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Our Review of The Pizza Bar on 38th is from our 2020 stay at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo. Italian may not be the first thing that comes to mind when considering what to eat in Tokyo, but for any wood fired pizza lover, it's worth seeking out. TravelSort Clients enjoy a $100 equivalent hotel credit that can be used towards dining at The Pizza Bar as part of their exclusive Mandarin Oriental Fan Club benefits.
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The Pizza Bar on 38th Location and Hours
As implied by its name, The Pizza Bar on 38th is on the 38th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo Hotel, just off of the lobby, in a corner of the K'shiki Italian Restaurant.
It serves lunch daily from 11:30am-3:30pm and dinner from 5:30-10:30pm. Since there are just 8 seats, we highly recommend making a reservation in advance, by emailing the dining team at motyo-fbres@mohg.com.
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The Pizza Bar on 38th Menu and Food
The food may be rustic, but The Pizza Bar is a bit fancier than most pizzerias, with its marble bar and champagne flutes.
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In a nod to its location in Japan, oshibori (moist towels) were provided to cleanse our hands.
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The pizza menu offered both classics such as the Bufala, with fresh buffalo mozzarella, tomato and basil, and twists on favorites such as Pizzino, with mascarpone cheese, black olives, and truffle essence, or the Cinque Formaggi, with five cheeses, which we ordered. There are also salads and selections of Italian cheeses and cold cuts.
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We started off with a tasty amuse bouche of white asparagus:
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Next our son and I shared a tomato salad, which the chef kindly split for us. The cherry tomatoes were perfectly ripe, but the larger tomatoes could have been a bit riper and sweeter.
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My husband opted for the wild arugula and tomato salad, which proved a nice fresh counterpoint to the rich pizza.
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The Cinque Formaggi pizza of course was the highlight. The crust is incredibly light, thanks to the finely milled organic flour and the 48 hours of fermentation that the dough undergoes. The smoked scamorza cheese went especially well with the truffle honey that the pizza was served with.
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The pizza chef, who originally hailed from the Philippines but had been working in Tokyo for years, couldn't have been more personable and hospitable. When he heard that our son had longed to return to this restaurant since his first visit three years ago, he organized this surprise dessert that we all shared, with a Welcome Back greeting.
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The Verdict
True to our son's memory, the pizza at The Pizza Bar on 38th was fantastic. But what really made this a most memorable return visit was the Pizza Chef's warm and welcoming demeanor, including the surprise welcome back dessert he organized for us. We highly recommend a lunch or dinner reservation here for pizza lovers, whether or not they're staying at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo.
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