in Shibuya, I think, where costumed 'ninjas' jump out of places... :D
Ooo I did read about that and wanted to go but didn't get to on this trip, next time! There will be another themed-restaurant post coming up soon :)
Oooh great tip! I'll have to go for a look when I'm next in Japan.
shame about the food there, themed restaurants are my weakness!
This one was the only not-so-good themed restaurant we went to thankfully. The other one was much better :)
Bumper about the dishes but the presentation looks kawaii at least :D
So kawaii! Perfect for photos
aww shame about the food but how cute is the presentation!!
I love the idea of Japan so so much but have yet to go. I will hit you up for some recommendations when I do. I think when you know a restaurant is 'gimmicky' you kind of expect the food to not be as good as others, price-wise, so it's really the experience that counts. All in all, good to see your review on it so people researching it have an idea of what to expect. Thanks for this!
Yes definitely! I've been so many times, so I have quite a few tips :)
Some gimmicky restaurants are pretty good, but not all provide the best experience either unfortunately!
First trip to Japan last year, def not last. Shame the food wasn't much chop but these pix are v cool.