A Beach Front Vista...

Taverna Rondino cuts a striking figure on the Kamakura beachfront vista with its two-storey mustard yellow outfit. And from its sun-kissed patio, it offers up a postcard perfect view of the ocean with its team of zealous surfers. In addition to its gorgeous seascape, the food served here definitely merits that potential gridlock drive from downtown Tokyo to Kamakura and back. A typical lunch at Taverna Rondino can easily stretch to a 3-4 hour long affair especially when one is lucky enough to snag a seat on the patio. And kudos to the service staff for they are always patient and cool as cucumbers even when patrons overstay their welcome;)

I don't know if it is really the salt in the air or just one of those unexplainable theories but dining by the sea really does wonders to one's appetite. My two compatriots and moi managed a gluttonous feat of 3 appetisers, 5 mains and a round of dessert each. Oh, not to mention the 2 bottles of sparkling wine which we polished off during the course of our meal. We would have made it a trio if it was not for the fact that someone had to stay sober for the drive back:(

To set the waves a-crashing, so to speak, we decided to go for the quick kill and chose a platter of cold appetisers, meant only to temporarily appease our ferocious appetites;) Ten eye-popping varieties beckoned to us from their glass enclosure, with the ocean's freshest sitting proud and incandescent from a good dose of extra virgin olive oil. Two orders of bruschetta followed in rapid succession. Sigh...tomatoes and sweet basil do make for superb coupling, I must say!

The pasta dishes here are the apple of my eye. Whether it is fettuccine or linguine, tomato or cream based sauces, bay scallops or porcini mushrooms, they all turned up al dente and just simply delicious. This time round, I had a go at the lasagna frutti di mare. Instead of the conventional gooey cheese casserole dish, Taverna Rondino's take was swankier. Pasta sheets interspersed with heaps of fresh seafood were the order of the day. The thinly crusted wood-oven fired pizzas were another great contribution to the success of this all-rounder of an Italian restaurant. A word of caution, if you decide to go for the prosciutto ham and rocket combo, the sea breeze can and will wreck helluva havoc on your pizza as with one swoosh, the leaves are left suspended in mid-air.

Feeling mighty pleased with our exploits of the afternoon, we decided to call it a day and promptly rounded off the meal with some liqour-laced tiramisu and espresso.

Sunbaked with the sea breeze gently tugging at our tresses, I can't think of a better dining spot than Taverna Rondino.

Taverna Rondino
Address: 2-6-11 Kanagawa Inamuragasaki, 248-0024 Kamakura, Japan Telephone: 0467-25-4355
Michelin: None