A little while ago, I wrote about a particular sweets buffet chain in Tokyo. This post is similar in vein, but definitely more ritzy. Located in the main floor of a hotel, Hapuna doesn't hold much back from its visitors.
We had a reservation on a Saturday evening, so right after I finished my shift we took a train bound for Shinagawa. At the time, the 2019 Rugby World Cup was still happening, so the area around Shinagawa had a lot of Europeans. I caught a lot of British accents and French flying around in the area. It began to rain heavily when we arrived at the station. Luckily the hotel was only a two minute walk away.
At the time, I had no idea that we were going to be eating at a hotel restaurant, so I was honestly a little bit uncomfortable that we ended up at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. Prince Hotels is a one of the bigger hotel chains in Japan, and is one of the core companies of the Seibu Group. I was wearing my work suit, but I was still self-conscious about being there. Luckily, the restaurant was almost directly after the entrance of the hotel, so we didn't have to venture far to get to it.
We lined up to wait for our appointed time behind a few people, and in minutes we were let in. My girlfriend and I were led to a massive banquet hall that was lit darker than the lobby we were previously in. Right after turning the corner, the wide selection of food sections were visible, and there were many dark, wooden tables with leather chairs set up all around. The hall was decorated minimally, but where there were showpieces, they were in a tropical style. The staff uniform seemed to match the theme, as they all wore Hawaiian shirts. The staff leading us in sat us down at a table for two and explained that there were multiples drink bars in the area before leaving us to our devices.
Almost immediately after the staff left, we got up and took to a buffet line. Our first hit was the meats and vegetables section. This line had curries and other meats cooked in various ways. They had kangaroo meatloaf, sausages, shu-mai and some of the best sweet-and-sour Chinese pork I've had, among other things. At the end of this line was a kids section as well, and my girlfriend had to curb my gluttony and stop me from taking food from there.
After a second helping from the same line, we went to the bread and seafood section. The seafood offered here was of cooking that I haven't seen before. There was jellyfish salad, tuna tartare, and smoked salmon of a different recipe. There were salads offered here as well, but just as before, I was not interested in leaves. Oddly, there was a corner in this little island section reserved for different kinds of bread. I had more bread than the seafood items though, but that might be more indicative of my personal preferences rather than the actual food.
While we worked on this plate of food, a bell sounded from the large meats section. Neither of us expected it, but there was a live cutting of a tuna. I didn't take any photos at the time, as there was a large crowd gathered to watch the butchering of a fish carcass and my phone wasn't able to focus on anything with the large amount of people moving about. The performance went on for about ten minutes (tunas are huge, by the way) during which they served nigiri sushi (raw fish slices on top of rice.) The lineup for this sushi was lengthy, so I decided to wait until the tuna was almost gone to get some myself. Perhaps it wasn't the best move, as the sushi I got was decent but nothing to write about.
The drink bars were the same for all sections, we were told. They offered a handful of teas including mint, jasmine, and rooibos. There were also soda and coffee machines. The coffee machines were able to make cups of espresso or lattes to a customizable degree. You could creat as much or as little foam as you want. Being overconfident, I tried to make a London Fog latte. Being totally inexperienced in making coffee, I chose to use a mint tea bag and completely ruined my drink with the latte machine.
Once we were moderately full and ready to work on our second stomach, we went over to the dessert section. This had a chocolate fondue fountain, and you could dip fruits, donuts, and marshmallows that were offered for pickup on plates adjacent to it. Primarily though, the cakes, ice creams, and more complicated pastries were stored in a cooler. We had to ask for the staff manning the island section to get them for us. Other sweets included mousse of different kinds and individual cups of miscellaneous sweets like creme brulee.
We finished our (gluttonous, unsurprisingly expensive) meal within the time limit of two hours that we were alotted. There were more visitors by the time we walked up to the counter, and I assumed that they were the next wave of buffet patrons. I believe the restaurant only takes reservations as they control the time spent inside. Overall, I was pleased with the experience, and if I have the spare money lying around, I would definitely go again.
As always thanks for reading!
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