A Japanese friend Y who married her English boyfriend some couple of years ago and moved to the UK came for a visit recently with her 1-year-old daughter. And coincidentally, a Malaysian friend P who married her Spanish boyfriend is leaving Japan for Madrid next week. So the group of us gathered for a dinner at this place in Omotesando called Crayon House because it’s supposedly kid-friendly.
I didn’t take a look at the details but as P informed us it was going to be a buffet, I simply imagined the regular fare you see at every other buffet everywhere else.
Kid-friendly Crayon House. The name and concept itself gives a lot of information about the place. Misleading information perhaps. When P told me the shop name and that it was children-friendly, I had assumed that the tables had plain white papers for “table cloth” and provides crayons for children to doodle on them with. But arriving at the place, I saw none of it. Neither crayons nor paper.
I got to the place decorated with very simple and down-to-earth design in its interior, and felt surprised that the buffet actually costs 2,700 yen per person, because the shop doesn’t look what it charges. I arrived at the table with Y, P, and Taiwanese friend C all staring into their phones. Even Y’s little girl M was staring at the phone playing some children cartoon.
I crept up from behind and tapped lightly on M’s shoulder. She immediately responded by grabbing my finger and greeted me with her wide, beautiful smile. M is a very sociable kid. She has no qualms about befriending a stranger who shows interest in her. And I wish this can remain through the years as she grows up to be a fine adult she can be. Sometimes, it gets a little depressing seeing how children, when faced with the realities of the world, gradually grow to be less like what they were as a child.
Despite it being a buffet dinner, I saw there wasn’t much on either of their plates. And neither do any of them show any interest in getting more. I looked around and saw a row of tables with what looks to be the dinner I was going to get. I looked around and back at the table again. Perturbed, I asked, “Is that all?” And P went, “Yes,” with an apologetic frown.
I headed to the table with my plate and went straight for what looked like a tasty fried dish. The sign read “Ebi-fry” and I thought, “Awesome!” Then I read on and saw… “-styled carrot.” I looked to the right again and saw the sign that reads, “Crayon House Organic Restaurant.”
Oh dear…
Glancing down the row of tables, apart from the meatball, the rest were all vegetables and rice, and they were presented so cheaply like a school canteen, I really wondered why they decided to charge so much and why people actually eat there. I had thought apart from being labeled “organic,” it probably tastes good enough to warrant a hefty sum of 2,700 yen for just simply cooked vegetables, but I was wrong. It doesn’t taste good. The taste is so plain, anybody’s mum can do a better job.
Taste: 6/10 (←being kind already)
Environment: 5/10
Will I go there again? No. Do I recommend it? No. Was it worth the money? No.
“Sometimes, it gets a little depressing seeing how children, when faced with the realities of the world, gradually grow to be less like what they were as a child.”
What do you mean by this, Jin Han? Do you have a first hand account to describe?
I’ve seen kids who are so sociable but suddenly start to feel shy and withdraw from strangers when they turn 2-3 years old. Maybe that’s Adam and Eve went through when they ate the apple. But I’m not a Christian, just some random thoughts.