While looking online for attractions in Tokyo Brandon wanted to see, my wonderful hubby found, NINJA, one of Tokyo’s Top 10 Themed Restaurants. We decided our recent long weekend trip was the time to explore the Ninja hideout and enjoy their Ninja food. Since it’s location is super-secret (well, maybe not all that “secret”), we decided to schedule a 4.5 hour flight delay (well, perhaps we didn’t actually “schedule” it) to throw any would-be trackers off our trail. We flew from Naha to Haneda (Tokyo), ran to catch a train, then ran to catch the metro. There was no way we were going to be responsible for anybody finding the NINJA hideout. After all that running (carrying heavy backpacks), we were only five minutes late for our rendezvous with the seating hostess.
This is the area of Tokyo where NINJA is located.
And as we know we can trust you all, the hideout is the almost-unmarked building below. You can see the small lighted “NINJA” sign that serves as the marker for the restaurant.
The seating hostess clapped her hands to call in the ninja who was to lead us to the ninja town/hideout. He magically appeared from the ceiling and climbed down the wall to greet us. He then proceeded to take us through a number of darkly lit, twisty-turny passageways where Brandon just about knocked himself out on a crossbeam. After one particularly perilous turn, our ninja guide “slipped” and almost landed on spears jutting up from an un-passable stream. Fortunately, he used his “ninja magic” (this was a phrase used frequently throughout the evening) and called for a drawbridge which lowered to allow us safe passage over the water.
The attention to detail throughout the restaurant was awesome! Here’s a small fountain that was at the bottom of the loft where our table was located.
Once we were seated, our ninja server appeared. He offered us the menu on a scroll.
There were three other tables near us which slowly filled up by the time were were done with our meal, but we had the loft to ourselves in the beginning. (There were also many other seating areas below us.)
One of the ninja hidden treasures in the wall near our table.
And for your Disney fans, here’s a “hidden Mickey!” (We assume someone from Disney ate here and signed the wall.)
Brandon ordered a delicious mango frozen drink to start the meal. The menu items all had clever ninja names…and I could tell you what they were, but then we’d have to kill you. hehehe Top secret, you know.
We ordered an appetizer of some sort of “Forbidden Fruit” that was outstanding! A candied apple that Brandon loved filled with four pieces of marinated duck that melted in your mouth!
Truly amazing!
Brandon’s main course was duck with something green and slightly crunchy on top. It was so tasty – even though we still have no idea what the green stuff was!
My main dish was glazed salmon in a sweet rice porridge. While we were prepared for subpar food and a cool dining experience, we were truly blown away by the gourmet food and awesome atmosphere. I think this is one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten anywhere in the world!
During our outstanding meal, a ninja magician appeared to entertain us with his “ninja magic.”
We had so much fun interacting with him! Made him laugh many times throughout his routine. Don’t think he was used to many English-speakers with such great sense of humor! hehehe
He did a very cool three-part card trick during the routine that ended up with the card I signed being the same card Brandon signed and being somehow sealed in an envelope in a special ninja wallet.
Very impressive!
Then came the dessert. A gold leaf covered ice cream dessert. (Brandon ate this one – I just couldn’t get over eating the gold leaf. Make crafts with it sometime, sure – eat it, no thanks.)
I did eat our cheesecake frog, though! Isn’t he adorable?! He tasted very Japanese-cheesecake, too! Yummy!
Excellent food, wonderful entertainment, and an overall awesome evening! We’d highly recommend NINJA and would love to go back sometime! Perhaps next time our server’s “ninja magic” will be strong enough to make our bill disappear (he thought our final request was hilarious, once he understood what we were asking)– when we asked, he said he’d keep practicing. hehehe All-in-all, a wonderful night to remember!
