Pull on your comfy pants because there’s no time limits at this restaurant.

A lot of places around Japan offer all-you-can-eat deals, but Starbucks isn’t usually one of those places.

However, as our Japanese-language reporter Yuuichiro Wasai discovered recently, there is one Starbucks where you can eat to your heart’s content, and unlike a lot of other deals, there’s no time limit to the stuff-your-face experience.

▼ The offer is available at the Starbucks Reserve Ginza Marronnier-dori store, and only from 5:00 p.m. each day.

Advance reservations are required, although it’s proven to be so popular with the masses that Yuuichiro had to try over 50 times before he was able to grab a reservation online. Reservations open one week in advance, so Yuuichiro recommends checking the site early in the morning a week before you want to go.

Once you’ve got that all-important reservation, you’ll be dining at the Apericena restaurant on the second floor, which takes its name from a combination of the words “aperitif” (apéritif) and “chena” (supper).

▼ When Yuuichiro arrived and was seated, staff first asked him to select a drink from the drinks menu.

As the restaurant is Italian-inspired you’ll find some Italian favourites like Aperol and Campari on the list, as well as fruity flavours like arancia (orange) and melograno (pomegranate). While one beverage is included in the deal, it’s not an all-you-can-drink affair but an all-you-can-eat one, and the variety of food on offer is so vast and ever-changing it’s simply listed on the menu as “and so on“.

To find out what “and so on” entails, Yuuichiro headed over to the food counter, where he feasted his eyes on options like frittatas, pizzas, and sausages.

Unlike a regular buffet, this one is operated by staff, which means diners simply head over to the counter and ask staff to fill a plate for them. All-you-can-eat diners receive a special tag which they need to show to staff so they can get new plates of food as many times as they like.

▼ It’s pretty great to have staff on hand to arrange everything from the buffet on a plate for you.

Yuuichiro started with the liver & sultana raisin pate, which turned out to be his favourite morsel of the night. The freshly baked crusty bread was a nice touch, and everything tasted delicious! Our reporter wasn’t shy about getting refills either, as he went back to the counter five times, where staff gave him a few different things on occasion to keep his taste buds wanting more.

For 3,080 yen (US$24.57), this was a gem of a find in Tokyo’s swanky Ginza neighbourhood, presenting great value for the quality and amount of food on offer. The only thing that would make this deal even better would be the addition of an all-you-can-drink option for diners, but given that you can eat as much as you like for as long as you like until closing time, Yuuichiro certainly wasn’t complaining.

If you’d like to transport your taste buds to Italy, inside an American coffeehouse chain in the heart of Tokyo, an evening at Apericena will tick all your boxes. Just remember to wear your comfy pants to accommodate the post-meal belly expansion, because you won’t be able to resist the pizzas here — they’re worthy of the hype that made them famous.

Restaurant Information

Starbucks Reserve Roastery Ginza Marronnier-dori / スターバックスリザーブストア銀座マロニエ通り
Address: Tokyo, to, Chuo-ku, Ginza 3-7-3 
東京都中央区銀座3-7-3銀座オーミビル
Hours: 7:00a.m.-10:00 p.m. Apericena opens from 5:00 p.m. Hours may vary so please check the website.

Source, images: Starbucks Japan 
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[ Read in Japanese ]