Cicada: Familiar flavours with an exotic touch

25 May

We’ve been celebrating the kangaroo’s birthday since the weekend before last — he actually declared the whole month as his. He’s been training and dieting for our half-marathon that’s happening at the end of May but his birthday has been a solid excuse for indulging: “Let’s have a beer — it’s my birthday”, “Ooo, that chocolate is soooo good, let’s have another — it’s my birthday”. LOL!

So on the eve of his actual birthday (it was a Saturday), I took him out on a date to Cicada where their anchovy-marinated lamb chops are known to be excellent.

Located in Hiroo, this warm enclave of gaijins, good wine, and big portions is definitely the antithesis of Japanese restaurants. I wouldn’t coin this a very romantic place to dine because it had a bustling atmosphere but the food was most certainly top-notch.

Although the menu is geared towards the Mediterranean, you’d find familiar favourites like seared scallops, pasta, and risotto side by side with chicken tangine, babaganoush, and tabbouleh.

One piece of advice: don’t over order. Treat this like you would a Western restaurant outside of Japan. We ordered two appetizers each plus a main which was way too much, but alas, it was after all his birthday.

Babaganoush with lightly salted toasted flat bread — so savoury and delicious that we couldn’t get enough of it. The chopped parsley was just the perfect touch to take it from ordinary to thoughtful. A tray of this same bread was complimentary so we had two portions which was a lot…

Roasted calamari stuffed with prosciutto. “Wow, this is so good!” exclaimed the kangaroo.

These Moroccan crab cakes are a house speciality so he had to try them which got the thumbs up from him, too. The sauce was a coriander puree that made it even more delicious according to the kangaroo.

The zucchini and feta cheese fritters I ordered were great in concept but it was way too salty. I spotted crystals of rock salt on the little patties and brushed them off but they were still too salty for comfort.

The lamb chops were the only reason why I chose this restaurant — you have no idea how hard it is to find good-sized lamb chops in Tokyo at a reasonable price. And yes they were very good.

My pesto gnocchi was lovely — they were pretty heavy handed with the olive oil but that’s the way I like my pesto. It gave the dish a smooth slippery texture while the cheese was subtle and the beans were an unusual touch to the pasta. All in all, a great vegetarian dish with lots of flavour but it was so filling that I couldn’t finish it.

I also have to give them brownie points for changing the chicken stock to a vegetarian one. I mentioned to the waitress that we would like one meat appetizer and one veggie one to come out together because we weren’t really sharing (I was sharing mine but I didn’t touch the kangaroo’s ^_^) and that I’m a vegetarian. Our server didn’t even bat an awkward eyelash and offered to tailor my pesto dish in my favour. I would’ve given a big tip if not for the fact that tips are not accepted in Japan.