{"id":2949,"date":"2025-11-11T20:00:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T03:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=2949"},"modified":"2025-11-11T20:00:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T03:00:32","slug":"we-almost-cried-on-our-first-visit-to-this-under-the-radar-budget-italian-restaurant-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=2949","title":{"rendered":"We almost cried on our first visit to this under-the-radar budget Italian restaurant in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Was our Saizeriya-fan reporter on the verge of tears of happiness or despair as his world was been turned upside down?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

If someone were to ask our Japanese-language reporter Ahiruneko<\/strong> what the best chain restaurant in Japan is, he would quickly respond \u201cSaizeriya.\u201d<\/strong> He\u2019s made no pretense of hiding his love for the family-style Italian chain with a broad menu<\/a>, known for its super budget-dining prices<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In fact, he\u2019s so devoted to Saizeriya that he\u2019s never even stepped foot inside a different Italian-style chain called Olive Hill<\/strong>, managed by the Zensho Group. Part of the reason is that there are far fewer branches of the latter, with only 10 of them located within Tokyo as of this writing. Furthermore, six out of those are found outside of Tokyo\u2019s 23 central wards, making them less accessible to those who live and work in the main part of the city.<\/p>\n

\u25bc Exterior of an Olive Hill location<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Recently, Ahiruneko became determined to try Olive Hill out, however, so he made his way to the most convenient branch for him by taking the train to Tachikawa Station\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2026then transferring onto the Tama Toshi Monorail Line\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2026and eventually getting off at Izumi-Taiikukan Station.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After a short walk, the Olive Hill branch came into sight. Its big sign would be hard to miss!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He went inside and sat down. Unlike Saizeriya, Olive Hill utilizes tablets for ordering.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Even though it was the middle of the day, Ahiruneko couldn\u2019t resist looking at the drink menu. He was surprised to see Birra Moretti<\/strong>, an Italian beer, on the menu for 605 yen (US$3.94)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This was already something that Saizeriya doesn\u2019t have!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cTruly outrageous,\u201d he thought, as he took a deep and satisfying gulp.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Something else he was very curious about was the selection of side dishes to go along with drinking. It looked like most of them were capped at about 319 yen\u2013prices that also put Saizeriya to shame. Here are the two that he ordered.<\/p>\n

\u25bc Marinated Japanese pilchard sourced from Choshi, Chiba (319 yen)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u25bc Liver p\u00e2t\u00e9 bruschetta (319 yen)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yep\u2013it was an unquestionable win for Olive Hill. Even just these two dishes alone filled the existing gaps in Saizeriya\u2019s menu.<\/p>\n

The pilchard was of an unbelievably high quality for a family-style restaurant chain. Perhaps it was because Olive Hill is a sister restaurant to Hama Sushi<\/a>, also managed by the Zensho Group? Either way, it was astounding to him that this super-good fish was just over 300 yen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Similarly, the chicken liver p\u00e2t\u00e9 with its pink peppercorn accents proved to be an excellent accompaniment to the bruschetta that was toasted and coated with olive oil and garlic. It was a perfect plate for snacking and nibbling on with no strong liver odor.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In fact, it made him practically obligated to order a glass of red white to accompany it. His impression was that it was slightly deeper and richer than Saizeriya\u2019s red wine.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The house wine (either red or white)<\/strong> was 209 yen per glass.<\/strong> A decanter<\/strong> cost 759 yen<\/strong>, almost double the price of Saizeriya\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Now, onto the main food menu. For the most part, Olive Hill\u2019s menu offers similar things as Saizeriya, but one dish piqued Ahiruneko\u2019s interest: the herb-seasoned pork porchetta (860 yen)<\/strong>. He didn\u2019t know what porchetta was, so he decided to order it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He took a moment to admire the roast, which gave off a strong impression of traditional Italian cooking. The plate also looked like it could be from a stylish bar and not a family-style chain.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The texture was incredibly tender. He would have gobbled it all up quickly if he didn\u2019t pace himself. It also paired perfectly with the red wine due to its complex spicy and balsamic flavors.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For a final bite, he wanted to order the aglio e olio pasta (429 yen) to compare it to Saizeriya\u2019s equivalent dish, but the menu item under it caught his eye and he ended up ordering the Gorgonzola cream penne (715 yen)<\/strong> instead. It was so good that he thought it would easily be able to sneak onto the menu at a privately owned restaurant for over 1,000 yen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Of course, just to optimize the taste, he ordered a last glass of house white wine. His budget day-drinking was accomplished.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On a final note, he appreciated the touch that every table at Olive Hill had its own unlimited powdered cheese and Tabasco sauce.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

By the end of his meal, Ahiruneko was on the verge of tears, going through a bit of an identity crisis. While he still loves Saizeriya, his dining experience at Olive Hill was so next-level that he almost felt like impulsively moving in order to be closer to a restaurant location.<\/strong> He also made a mental note to come here on his birthday. In fact, he wouldn\u2019t even be upset if our boss planned the company\u2019s end-of-year celebration here<\/a>\u2013that\u2019s just how darn good it was.<\/p>\n

Photos \u00a9 SoraNews24<\/em>
\n\u25cf Want to hear about SoraNews24\u2019s latest articles as soon as they\u2019re published? Follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Was our Saizeriya-fan reporter on the verge of tears of happiness or despair as his world was been turned upside down? If someone were to ask our Japanese-language reporter Ahiruneko…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2949\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}