I loved the design of this restaurant.

The bar - look at the antipasti - it looks deli fresh!

The English menu.

Cute interior. I like the cloths over the lights... But do they ever catch fire?

Linguine with duck ragu sauce - ¥1400

Pizza margherita - ¥1050.

These people knew about Il Bacaro.

You really wouldn’t know this place existed if it weren’t for blogs or someone who reads blogs to take you there. So here I am, a person who reads blogs and a person who writes blogs telling you about Il Bacaro.

Tokyo is guilty of serving some truly awful “Italian” food, but Il Bacaro is not one of them. Cosy and relaxed, Il Bacaro is situated in the no man’s land between the station underground and the city above ground. It doesn’t look anything fancy, but the pastas will hit that “I’m really craving some unpretentious and hearty pasta” spot. The linguine with duck ragu (¥1400) was not overcooked, it was just simple, tasty and full of flavour. The pizzas weren’t the best I’ve had in Japan by any means – I felt that the base was too thin and crispy for my liking – so I would stick to the pastas and mains and save the pizzas for Life or Claudia. The linguine with scampi and tomato sauce looked impressive (¥1580) as did the various fish and meat dishes. It’s definitely a place to go back to and sample the other menu items.

The wines are well priced, and you can get a free glass of wine if you get this coupon. Or you can sit in the bar area and drink glasses of wine and snack on antipasto really cheaply. And I’m talking really cheaply – a glass of prosecco for ¥300 and antipasto from ¥100. You really can’t get much cheaper than that unless you go to one of those ¥270 izakayas which my Dad is a huge fan of.

I liked it here, the staff were cute, accommodating and a little bit giggly (funny coming from Japanese males, but it wasn’t in an annoying way), the food was great quality and I even had enough yens left over to go to the wine bar around the corner and treat myself to another glass.

So there you go, another good dining option in Shinjuku.

Il Bacaro’s details:

Nearest station: Shinjuku Sanchome
Address: Shinjuku 3-4-8 Saison Plaza B2, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Telephone: 03-5269-8528
Opening Hours: Monday – Friday 11:30 to 15:30; 17:00 to 23:00. Weekends 11:30 to 23:00.
English Menu: Yes, as well as Italian
Tip: Lunches start from a bargain ¥950. Also, check out the discount coupons here. (in Japanese only)