Every year for her birthday, I take Sachi to a fancy restaurant (Sachi reciprocates on my birthday exactly three months later). This time I chose a place in Ebisu, where Sachi used to work (she worked in Ebisu, not at the restaurant). It’s called the Cardenas Charcoal Grill, and is really, really good.

The place is about 4 or 5 minute’s walk from JR Ebisu Station. You go down to the basement level, but the ceilings are so high you figure that it reaches up to the 1st floor that way. Fearing cigarette smoke, I had asked for a private room, but when we got there, the room was just a cramped side room kept way too hot by an air conditioner in the ceiling. We opted for the main dining area and did not regret it–it was virtually smoke-free (the smokers were in another area, I gathered) and far more pleasant.

We started off with two beers and a nice Caesar Salad, which was tasty though not phenomenal. Around this time they brought the bread, which also was not fantastic–but they served it with a whipped butter with maple flavoring, which was fantastic. Then we got a small plate of fois gras with pita bread, which was very tasty if you can get past the animal-cruelty part.

Alas, the lighting was very low and our iPhones not all that great at low-light photography–but you can get the idea from these snapshots.

Then we got a less politically-incorrect plate, a chicken-and-avocado tortilla roll with fresh salsa. It was dominated with vegetables to the point that I didn’t really taste or even see the chicken or avocado, but we didn’t mind, it had a very rich yet light flavor and was very good.

About this time we got a decanter of a Chilean Pinot Noir (Pinot is my personal favorite) which was excellent, and I had a nice Sangria on the side (which had a wonderful flavor accented surprisingly well by a bit of mint).

But then came the main course: I had a U.S. sirloin steak, Sachi the “Platinum Pork,” and both were, as I often put such things, “pure evil.” Both came with a serving of bacon-and-something mashed potatoes. Mine was topped by a slab of butter, Sachi’s pork was accompanied by a sole spare rib (Sachi passed on it and I devoured it). Both were as good as they sound.

Finally, it being Sachi’s birthday, we finished it off with a plate of small cakes lit with a candle and two sparklers. There were maybe eight small cake pieces and two medium daubs of ice cream (vanilla and strawberry ice). The best cakes were a rich chocolate almost-brownie and a very soft cheesecake.

The total damage came to about ¥16,000 (about $160), which was not bad considering that the decanter of wine alone cost about ¥3400 and the dessert plate was about ¥2000. For the rest to cost only about $50 a person was pretty impressive; I would have expected it to cost more. If you’re willing to spend that amount but not be bled dry for a very nice dinner, try this place out.