Name: Baird Beer
Style: Beer
Neighborhood: n/a
Website: www.bairdbeer.com
OK, so this isn't exactly a restarant review, but I ended up sampling some Baird Beer due to a wonderful specialty liquor store in my neighborhood. This stuff is awesome!
As you can see at their homepage, Baird Beer is a western-style microbrewery and associated brew pub in Shizuoka. However, they also have retail distribution and best of all, will ship anywhere in Japan. Unfortunately for you California readers, they can't ship overseas (though admittedley, you have other beers to console yourselves with!).
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
Mexican Party Place
Name: Zona Rosa
Neighborhood: Ebisu
Style: Mexican
Website: http://www.mic21.co.jp/
We had a party for all the foreign staff at work last Wednesday to celebrate the arrival of our two newest members, Ilija and Aasa. After trying unsuccessfully to arrange a trip to Ushi-tora,
we got a recommendation for this Mexican-style izakaya in Ebisu. It's very close to the East exit from Ebisu station.
While I can't say that their Mexican food will have any North American restaurants worried, Zona Rosa is a pretty good choice for an evening of fun. We got the nomihoudai / のみほうだい / 飲み放題 / all-you-can-drink along with a pre-set course for 4000円, which pretty much kept the drinks and food coming for a good two hours. Unlike a lot of places, there's actually a good selection of cocktails among the nomihoudai list so peoplel were trying all sort of Campari and Cassis options.
Neighborhood: Ebisu
Style: Mexican
Website: http://www.mic21.co.jp/
We had a party for all the foreign staff at work last Wednesday to celebrate the arrival of our two newest members, Ilija and Aasa. After trying unsuccessfully to arrange a trip to Ushi-tora,
we got a recommendation for this Mexican-style izakaya in Ebisu. It's very close to the East exit from Ebisu station.
While I can't say that their Mexican food will have any North American restaurants worried, Zona Rosa is a pretty good choice for an evening of fun. We got the nomihoudai / のみほうだい / 飲み放題 / all-you-can-drink along with a pre-set course for 4000円, which pretty much kept the drinks and food coming for a good two hours. Unlike a lot of places, there's actually a good selection of cocktails among the nomihoudai list so peoplel were trying all sort of Campari and Cassis options.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Nabe + Sashimi in Ebisu
Name: kotoshinonushi / ことしろぬし
Style: Japanese (stew / 鍋物)
Neighborhood: Ebisu
Website: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a718300/ but that's the website for the original shop a few blocks away; for the particular location we went to see http://www.hotpepper.jp/A_20700/strJ000003134.html
My friend Jill Smolin was in town for Interbee, the huge Japanese video equipment show that's the Japanese equivalent of NAB. She had a... difficult... eating situation with her group because doesn't eat red meat, and one of the other members of her group eats almost nothing else. One night she and her daughter Phoebe broke away so I suggested they come down to Ebisu.
Despite being a Thursday, it was a holiday evening in Tokyo since Friday was a national holiday. I was actually planning to go to Umu but when we got there it was (inexplicably) closed! And here I had been worrying we wouldn't get a seat...
We wandered around a bit and chose Kotoshironushi. They had nabe and oden, both popular foods among Japanese in winter, as well as sashimi courses (Jill had a jones for raw fish after the various group arrangements). We didn't get any oden (I don't really like Oden, which is various things cooked in hot water for a long time). However, the nabe at this place was awesome. We got a big pot of various vegetables and seafood which was cooked at the table. Just before it's ready, you take a trencher of minced chicken and throw it into the pot. It cooks almost instantly and makes the whole thing into an approximation of chicken soup. It was awesome.
The sashimi course we got was also delicious, saba (mackeral) was a standout. We got a few things to add on to that (the house salad is very recommended) but the nabe fills you up pretty well.
I'm glad Jill got a chance to experience a full-on Japanese meal, and that I got to find another good place in Ebisu!
Style: Japanese (stew / 鍋物)
Neighborhood: Ebisu
Website: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a718300/ but that's the website for the original shop a few blocks away; for the particular location we went to see http://www.hotpepper.jp/A_20700/strJ000003134.html
My friend Jill Smolin was in town for Interbee, the huge Japanese video equipment show that's the Japanese equivalent of NAB. She had a... difficult... eating situation with her group because doesn't eat red meat, and one of the other members of her group eats almost nothing else. One night she and her daughter Phoebe broke away so I suggested they come down to Ebisu.
Despite being a Thursday, it was a holiday evening in Tokyo since Friday was a national holiday. I was actually planning to go to Umu but when we got there it was (inexplicably) closed! And here I had been worrying we wouldn't get a seat...
We wandered around a bit and chose Kotoshironushi. They had nabe and oden, both popular foods among Japanese in winter, as well as sashimi courses (Jill had a jones for raw fish after the various group arrangements). We didn't get any oden (I don't really like Oden, which is various things cooked in hot water for a long time). However, the nabe at this place was awesome. We got a big pot of various vegetables and seafood which was cooked at the table. Just before it's ready, you take a trencher of minced chicken and throw it into the pot. It cooks almost instantly and makes the whole thing into an approximation of chicken soup. It was awesome.
The sashimi course we got was also delicious, saba (mackeral) was a standout. We got a few things to add on to that (the house salad is very recommended) but the nabe fills you up pretty well.
I'm glad Jill got a chance to experience a full-on Japanese meal, and that I got to find another good place in Ebisu!
Friday, October 26, 2007
Japanese Microbrew Heaven
Name: 牛虎/Ushi-tora
Style: Beer specialty restaurant
Neighborhood: 下北沢/Shimokitazawa
Website: http://blog.ushitora.jp/
I found this place through a notice in Metropolis, the English-language free weekly here in Tokyo. It's a godsend.
You see, Japanese beer is just fine. There's really nothing wrong with it. Except. It's all absolutely the same. Sapporo, Kirin, Asahi, and Ebisu are all light lagers, and they all come on basic, dry, and lite varieties. And in Japan, it's unheard of to stock something that's not one of those four.
Sure, occasionally a bar will "branch out" and stock a light lager from Mexico (always Corona) or Europe (usually Heineken). But outside of the "Belgian Beer Bar" specialty bars (which are cool, don't get me wrong), there's very little of the sort of tastier, hoppier, or more full-bodied beers I grew to love living in Northern California.
Thus, when I saw "over 100 beers" in the description of this Shimokitazawa establishment, I knew we had to go. One night after an installment of the Kurosawa film festival, we stopped in.
It lived up to billing! Of course, most of the 100 beers were in bottles, but in fact about 17 were on tap including, unheard of for Japan, 3 India Pale Ales! I was in heaven since IPAs are my favorite type of beer and are unheard of here.
The next pleasant surprise was that the food was yummy. It's pretty much the kind of small food orders available at many Japanese eateries, but very well-prepared and a couple dishes were standouts.
To finish off the evening, we tried a small glass of their Brandywine. If you've never tried a Brandywine before, they're a treat (my friend John Brown used to brew his own). It's a sweeter and *much* stronger beer; the name is because of the strength. Delicious, although it made a head-clearing walk home pretty much di rigeur.
Like most places in Shimokitazawa, Ushi-tora is easy to get to but hard to explain how to get to. The top right link on the website is the map, be sure to print it out and bring it along; Ushi-tora in on the second floor of a building, entrance from the balcony.
Style: Beer specialty restaurant
Neighborhood: 下北沢/Shimokitazawa
Website: http://blog.ushitora.jp/
I found this place through a notice in Metropolis, the English-language free weekly here in Tokyo. It's a godsend.
You see, Japanese beer is just fine. There's really nothing wrong with it. Except. It's all absolutely the same. Sapporo, Kirin, Asahi, and Ebisu are all light lagers, and they all come on basic, dry, and lite varieties. And in Japan, it's unheard of to stock something that's not one of those four.
Sure, occasionally a bar will "branch out" and stock a light lager from Mexico (always Corona) or Europe (usually Heineken). But outside of the "Belgian Beer Bar" specialty bars (which are cool, don't get me wrong), there's very little of the sort of tastier, hoppier, or more full-bodied beers I grew to love living in Northern California.
Thus, when I saw "over 100 beers" in the description of this Shimokitazawa establishment, I knew we had to go. One night after an installment of the Kurosawa film festival, we stopped in.
It lived up to billing! Of course, most of the 100 beers were in bottles, but in fact about 17 were on tap including, unheard of for Japan, 3 India Pale Ales! I was in heaven since IPAs are my favorite type of beer and are unheard of here.
The next pleasant surprise was that the food was yummy. It's pretty much the kind of small food orders available at many Japanese eateries, but very well-prepared and a couple dishes were standouts.
To finish off the evening, we tried a small glass of their Brandywine. If you've never tried a Brandywine before, they're a treat (my friend John Brown used to brew his own). It's a sweeter and *much* stronger beer; the name is because of the strength. Delicious, although it made a head-clearing walk home pretty much di rigeur.
Like most places in Shimokitazawa, Ushi-tora is easy to get to but hard to explain how to get to. The top right link on the website is the map, be sure to print it out and bring it along; Ushi-tora in on the second floor of a building, entrance from the balcony.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Singapore in Tokyo
Name: Hawker-style Chinese Canteen / 海南鶏飯食堂 (literally, "Hunan Chicken Rice Cafeteria")
Neighborhood: Ebisu / 恵比寿
Style: Singaporean
Website: http://www.route9g.com/map.html#2
After our trip to Singapore this June, we're always on the lookout for Singaporean food! Although this place isn't quite the equal of the venerable Straits Cafe in SF, it's pretty good!
Their signature dish is Chicken Rice, the ubiquitous hawker food in Singapore. Boiled chicken is served along with rice made from the leftover water from boiling the chicken, and of course a selection of yummy sauces. You can choose several serving sizes from ¥750 to ¥1200.
It was good to try some chicken rice, but frankly the highlight of the restaurant was the curries. This restaurant is quite a bit more upscale than the hawkers they take after, so their version of "Fish Head Curry" is "Fish Curry," made with actual meat. IIRC, it was ¥850.
Even more important, they have the delicious Singaporean panbread called Roti Prata. Unlike many Singaporean places where it's an appetizer with its own dipping sauce, here it's a rice substitute. So get several (they're priced at ¥180 per) and soak up that yummy fish curry.
We also had a vegetable dish, whose Oyster Sauce wasn't what I was expecting -- but my Chinese food expectations have been set by San Francisco, so I'm reluctant to call their version wrong.
I'll be back! Good date restaurant, open-air windows in the summer.
Neighborhood: Ebisu / 恵比寿
Style: Singaporean
Website: http://www.route9g.com/map.html#2
After our trip to Singapore this June, we're always on the lookout for Singaporean food! Although this place isn't quite the equal of the venerable Straits Cafe in SF, it's pretty good!
Their signature dish is Chicken Rice, the ubiquitous hawker food in Singapore. Boiled chicken is served along with rice made from the leftover water from boiling the chicken, and of course a selection of yummy sauces. You can choose several serving sizes from ¥750 to ¥1200.
It was good to try some chicken rice, but frankly the highlight of the restaurant was the curries. This restaurant is quite a bit more upscale than the hawkers they take after, so their version of "Fish Head Curry" is "Fish Curry," made with actual meat. IIRC, it was ¥850.
Even more important, they have the delicious Singaporean panbread called Roti Prata. Unlike many Singaporean places where it's an appetizer with its own dipping sauce, here it's a rice substitute. So get several (they're priced at ¥180 per) and soak up that yummy fish curry.
We also had a vegetable dish, whose Oyster Sauce wasn't what I was expecting -- but my Chinese food expectations have been set by San Francisco, so I'm reluctant to call their version wrong.
I'll be back! Good date restaurant, open-air windows in the summer.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Gyoza and Nothing but Gyoza
Name: Hakone Gyoza Center / 箱根餃子センター
Style: Gyoza!
Neighborhood: Choukoku no Mori in Hakone / 箱根の彫刻の森嬖
Website: http://www.gyozacenter.com/
Thanks to Ben's guidebook reading and persistent reminders, after we finished up at the Hakone Open Air Museum, we decided to walk a few minutes uphill to find a Gyoza specialty restaurant he had read about.
It was fun! We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table (it was a holiday weekend, after all), but then we sat down and selected from among the 20 or so kinds of Gyoza available (happily for me, including chicken and beef Gyoza). Everything we had was good, including the local Hakone-san / 箱根山 sake that Hunter tried!
While munching through all the food, we decided that a Gyoza specialty restaurant would do just fine in SF -- any restaurant investors out there?
Style: Gyoza!
Neighborhood: Choukoku no Mori in Hakone / 箱根の彫刻の森嬖
Website: http://www.gyozacenter.com/
Thanks to Ben's guidebook reading and persistent reminders, after we finished up at the Hakone Open Air Museum, we decided to walk a few minutes uphill to find a Gyoza specialty restaurant he had read about.
It was fun! We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table (it was a holiday weekend, after all), but then we sat down and selected from among the 20 or so kinds of Gyoza available (happily for me, including chicken and beef Gyoza). Everything we had was good, including the local Hakone-san / 箱根山 sake that Hunter tried!
While munching through all the food, we decided that a Gyoza specialty restaurant would do just fine in SF -- any restaurant investors out there?
Monday, August 27, 2007
Finally, decent Italian
Name: Pizzeria D'oro
Style: Italian
Neighborhood: Ebisu / 恵比寿
Website: http://www.metius-foods.com/
On Shuzo's recommendation, I checked out this Italian restaurant about 20 minutes from work. It's pretty good, possibly the best Italian I've had yet in Tokyo. I'm told even better Italian is available -- for a price -- but this will do. The mista antipasta was great, lots of yummy bite just like antipasta should be, and the pasta main course was good (Carbonara).
Of course, it's not cheap enough for everyday eating, but at least I know somewhere to go when Italian is needed now!
Style: Italian
Neighborhood: Ebisu / 恵比寿
Website: http://www.metius-foods.com/
On Shuzo's recommendation, I checked out this Italian restaurant about 20 minutes from work. It's pretty good, possibly the best Italian I've had yet in Tokyo. I'm told even better Italian is available -- for a price -- but this will do. The mista antipasta was great, lots of yummy bite just like antipasta should be, and the pasta main course was good (Carbonara).
Of course, it's not cheap enough for everyday eating, but at least I know somewhere to go when Italian is needed now!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Do the Cha Cha, Hana
Name: Cha Cha Hana / 茶茶花
Style: Japanese
Neighborhood: Shinjuku/Kabukicho
Website: None, but reviews of it are at Jellyfish, Yahoo Gourmet, and so forth. Google茶茶花.
After watching the disappointing Kagemusha (how that film was a co-winner of the Palme D'Or at Cannes I cannot say; perhaps it just illustrates the difference between a newly released film and having a couple decades of perspective on it), the good news was that any restaurant would have been good!
Cha Cha Hana is tucked away on a nice tree-lined walkway that curves through Shinjuku Sanchome (there's probably a story as to how this pleasant path came to be, too!). If you can ignore the occasional homeless person camped along the path, you'll eventually use your sharp eyes to spot the sign with a hand-written 花 kanji on it that shows were you step on the steppingstones, then across a narrow parallel path to find the restaurant door. If you've never been here before, even with a map, I would suggest scheduling a little extra time to find it!
The best part about 茶茶花 is the atmosphere; it has a very Japanese feel to it even though many of the materials are modern. The pictures on Jellyfish in particular give a good sense of what it's like.
This is billed as a 'dining bar', which it would be fair to interpret as meaning "upscale izakaya". You order smallish dishes individually, most of which range from ¥700-¥1300. Of course, as with any such place, the bill can add up; the good news is that it's largely under you control.
The sashimi course was excellent, and was probably the highlight of the evening. Sake, Saba, and Maguro were all melt-in-mouth fresh and tender. There was also an excellent vegetable course with kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) with a delicious white sauce, nagaiimo (Mountain Potato) in a sweet sauce, and tsukemono. Some of the other dishes were competent but lackluster, such as the beef nigiri (our local izakaya in San Mateo was better at that one).
Definitely a good option for a night in Shinjuku. On weekends, it's best to make a reservation; they were booked the whole night we were there (a Saturday).
Style: Japanese
Neighborhood: Shinjuku/Kabukicho
Website: None, but reviews of it are at Jellyfish, Yahoo Gourmet, and so forth. Google茶茶花.
After watching the disappointing Kagemusha (how that film was a co-winner of the Palme D'Or at Cannes I cannot say; perhaps it just illustrates the difference between a newly released film and having a couple decades of perspective on it), the good news was that any restaurant would have been good!
Cha Cha Hana is tucked away on a nice tree-lined walkway that curves through Shinjuku Sanchome (there's probably a story as to how this pleasant path came to be, too!). If you can ignore the occasional homeless person camped along the path, you'll eventually use your sharp eyes to spot the sign with a hand-written 花 kanji on it that shows were you step on the steppingstones, then across a narrow parallel path to find the restaurant door. If you've never been here before, even with a map, I would suggest scheduling a little extra time to find it!
The best part about 茶茶花 is the atmosphere; it has a very Japanese feel to it even though many of the materials are modern. The pictures on Jellyfish in particular give a good sense of what it's like.
This is billed as a 'dining bar', which it would be fair to interpret as meaning "upscale izakaya". You order smallish dishes individually, most of which range from ¥700-¥1300. Of course, as with any such place, the bill can add up; the good news is that it's largely under you control.
The sashimi course was excellent, and was probably the highlight of the evening. Sake, Saba, and Maguro were all melt-in-mouth fresh and tender. There was also an excellent vegetable course with kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) with a delicious white sauce, nagaiimo (Mountain Potato) in a sweet sauce, and tsukemono. Some of the other dishes were competent but lackluster, such as the beef nigiri (our local izakaya in San Mateo was better at that one).
Definitely a good option for a night in Shinjuku. On weekends, it's best to make a reservation; they were booked the whole night we were there (a Saturday).
Friday, June 15, 2007
New! Favorite! Kind of Restaurant! 卯夢
Name: Umu / 卯夢
Style: Chicken
Neighborhood: Ebisu / 恵比寿
Website: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g752305/
So, right near work there's a restaurant that doesn't serve lunch. Instead, a nice woman (usually with her son) sells really good bentos (Japanese box lunch) out of the front door. In the evening, I see people in there though, and when I asked people what it was, they said, "Oh, it's a chicken restaurant."
I've been wanting to find out what a chicken restaurant is for awhile, so on Friday night Yoichi, Atsushi and I decided to go. We walked over and... we couldn't get in. I did, however, get to watch a group of young women in heels energetically flattening a dozen or so cardboard packing boxes while dolled up in their Friday evening finery (Tokyo moment). While the women strutted triumphantly away holding their vanquished boxes, we debated the next step.
Yoichi said there were plenty of such places up in Ebisu, and a typical Tokyo logistics comedy ensued. I was on my bike, Atsushi on his scooter which was parked near Azabu-Juban, and Yoichi was moving via taxi. It took about 35 min. for the three of us to reassemble in front of the Wendy's in Ebisu (a common meeting point), by which time Yoichi had already scouted out some likely candidates.
The first restaurant we went to was playing jazz classics painfully loud (standards and smoky grilled meat restaurants aren't an obvious combination). We decided to abort, and that was just as well because next door Atsushi spotted Umu (卯夢, which roughly translates as "Dream of the Rabbit", the rabbit being the fourth sign in the Chinese zodiac).
So, when we order I got to learn more about what a "Chicken Restaurant" is. As you'd guess it's basically a lot of different ways to prepare chicken meat. They had the obvious Japanese items: Karaage (Japanese fried chicken), which came with a really thick breading but like all good Japanese fried food was actually not particularly greasy; Yakitori (you frequently order, as we did, a big assortment of chicken yakitori); a dish that's a lot like the Chinese "Salt-fried Chicken"; Tamago; a Katsuo salad.
They also had a couple particularly notable dishes. Chicken Sashimi (now there's a dish I wouldn't order at a street vendor in China). It was, to be more exact, chicken tataki: raw chicken seared on the outside but still raw inside. You could eat it either with the traditional shoyu & wasabi or with an amazingly tart plum sauce. And, there was some sort of special, small squid served whole. It had an interesting texture but as I put it afterwards, "daisuki ja nai".
And, they had some nice sakes (日本酒). Although I started with an Otokoyama (男山, literally "Man Mountain"), which is a dry sake of the type I usually like, after a bit of discussion with the waiter I tried an Akitora (安芸虎) from Kouchiken on Shikoku. It was great, not as dry as Otokoyama but with a lot more interesting flavors underneath. Yoichi tried a couple of sweeter sakes (and told an amusing story about how his dad, like myself, likes only super-dry sakes, so his rebellion is to always drink sweet ones), and Atsushi indulged in his preferred beverage, umeshu (梅酒), plum wine, which they also had a selection of.
The atmosphere at Umu was really nice, you enter on a stone path and sit in black-wood booths, usually separated from the booth on the other side by a light gridded curtain (we could hear the two couples in the other booth practicing their English). The rakuna kimochi (easy feeling) meant that we lingered there until about 2:30. Atsushi and I just walked our respective pieces of two-wheeled transportation back to the apartment here in Nakmeguro; unfortunately, Yoichi hadn't intended to stay out past last train, since he had to use a fairly expensive cab ride home at that point.
Style: Chicken
Neighborhood: Ebisu / 恵比寿
Website: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g752305/
So, right near work there's a restaurant that doesn't serve lunch. Instead, a nice woman (usually with her son) sells really good bentos (Japanese box lunch) out of the front door. In the evening, I see people in there though, and when I asked people what it was, they said, "Oh, it's a chicken restaurant."
I've been wanting to find out what a chicken restaurant is for awhile, so on Friday night Yoichi, Atsushi and I decided to go. We walked over and... we couldn't get in. I did, however, get to watch a group of young women in heels energetically flattening a dozen or so cardboard packing boxes while dolled up in their Friday evening finery (Tokyo moment). While the women strutted triumphantly away holding their vanquished boxes, we debated the next step.
Yoichi said there were plenty of such places up in Ebisu, and a typical Tokyo logistics comedy ensued. I was on my bike, Atsushi on his scooter which was parked near Azabu-Juban, and Yoichi was moving via taxi. It took about 35 min. for the three of us to reassemble in front of the Wendy's in Ebisu (a common meeting point), by which time Yoichi had already scouted out some likely candidates.
The first restaurant we went to was playing jazz classics painfully loud (standards and smoky grilled meat restaurants aren't an obvious combination). We decided to abort, and that was just as well because next door Atsushi spotted Umu (卯夢, which roughly translates as "Dream of the Rabbit", the rabbit being the fourth sign in the Chinese zodiac).
So, when we order I got to learn more about what a "Chicken Restaurant" is. As you'd guess it's basically a lot of different ways to prepare chicken meat. They had the obvious Japanese items: Karaage (Japanese fried chicken), which came with a really thick breading but like all good Japanese fried food was actually not particularly greasy; Yakitori (you frequently order, as we did, a big assortment of chicken yakitori); a dish that's a lot like the Chinese "Salt-fried Chicken"; Tamago; a Katsuo salad.
They also had a couple particularly notable dishes. Chicken Sashimi (now there's a dish I wouldn't order at a street vendor in China). It was, to be more exact, chicken tataki: raw chicken seared on the outside but still raw inside. You could eat it either with the traditional shoyu & wasabi or with an amazingly tart plum sauce. And, there was some sort of special, small squid served whole. It had an interesting texture but as I put it afterwards, "daisuki ja nai".
And, they had some nice sakes (日本酒). Although I started with an Otokoyama (男山, literally "Man Mountain"), which is a dry sake of the type I usually like, after a bit of discussion with the waiter I tried an Akitora (安芸虎) from Kouchiken on Shikoku. It was great, not as dry as Otokoyama but with a lot more interesting flavors underneath. Yoichi tried a couple of sweeter sakes (and told an amusing story about how his dad, like myself, likes only super-dry sakes, so his rebellion is to always drink sweet ones), and Atsushi indulged in his preferred beverage, umeshu (梅酒), plum wine, which they also had a selection of.
The atmosphere at Umu was really nice, you enter on a stone path and sit in black-wood booths, usually separated from the booth on the other side by a light gridded curtain (we could hear the two couples in the other booth practicing their English). The rakuna kimochi (easy feeling) meant that we lingered there until about 2:30. Atsushi and I just walked our respective pieces of two-wheeled transportation back to the apartment here in Nakmeguro; unfortunately, Yoichi hadn't intended to stay out past last train, since he had to use a fairly expensive cab ride home at that point.
Monday, June 4, 2007
New favorite restaurant! KAN
My friend Onny from LA was in town this weekend, just finishing off a two-month (!) vacation in Thailand, China, and Indonesia after wrapping on Surf's Up. Onny loves Japan and Japanese food so he stopped by for a few days of hangin' out on the way back.
Last night, on the recommendations of my friends Makino-san and Kondo-san, we went to Kan, a Japanese restaurant in the area between Nakameguro and Shibuya. Specifically, it's in the neighborhood called Higashiyama, although what's better is that the building called the "Oriental Higashiyama."
Since we didn't have much notice, I took advantage of Kondo-san's assistance to get a conditional reservation. At about 9:10pm they called and said we could have a table at 9:30. Since Onny was nowhere near Nakameguro at the time, it was touch and go, but we got there almost on time... right.
It's a very sparse, modern-Japanese interior, and all seats are counter seats. As suggested, we ordered the chef's course, which turned out to be about nine AWESOME courses of various assorted Japanese food. I remember several: the sashimi course was excellent and included horsemeat sashimi (no, I don't object to it). There was a separate course which was beef tataki (tenderloin seared on the outside but raw on the inside), a vegatable course, a soup course. Surprisingly, there was an entire course that was just Edamame. Tomatoes are totally in season here now, so tomato was the "magic ingredient" for the night; about five of the courses had tomato in them, including (I kid thee not) lovely tomato sherbert for dessert. Just prior to desert was the rice course; I had an awesome onigiri with mixed barley and rice; Onny had the namatamagodon, raw egg mixed into rice.
Other than the organic-foods restaurant I've been to with Shuzo, this is the best place I've been to in Tokyo! And the price is merely expensive, rather than heinously expensive: including a fair amount of alcohol, dinner was Y7000 per person, which is about U$60.
Also, we were chitchatting with the manager all night (he was our chef -- that all-seats-are-counter-seats thing), Hayashi Kohtaro (林 高太郎). And best of all, since Kan is on Makino-san and Kondo-san's way home, they stopped by at the end of the meal, and we got to earn them kudo points with Hayashi-san for sending us his way!
Kan doesn't have a website, but this blog post gives you a good idea what our meal was like, including a blurry picture of the restuarant itself at the bottom.
Last night, on the recommendations of my friends Makino-san and Kondo-san, we went to Kan, a Japanese restaurant in the area between Nakameguro and Shibuya. Specifically, it's in the neighborhood called Higashiyama, although what's better is that the building called the "Oriental Higashiyama."
Since we didn't have much notice, I took advantage of Kondo-san's assistance to get a conditional reservation. At about 9:10pm they called and said we could have a table at 9:30. Since Onny was nowhere near Nakameguro at the time, it was touch and go, but we got there almost on time... right.
It's a very sparse, modern-Japanese interior, and all seats are counter seats. As suggested, we ordered the chef's course, which turned out to be about nine AWESOME courses of various assorted Japanese food. I remember several: the sashimi course was excellent and included horsemeat sashimi (no, I don't object to it). There was a separate course which was beef tataki (tenderloin seared on the outside but raw on the inside), a vegatable course, a soup course. Surprisingly, there was an entire course that was just Edamame. Tomatoes are totally in season here now, so tomato was the "magic ingredient" for the night; about five of the courses had tomato in them, including (I kid thee not) lovely tomato sherbert for dessert. Just prior to desert was the rice course; I had an awesome onigiri with mixed barley and rice; Onny had the namatamagodon, raw egg mixed into rice.
Other than the organic-foods restaurant I've been to with Shuzo, this is the best place I've been to in Tokyo! And the price is merely expensive, rather than heinously expensive: including a fair amount of alcohol, dinner was Y7000 per person, which is about U$60.
Also, we were chitchatting with the manager all night (he was our chef -- that all-seats-are-counter-seats thing), Hayashi Kohtaro (林 高太郎). And best of all, since Kan is on Makino-san and Kondo-san's way home, they stopped by at the end of the meal, and we got to earn them kudo points with Hayashi-san for sending us his way!
Kan doesn't have a website, but this blog post gives you a good idea what our meal was like, including a blurry picture of the restuarant itself at the bottom.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Aalawi
Neighborhood: Ebisu
Style: Jamaican
Kanji Name: none
Website: None, but search for "aalawi" on Google and most of the hits are reviews of this place
There's actually a good, cheap, Jamaican jerk chicken place on my way home from work! One night while exploring the infinite number of small streets by which I can bike from Minami-azabu back to Nakameguro I found this moderate-sized restaurant. ¥700 for the Jamaican Jerk Chicken set with cole slaw and roll? In Tokyo? Sign me up. It's not the absolute best Jerk Chicken I've ever had but it's pretty good and for this price, who's complaining?
And they have Red Stripe.
Style: Jamaican
Kanji Name: none
Website: None, but search for "aalawi" on Google and most of the hits are reviews of this place
There's actually a good, cheap, Jamaican jerk chicken place on my way home from work! One night while exploring the infinite number of small streets by which I can bike from Minami-azabu back to Nakameguro I found this moderate-sized restaurant. ¥700 for the Jamaican Jerk Chicken set with cole slaw and roll? In Tokyo? Sign me up. It's not the absolute best Jerk Chicken I've ever had but it's pretty good and for this price, who's complaining?
And they have Red Stripe.
El Rincon de Sam
Neighborhood: Ebisu
Style: Mexican
Kanji Name: none (エル・リンコン・デ・サム）
Website: http://www.sambra.jp/
Believe it or not, this cheesy name adorns the best Mexican I've found so far in Tokyo.
El Rincon de Sam is a traditional sit-down Mexican (i.e., not Burritos) restaurant in Ebisu. The real sign that this is a labor of live is in the subtitle though: "El Rincon de Sam: Mexican Food and Music." After you've been there for a little while, someone (I assume it's Sam) puts down his apron and starts playing Mexican music on the guitar (passably, I might add). I tried the Molé which was good, but they had a number of other yummy-sounding dishes on the (changing) menu. And of course they have a full selection of Mexican beers!
All these loveliness doesn't come cheap. If you and your dining-mates have an appetizer, an entrée and a beer or two, you're looking at ¥3500-4000 apiece.
Style: Mexican
Kanji Name: none (エル・リンコン・デ・サム）
Website: http://www.sambra.jp/
Believe it or not, this cheesy name adorns the best Mexican I've found so far in Tokyo.
El Rincon de Sam is a traditional sit-down Mexican (i.e., not Burritos) restaurant in Ebisu. The real sign that this is a labor of live is in the subtitle though: "El Rincon de Sam: Mexican Food and Music." After you've been there for a little while, someone (I assume it's Sam) puts down his apron and starts playing Mexican music on the guitar (passably, I might add). I tried the Molé which was good, but they had a number of other yummy-sounding dishes on the (changing) menu. And of course they have a full selection of Mexican beers!
All these loveliness doesn't come cheap. If you and your dining-mates have an appetizer, an entrée and a beer or two, you're looking at ¥3500-4000 apiece.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Local India
Appropriately named, this restaurant is downstairs from Arriva Otra in Ebisu, and as such it fell under the "must try all restaurants in the 'hood" rule.
Alas, not a super-interesting review: it's a competent but not extraordinary Indian restuarant. It's medium-priced, maybe Y1800 for the Thali. I'll go again, but I won't go out of my way (which is the point: it's not out of my way!).
Alas, not a super-interesting review: it's a competent but not extraordinary Indian restuarant. It's medium-priced, maybe Y1800 for the Thali. I'll go again, but I won't go out of my way (which is the point: it's not out of my way!).
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
You mean that Kurosawa?
Neighborhood: Nishi-azabu
Style: Soba
Kanji Name: くろさわ
Website: none
So the head of Polygon, Shuzo, definitely gets ideas into his head. Tday I ran into him about scheduling a meeting and then said, "Hey, you headed out for lunch?" On the way out of the building he said, "Let's go this way today. I haven't explored over near Azabu-juban."
We ended up walking about 35 minutes looking for something along the cool, neighborhoody lines. We really weren't doing too well at it, with the result that we got almost all the way to Roppongi before Shuzo said, "Hey, I think there's a noodle place up ahead," thus heralding our arrival at Kurosawa.
Kurosawa has primarily soba noodles, the thinner buckwheat noodles (which are actually my preference over Ramen or Udon). I got Kamo (duck) Soba. Like almost all soba dishes, the noodles come on a separate bamboo tray, and you dip them in the sauce before slurping them into your mouth (in Japan, slurping is a compliment to the chef). The Kamo Soba has a few slices of deliciously fatty duck floating in the sauce.
When you're done, you take the pitcher of soba-yu (the leftover juice from making soba) and mix it with the leftover sauce in order to drink it down like soup.
All in all, Kurosawa was a pretty competent execution of soba. The only thing I'd say against it is that it's not cheap as noodle places go; Y1350 for soba only.
By the way, the full name of this restaurant is "XX dining kurosawa", where "XX" is two Kanji I can't read yet.
Dining Kurosawa Tokyo-to Minato-ku Nishi-azabu 3-2-15
03 5775 9638
Style: Soba
Kanji Name: くろさわ
Website: none
So the head of Polygon, Shuzo, definitely gets ideas into his head. Tday I ran into him about scheduling a meeting and then said, "Hey, you headed out for lunch?" On the way out of the building he said, "Let's go this way today. I haven't explored over near Azabu-juban."
We ended up walking about 35 minutes looking for something along the cool, neighborhoody lines. We really weren't doing too well at it, with the result that we got almost all the way to Roppongi before Shuzo said, "Hey, I think there's a noodle place up ahead," thus heralding our arrival at Kurosawa.
Kurosawa has primarily soba noodles, the thinner buckwheat noodles (which are actually my preference over Ramen or Udon). I got Kamo (duck) Soba. Like almost all soba dishes, the noodles come on a separate bamboo tray, and you dip them in the sauce before slurping them into your mouth (in Japan, slurping is a compliment to the chef). The Kamo Soba has a few slices of deliciously fatty duck floating in the sauce.
When you're done, you take the pitcher of soba-yu (the leftover juice from making soba) and mix it with the leftover sauce in order to drink it down like soup.
All in all, Kurosawa was a pretty competent execution of soba. The only thing I'd say against it is that it's not cheap as noodle places go; Y1350 for soba only.
By the way, the full name of this restaurant is "XX dining kurosawa", where "XX" is two Kanji I can't read yet.
Dining Kurosawa Tokyo-to Minato-ku Nishi-azabu 3-2-15
03 5775 9638
Arriva Otra
Neighborhood: Ebisu
Style: Tex-Mex
Kanji Name: オトラ
Website: none
So, on the theory that you have to try all the restaurants in your own neighborhood, I checked out the "Tex Mex Dining Bar" called Otra tonight. It's right next to the America-bashi bridge at Ebisu.
Like so many restaurants in Japan, it's good... but not great. The best thing was a wide selection of Mexican beers (Negra Modelo, Bohemia, and my fave, Tecate) as well as some truly hot food (which is almost unheard of here). The prices weren't high, but even for Tokyo the serving portions were small, so it added up.
Still, probably it's the best "mekushiko no ryori" restaurant I've been to here. I just won't stop looking for the pinnacle :-)
Otra American Bridge Bldg. 3F 1-23-8 Ebisuminami
Style: Tex-Mex
Kanji Name: オトラ
Website: none
So, on the theory that you have to try all the restaurants in your own neighborhood, I checked out the "Tex Mex Dining Bar" called Otra tonight. It's right next to the America-bashi bridge at Ebisu.
Like so many restaurants in Japan, it's good... but not great. The best thing was a wide selection of Mexican beers (Negra Modelo, Bohemia, and my fave, Tecate) as well as some truly hot food (which is almost unheard of here). The prices weren't high, but even for Tokyo the serving portions were small, so it added up.
Still, probably it's the best "mekushiko no ryori" restaurant I've been to here. I just won't stop looking for the pinnacle :-)
Otra American Bridge Bldg. 3F 1-23-8 Ebisuminami
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Gourmet Burger Pakutch
I finally found a truly good hamburger in Japan... It's a place in Shibuya near the east end of Shibuya Mark City called "Gourmet Burger Pakutch." In the best traditions of bizarre cartoon character mascots, they give it their all, as you can see at right.
Better yet, their hamburgers are actually good! About 1/3 lb., juicy, and lots of fillin's: slice of grilled onion, tomato, lettuce, chesse if you want it, and as McDonald's would say, "Special sauce." They do a decent job of (thin-cut) fries too.
If yer a westerner yearnin' fer home, or an Asian who wants to understand why people like hamburgers (something you can never learn from makudonarudo's), check out Pakutch.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Burger Cravings
I've been thinking about hamburgers off and on for the last week. I'm not the canonical American who eats hamburgers every day, but I do like 'em. So today, I was intrigued when I saw a Hawaiian hamburger place along Aoyama-dori between Omotesando and Shibuya.
I gave it a shot, and it's not a great hamburger but boy is it a step up from the "Freshness Burger" and "Mos Burger" chains that dot Japan. It was good-sized (they have 1/3 lb. and 1/2 lb., I got the smaller burger) and came with lettuce, tomato, and a beautifully presented grilled onion slice, with a substantial bun (not the extra-light bready ones you often get in Japan). On the downside, it was a little overcooked so the meat itself wasn't especially flavorful. Probably a B, but that still makes it the best one I've had here.
 |
| From Tokyo |
I gave it a shot, and it's not a great hamburger but boy is it a step up from the "Freshness Burger" and "Mos Burger" chains that dot Japan. It was good-sized (they have 1/3 lb. and 1/2 lb., I got the smaller burger) and came with lettuce, tomato, and a beautifully presented grilled onion slice, with a substantial bun (not the extra-light bready ones you often get in Japan). On the downside, it was a little overcooked so the meat itself wasn't especially flavorful. Probably a B, but that still makes it the best one I've had here.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Comme a la Maison
Yoichi, Shuzo and I went to this high-quality French restaurant. It was definitely good and very French-provincial (the night we went it featured southwestern French food). The prices did add up, especially with the two bottles of wine we consumed, so watch out for that, but still a goo dplace to know about. Very small.
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| From Tokyo |
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