Falling prey to our usual holiday shopping procrastination, we spent an exhausting late-December day jostling with Harajuku crowds before happening upon Apartment Café. To our weary eyes and tired legs, the restaurant's street-side setting, funky interior, and promising menu all beckoned us, and soon we had collapsed, bags and all, into a couple of its well-cushioned chairs.

Our spirits revived further after uncorking a bottle of fruity Finca Flichman Chardonnay (¥2,600) from Argentina, a selection well matched to the kitchen's first offering, grilled sea bass (¥900). Served on a heavy white oval plate, the dish boasted a Mom-pleasing array of vegetables: haricots verts, negi, zucchini, and intensely flavored green and red peppers, all piled against the fish, which itself sat on a layer of caramelized onions. Perfectly cooked, flaky, and light, the white-meat bass was a hit.

Now quite perky, we next sampled honey roasted wild duck (¥980), served as thin strips of well-done kamo crusted with crushed white peppercorns. The rich gravy was both meaty and sweet, accompanied by apricot slices, while the dollop of mashed potatoes was heavy, milky and yummy. Apartment Café's shrimp-macaroni gratin (¥750) puts to shame most other versions served around town, with each element—al dente pasta, juicy shrimp, chunky mushrooms, salty white sauce—clearly prepared from scratch. One misstep, however, was the tuna and avocado spring roll (¥700). The Vietnamese-style roll is a ubiquitous dish in Tokyo these days, and Apartment Café seems to have added theirs, fresh-tasting yet bland and uninspired, as an afterthought. We had better luck with grilled chicken (¥900). The tender leg and wing were sprinkled with rosemary and topped with a rich brown sauce, and served with a halved tomato baked with a topping of parmesan cheese.

Nearing our limit, we nevertheless decided to top things off with hot chocolate cake (¥500), which our waiter claimed would take about 10 minutes to prepare. By this time, our faith in the kitchen was implicit, so we settled down and sipped a latte (¥550). Our trust was rewarded, as the small cake was brownie-like in texture, piping hot and covered with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.