It’s not often we spend a meal with necks craned, staring into the sky above, but it’s hard not to at Garb Pintino. The Mediterranean restaurant is located a stone’s throw from the foot of Tokyo Tower, which soars above the terrace like you’ve never seen it before.

Garb Pintino is an ambitious undertaking. Its spacious premises and slick design—not to mention its well-hyped opening—created high expectations and we were eager to see if there was substance behind the style. 
Perhaps we were a little too eager. On our first visit, barely a week after the launch, the teething problems were obvious. The hip servers with their bright T-shirts and brilliant smiles were still finding their feet, as was the barman, whose mojitos (¥1,000) left a lot to be desired. (Our Japanese companion said that some bars here don’t consider a cocktail to be a cocktail unless it includes three types of alcohol, and these were “Japanese mojitos.”) 

To be fair to the chef, the quality of the food was surprisingly consistent for such a young kitchen, although we found the filet mignon (¥2,800) overpriced for the size of the morsels on the plate, top-quality Miyagi beef or not. The mushroom pot pie (¥950) was a good recommendation from the waiter, and our rumbling stomachs demanded more, but ultimately we left unsatisfied.

Returning for lunch a few weeks later we were genuinely pleased to find a more professional operation in evidence. The midday menu, available 11:30am-2:30pm, ranged from curry rice (¥1,000) to four-course fish and meat sets (¥1,600). We chose the latter options, which started with a simple green salad with an olive oil and orange dressing, or seafood soup, followed by hors d’oeuvre of tsubugai shell fish or marinated chicken breast. The tender beef came piled on a mound of mashed potato and succulent grilled vegetables in a rich red-wine sauce, and the snapper was cooked to perfection, served with asari clams in a cream sauce that complimented rather than overwhelmed the fish. 

It was superb value, we agreed as we sipped our notably well-made espressos and lattes (lunch drinks ¥300) in the sun. Catching sight of the DJ booth just inside the door, we daydreamed of mid-summer parties, the terrace spilling over with revelers, and the illuminated Tower looming overhead.