Name: Soba no Mi / そばの実 / "The Reality of Soba"
Style: Soba
Neighborhood: Togakushi Village in Nagano Prefecture, between Chuusha and Okusha
Website: None
As I mentioned in the last post, Himanshu and I were up in Nagano this weekend. We hiked around in a small village called Togakushi which is famous for Ninjas, and Soba. We didn't get a chance to try any Ninjutsu while we were there, but we did stop into a great Soba restaurant called Soba no Mi.
Soba no Mi is by the side of the road in between two of the famous shrines in Togakushi, Chuusha and Okusha. Like a lot of places in non-Tokyo Japan, it's primarily intended to be accessed by car, so there was a lively parking lot. We saw it while we were hiking up the road towards Okusha; after hiking over the snow to see the cedar trees and shrine there, we came back down and stopped at Soba no Mi for lunch.
Like several dozen other restaurants in Togakushi, Soba no Mi makes their own Soba noodles from scratch, in this case in the front window where you can watch from the waiting room. Togakushi soba is rolled out into a big, flat circle before being cut up, which was indeed pretty entertaining to watch. Maybe because the restaurant is not near anything else, they, unlike restaurants in Tokyo, had a waiting list; we had to wait about ten minutes for a table.
I got Pheasant Soba, which was on the o-susume (daily recommendations). It came with the broth in a small iron pot over a flame, with a plate of pieces of wild pheasant meat. You put the meat in the broth (yourself) and let it cook to your taste before ladling the broth into the bowl and dipping your noodles in it. The wild meat really flavored the broth, and both it and the noodles were fantastic to start with. The single best thing in my plate, though, was actually the Tamanegi (green onions, more or less), which were completely suffused with the broth and incredibly delicious. Himanshu had a similar reaction to his Mushroom Soba.
This yumminess was pretty cheap, Y1200 for the pheasant and Y900 for the mushroom. The snack they brought at the beginning of the meal was also a standout: soba noodles deep-friend and seasoned. Unfortunately they didn't sell that at the souvenir stand or I would be eating some right now!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Just your friendly neighborhood Ninja Restauranteur
Name: Gotoku-tei
Style: Japanese (general)
Neighborhood: Near the station in Nagano / 長野駅に近い
Website: None, but here a Google Maps link to the address:
380-0801 Nagano City, Hakoshimizu 3-24-19 026-234-3277
This weekend my friend from Singapore was in town and he wanted to get out of Tokyo, so we wriggled our way through the JR reservation system to book a trip to Nagano. When we got in we asked where we could get some soba, since Nagano is famous for Soba (see next post). He directed us to Gotoku.
As is usual these days, I greeted the staff in Japanese and we sat down to puzzle out the menu. They then brought by an English menu -- I was surprised since Gotoku doesn't look like the kind of place to have an English menu. When we tried to actually *order* from the English menu, we found out it was left over from the 1998 Nagano Olympics, and had the selections from 10 years ago! A little negotiating in Japanese and we sent in our order.
The food is Gotoku was good, straightforward Japanese food. It's a safe choice if you're looking to eat near Nagano station. But the most interesting part of the trip was when we went up to pay. The round-faced proprietor started ringing up the check, and casually asked, "So where are you from?" Seeing our surprise, he added, "I speak English too! I lived in Philadelphia for eight years." What a goldbricker, he hadn't let on that he spoke English at all during the entire mail. His English was excellent, too - he hadn't lost any of his ability since he came back. We explained where we were from and added we were going to the village called Togakushi the next day. "Oh!" he said as his face brightened. "For the Ninjas!"
"Yes, so I've read," I said. The guidebook had mentioned that Togakushi is a center for the study of Ninjutsu, the martial art associated with ninjas. And so began a long conversation with Miyashita-san about ninjutsu. He had studied many martial arts over the years, but had eventually settled on studying ninjutsu because, he said, unlike the other martial arts, it has no rules. He goes to Togakushi once a week (it's about an hours' drive from Nagano) to study at the Dojo there, run by the famous ninjutsu master. He proudly showed off his handwritten letter from the master, kept carefully framed.
It was really fun to talk, we ended up standing at the checkout stand for over half an hour (I think slightly annoying the other staff in the process). Miyashita-san said that traditionally, only the ninjutsu master really knew who was a ninja and who wasn't; apparently things aren't quite so secret now since his card list three affiliations: Gotoku, a hotel called Yamanokami, and "Togakushi Ninja." So, if you're looking for a friendly place near Nagano station, look up Gotoku and say hi to Miyashita-san. But don't tell him I let out that he's a ninja... just say you're going to Togakushi, he'll know what you mean ;-).
Style: Japanese (general)
Neighborhood: Near the station in Nagano / 長野駅に近い
Website: None, but here a Google Maps link to the address:
380-0801 Nagano City, Hakoshimizu 3-24-19 026-234-3277
This weekend my friend from Singapore was in town and he wanted to get out of Tokyo, so we wriggled our way through the JR reservation system to book a trip to Nagano. When we got in we asked where we could get some soba, since Nagano is famous for Soba (see next post). He directed us to Gotoku.
As is usual these days, I greeted the staff in Japanese and we sat down to puzzle out the menu. They then brought by an English menu -- I was surprised since Gotoku doesn't look like the kind of place to have an English menu. When we tried to actually *order* from the English menu, we found out it was left over from the 1998 Nagano Olympics, and had the selections from 10 years ago! A little negotiating in Japanese and we sent in our order.
The food is Gotoku was good, straightforward Japanese food. It's a safe choice if you're looking to eat near Nagano station. But the most interesting part of the trip was when we went up to pay. The round-faced proprietor started ringing up the check, and casually asked, "So where are you from?" Seeing our surprise, he added, "I speak English too! I lived in Philadelphia for eight years." What a goldbricker, he hadn't let on that he spoke English at all during the entire mail. His English was excellent, too - he hadn't lost any of his ability since he came back. We explained where we were from and added we were going to the village called Togakushi the next day. "Oh!" he said as his face brightened. "For the Ninjas!"
"Yes, so I've read," I said. The guidebook had mentioned that Togakushi is a center for the study of Ninjutsu, the martial art associated with ninjas. And so began a long conversation with Miyashita-san about ninjutsu. He had studied many martial arts over the years, but had eventually settled on studying ninjutsu because, he said, unlike the other martial arts, it has no rules. He goes to Togakushi once a week (it's about an hours' drive from Nagano) to study at the Dojo there, run by the famous ninjutsu master. He proudly showed off his handwritten letter from the master, kept carefully framed.
It was really fun to talk, we ended up standing at the checkout stand for over half an hour (I think slightly annoying the other staff in the process). Miyashita-san said that traditionally, only the ninjutsu master really knew who was a ninja and who wasn't; apparently things aren't quite so secret now since his card list three affiliations: Gotoku, a hotel called Yamanokami, and "Togakushi Ninja." So, if you're looking for a friendly place near Nagano station, look up Gotoku and say hi to Miyashita-san. But don't tell him I let out that he's a ninja... just say you're going to Togakushi, he'll know what you mean ;-).
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Hawaiian Tsunami
Name: Dining Cafe Tsunami
Style: Asian Fusion
Neighborhood: Ebisu
Website: http://www.tsunami.co.jp/east
Determined to find somewhere new to eat one night, I explored the streets to the east of Ebisu-eki and found Tsunami because they serve a little later than the other restuarants there (last order is 24:00). Tsunami is a Hawaiian-themed Asian Fusion restaurant (there's another Hawaii-themed bar on the same street... not sure what the connection between Hawaii and Ebisu is though). Normally, I don't consider that kind of strong theme a real recommendation, but in August I ate at the new Roy's in Los Angeles and they're not only Hawaiian-themed but a chain, and they were still great, so Tsunami got a test.
Unfortunately, I'm been slow about posting, so I don't remember exactly what I ate at Tsunami, however I remember that they lived up to billing. I avoided some of the overly themed items on the menu (Spam Omeraisu) and got a salad and some sort of fish entree. Both were well-executed, and the place had a good complement of beers from stateside as well, which was a plus. Tsunami is well set-up for parties or groups, and it does have a mellow atmosphere (as oyu'd hope with a Hawaiian theme!). The entree was around 1500 yen, and beers were 800 yen or so.
Style: Asian Fusion
Neighborhood: Ebisu
Website: http://www.tsunami.co.jp/east
Determined to find somewhere new to eat one night, I explored the streets to the east of Ebisu-eki and found Tsunami because they serve a little later than the other restuarants there (last order is 24:00). Tsunami is a Hawaiian-themed Asian Fusion restaurant (there's another Hawaii-themed bar on the same street... not sure what the connection between Hawaii and Ebisu is though). Normally, I don't consider that kind of strong theme a real recommendation, but in August I ate at the new Roy's in Los Angeles and they're not only Hawaiian-themed but a chain, and they were still great, so Tsunami got a test.
Unfortunately, I'm been slow about posting, so I don't remember exactly what I ate at Tsunami, however I remember that they lived up to billing. I avoided some of the overly themed items on the menu (Spam Omeraisu) and got a salad and some sort of fish entree. Both were well-executed, and the place had a good complement of beers from stateside as well, which was a plus. Tsunami is well set-up for parties or groups, and it does have a mellow atmosphere (as oyu'd hope with a Hawaiian theme!). The entree was around 1500 yen, and beers were 800 yen or so.
Sweating out Tuk Tuk
Name: Tuk Tuk Italian Thai Restaurant
Style: Thai
Neighborhood: Meguro
Website: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g405800
In general, Japanese people don't like spicy food. This can kind of get in the way when it comes to Mexican, definitely affects the relative paucity of Szechuan places here, and takes some of the enjoyment out of Indian food; but the time it totally changes the eating experience is with Thai food. If you can't get spicy Thai food, it can't be real, can it?
Last week I tried out Meguro's "Tuk Tuk Italian Thai Restaurant." I have no idea how a half-Italian, half-Thai restaurant came to be, but it's the first place I've eaten since coming to Japan where I actually had food that was so hot, I took the first bite and went, "Uh-oh."
Tuk Tuk is 3-4 minutes east of Meguro-eki's east gate towards Shirokanedai. It's actually next door to Meguro Kitchen Bar, a place I've been meaning to try for awhile, which is why I went there. But I saw Tuk Tuk's menu and concept and couldn't resist checking it out. It is, indeed, a half-Italian, half-Thai resturant; there are full Italian and Thai menus with daily specials off both sides.
I got Spring Rolls (the o-susume salad was sold out), and a green curry. The spring rolls were fine, but didn't prepare me for the green curry. Literally the moment I put the first spoonful in my mouth, my lips puckered, my heartrate increased, I flushed, and I instantly ordered a beer because I knew I would need it! The curry was really good, but what caused the reaction is that, unexpectedly, it was just as hot as I wold expect at a Thai restaurant in the Bay Area. Most Tokyo restaurants are a very much mild experience by comparison.
I don't know whether the Tuk Tuk staff sized me up and brought me the extra-spicy or whether everything they serve is like that, but it was a joyous experience. I ate slowly, used lots of rice, and cooled down with the beer when needed. Ah, the sweat of a good Thai meal! If you're looking for that, give Tuk Tuk a try.
Prices are moderate, I think the curry was 1200 yen and the spring rolls 700 or so.
Style: Thai
Neighborhood: Meguro
Website: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g405800
In general, Japanese people don't like spicy food. This can kind of get in the way when it comes to Mexican, definitely affects the relative paucity of Szechuan places here, and takes some of the enjoyment out of Indian food; but the time it totally changes the eating experience is with Thai food. If you can't get spicy Thai food, it can't be real, can it?
Last week I tried out Meguro's "Tuk Tuk Italian Thai Restaurant." I have no idea how a half-Italian, half-Thai restaurant came to be, but it's the first place I've eaten since coming to Japan where I actually had food that was so hot, I took the first bite and went, "Uh-oh."
Tuk Tuk is 3-4 minutes east of Meguro-eki's east gate towards Shirokanedai. It's actually next door to Meguro Kitchen Bar, a place I've been meaning to try for awhile, which is why I went there. But I saw Tuk Tuk's menu and concept and couldn't resist checking it out. It is, indeed, a half-Italian, half-Thai resturant; there are full Italian and Thai menus with daily specials off both sides.
I got Spring Rolls (the o-susume salad was sold out), and a green curry. The spring rolls were fine, but didn't prepare me for the green curry. Literally the moment I put the first spoonful in my mouth, my lips puckered, my heartrate increased, I flushed, and I instantly ordered a beer because I knew I would need it! The curry was really good, but what caused the reaction is that, unexpectedly, it was just as hot as I wold expect at a Thai restaurant in the Bay Area. Most Tokyo restaurants are a very much mild experience by comparison.
I don't know whether the Tuk Tuk staff sized me up and brought me the extra-spicy or whether everything they serve is like that, but it was a joyous experience. I ate slowly, used lots of rice, and cooled down with the beer when needed. Ah, the sweat of a good Thai meal! If you're looking for that, give Tuk Tuk a try.
Prices are moderate, I think the curry was 1200 yen and the spring rolls 700 or so.
Harajuku's Mexican Hangout
Name: Tacos del Amigo
Style: Mexican (if you couldn't tell from the name)
Neighborhood: Harajuku/Omotesando
Website: n/a
Yoichi introduced Earl and I to Tacos del Amigo a year or two ago with the introduction, "There's this really cheap Mexican place along Omotesando..." That highly improbable leadoff took us to a B1 restuarant which was indeed just off the tony shopping area but sported affordable prices and a character-filled, disjoint interior. Unfortunately, we learned they were losing their lease and not likely to be there for long.
That building has since been demolished, but Tacos del Amigo managed to find another B1 storefront to operate out of (right now, there's a sign at the old place -- aka the construction site -- but it probably won't survive the winter). They're now downstairs on Takeshita-dori (they're on the part farther away from Harajuku station, not the intense shopping street part). They're still pretty cheap! Most dishes are 780yen and Mexican beers are 550yen. I wouldn't say this is the most authentic Mexican in Tokyo but it certainly will do if you're looking for a pile of cheap Mexican food. They even have Machaca!
I couldn't find any traces of a website, but you can call 03-3405-9996 if you're lost. They're open 7 days from 17:00, last order is at 23:00.
Style: Mexican (if you couldn't tell from the name)
Neighborhood: Harajuku/Omotesando
Website: n/a
Yoichi introduced Earl and I to Tacos del Amigo a year or two ago with the introduction, "There's this really cheap Mexican place along Omotesando..." That highly improbable leadoff took us to a B1 restuarant which was indeed just off the tony shopping area but sported affordable prices and a character-filled, disjoint interior. Unfortunately, we learned they were losing their lease and not likely to be there for long.
That building has since been demolished, but Tacos del Amigo managed to find another B1 storefront to operate out of (right now, there's a sign at the old place -- aka the construction site -- but it probably won't survive the winter). They're now downstairs on Takeshita-dori (they're on the part farther away from Harajuku station, not the intense shopping street part). They're still pretty cheap! Most dishes are 780yen and Mexican beers are 550yen. I wouldn't say this is the most authentic Mexican in Tokyo but it certainly will do if you're looking for a pile of cheap Mexican food. They even have Machaca!
I couldn't find any traces of a website, but you can call 03-3405-9996 if you're lost. They're open 7 days from 17:00, last order is at 23:00.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Steak House Satou
Name: ステーキハウスサトウ / Steak House Satou
Style: Wagyuu (Japanese beef) steak
Neighborhood: Kichijouji
Website: None but Yahoo gourmet listing is here
Michael Chang, a friend from Polygon, had heard about something called "Matsuzaka Beef" (I think ) that's supposedley a step up from even Kobe beef. He found a listing for a place out in Kichijouji so we trooped out there for lunch this Saturday.
Steak House Satou is just a couple minutes from the north exit (aka "Central Exit") of Kichijouji station, and it's primarily a butcher shop. It looks like the truly popular option for this place is buying take-out from the first floor -- the entire time we were out in Kichijouji there was a long line of people waiting to buy take-out, for upwards of 30 minutes.
The restaurant is an incredibly 狭い (narrow) second floor over the butcher shop. There's no reservations, so the line goes up one of those frighteningly-narrow-and-steep Japanese stairways. I sure hope the handrails are securely bolted to the wall, because they're surely necessary sometimes.
We showed up purposely late for lunch on a Saturday -- the line was about 20 minutes when we arrived at 1:30, but by the time our last party member made it at 2:00, we could ascend the stairs and sit down directly (the take-out line downstairs was still going strong, though).
Ordering consists of picking which level of set menu you want. There are 1250円 and 2500円 lunch sets which provide a really good deal. Matt and Atsu went for that option, which is very good but largely equivalent to eating at a place like Kennedy's steakhouse. Michael and I, figuring we don't get out to Kichijouji too often, splurged on the お勧め (daily recommendation) 5300円 ロース set (ロース is kind of like saying Roast Beef, but I think it actually corresponds to Sirloin?). That was really good wagyuu, juicy and rich and a noticeable step up from Kennedy's (albeit at a price up as well).
There's no reason to stop there, Steak House Satou has several higher-end options as well. The Matsu set was around 8400円 and the highest-end set meal reach 121000円. The difference is just the quality of beef; all of the sets come with the same bottomless rice, salad, and beverage of choice. There are also (as in almost all Japanese steak houses) a big pile of grilled bean sprouts served with your steak, it's somehow tradition here.
I enjoyed Steak House Satou, although I'm not sure I'll ride the Inokashira-sen out to Kichijouji every weekend for it. I am, though, really curious about what's so good about the take-out to keep all those folks in the 30-minute line!
Style: Wagyuu (Japanese beef) steak
Neighborhood: Kichijouji
Website: None but Yahoo gourmet listing is here
Michael Chang, a friend from Polygon, had heard about something called "Matsuzaka Beef" (I think ) that's supposedley a step up from even Kobe beef. He found a listing for a place out in Kichijouji so we trooped out there for lunch this Saturday.
Steak House Satou is just a couple minutes from the north exit (aka "Central Exit") of Kichijouji station, and it's primarily a butcher shop. It looks like the truly popular option for this place is buying take-out from the first floor -- the entire time we were out in Kichijouji there was a long line of people waiting to buy take-out, for upwards of 30 minutes.
The restaurant is an incredibly 狭い (narrow) second floor over the butcher shop. There's no reservations, so the line goes up one of those frighteningly-narrow-and-steep Japanese stairways. I sure hope the handrails are securely bolted to the wall, because they're surely necessary sometimes.
We showed up purposely late for lunch on a Saturday -- the line was about 20 minutes when we arrived at 1:30, but by the time our last party member made it at 2:00, we could ascend the stairs and sit down directly (the take-out line downstairs was still going strong, though).
Ordering consists of picking which level of set menu you want. There are 1250円 and 2500円 lunch sets which provide a really good deal. Matt and Atsu went for that option, which is very good but largely equivalent to eating at a place like Kennedy's steakhouse. Michael and I, figuring we don't get out to Kichijouji too often, splurged on the お勧め (daily recommendation) 5300円 ロース set (ロース is kind of like saying Roast Beef, but I think it actually corresponds to Sirloin?). That was really good wagyuu, juicy and rich and a noticeable step up from Kennedy's (albeit at a price up as well).
There's no reason to stop there, Steak House Satou has several higher-end options as well. The Matsu set was around 8400円 and the highest-end set meal reach 121000円. The difference is just the quality of beef; all of the sets come with the same bottomless rice, salad, and beverage of choice. There are also (as in almost all Japanese steak houses) a big pile of grilled bean sprouts served with your steak, it's somehow tradition here.
I enjoyed Steak House Satou, although I'm not sure I'll ride the Inokashira-sen out to Kichijouji every weekend for it. I am, though, really curious about what's so good about the take-out to keep all those folks in the 30-minute line!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Modernist Kaiseki
When my friend Thierry was in town last weekend, we stopped into Belgo, a nice Belgian beer bar in Shibuya, and met Larry and Keiko, who we chatted with for some time. Among other things, they recommended we meet for dinner later that week at a favorite restaurant of theirs between Shibuya and Harajuku. Keiko's work intervened and although they couldn't join us, Thierry and I took up their recommendation.
Located almost exactly halfway between Harajuku and Shibuya, Setsugekka is a small-plates restaurant, which in traditional set-menu form is called kaiseki / 懐石. Setsugekka does have chef's choice set menus / omakase / お任せ which are traditional for kaiseki, but we chose to order individually. We did, however, heavily favor some of the seasonal choices on the daily menu in omakase style.
Initially, I was a bit worried since Setsugekka has a relentlessly modernist interior. Not the Japanese-influenced modernist, straight out I-could-be-in-Denmark modernist, which is emphasized by the cool 1950s jazz playing. It's also quite cleverly laid out for private dining; it wasn't a particularly busy night, but in fact we saw zero other diners other than a few coming and going. The room is just arranged such that you don't see anyone else.
When it got to the food though, Setsugekka held up the Japanese end quite well. They rearranged our orders nicely into a more traditional form, meaning that we started with a seasonal vegatable dish and then moved to the Sashimi course of a delicious tataki. A couple of the standouts were the tempura course, which had besides the more traditional options a Japanese-specifc leafy spring vegetable done as tempura. Like truly good tempura in Japan (and unlike all tempura I had ever tried in the US), this was barely greasy at all; when you're done eating, you look at the paper that came under the food and there's only a tiny discolored area from oil.
Kaiseki can be very hard on the wallet, but by the standards of that sort of Japanese restaurant Setsgekka's not bad; dinner, including a couple drinks per person (they have a reasonable selection of sake / nihonshu / 日本酒) was around Y7000. I still prefer Kan overall -- but it's good to have another option for that sort of meal.
Located almost exactly halfway between Harajuku and Shibuya, Setsugekka is a small-plates restaurant, which in traditional set-menu form is called kaiseki / 懐石. Setsugekka does have chef's choice set menus / omakase / お任せ which are traditional for kaiseki, but we chose to order individually. We did, however, heavily favor some of the seasonal choices on the daily menu in omakase style.
Initially, I was a bit worried since Setsugekka has a relentlessly modernist interior. Not the Japanese-influenced modernist, straight out I-could-be-in-Denmark modernist, which is emphasized by the cool 1950s jazz playing. It's also quite cleverly laid out for private dining; it wasn't a particularly busy night, but in fact we saw zero other diners other than a few coming and going. The room is just arranged such that you don't see anyone else.
When it got to the food though, Setsugekka held up the Japanese end quite well. They rearranged our orders nicely into a more traditional form, meaning that we started with a seasonal vegatable dish and then moved to the Sashimi course of a delicious tataki. A couple of the standouts were the tempura course, which had besides the more traditional options a Japanese-specifc leafy spring vegetable done as tempura. Like truly good tempura in Japan (and unlike all tempura I had ever tried in the US), this was barely greasy at all; when you're done eating, you look at the paper that came under the food and there's only a tiny discolored area from oil.
Kaiseki can be very hard on the wallet, but by the standards of that sort of Japanese restaurant Setsgekka's not bad; dinner, including a couple drinks per person (they have a reasonable selection of sake / nihonshu / 日本酒) was around Y7000. I still prefer Kan overall -- but it's good to have another option for that sort of meal.
(report from Singapore) Indian Tapas
Name: Ghangothree Vegetarian Restaurant "House of Chaats and Shakes"
Style: Indian Street Hawker Food
Address: 5 Hindoo Road, Singapore (honest, that's how the street name is spelled)
Website: www.tasteourfood.com (sweet domain name, huh?)
Chaat seems to be basically be the Indian word for tapas, and the thing to do at Ghaangothree is to ignore all the Indian food you've ever heard of (yes, Naan and Curry are available and not bad, but that's not the point). Instead, key off of the restaurant's subtitle as the "House of Chaats & Shakes" and order lots of small plates (Chaats) and a generous amount of the various delicious drinks. The standout -- everyone should start with it -- is the house special Lime drink. Lime juice is a staple in Singapore for dealing with the hot climate, and Ghaangothree takes it up a notch by blending various spices and thickeners into it to make an amazingly cooling drink for the heat (which, in Singapore, is a constant -- it's 30C / 85F almost year-round). We also sampled one of their smoothies and their Mint Lassi at various points during the meal, which were all awesome (my friends starting joking about my "liquid diet").
But the heart of the meal is to, at your own leisurely pace, order various Chaats. Happily, like True Blue, I spent most of the meal eating foods I had never heard of before; unhappily, that means I don't remember the names of most of them. Pani Puri is the one I do remember unaided: Pani means 'water', and 'puri' (or 'poori' is it's usually spelled in Indian restaurants in America) is a puffy, deep-fried bread. For Pani Puri, the puri is tiny -- only 3-4cm across -- and has a whole in the top. You take a spoon and fill the puri first with a watery tamarind-flavored sauce, and finally with a little bit of spicy red sauce. It leaks a little, but don't worry, that's part of the point -- once it's filled, you pop the whole thing in your mouth and eat it in one bite! The liquid all sloshes around in your mouth, making a delectable taste mix. My friend Himanshu described the result as "an Indian Popper".
Another particularly good Chaat I think was called Samosa Chaat. Instead of the dumpling-like Samosa I know, this Chaat was a small, deep-friend pastry base with various ingredients heaped on top, almost like an Indian nacho in structure. Those went fast! We tried a lot of other Chaats (we had the advantage of a rolling 10-person group to keep various food flowing across the table), but the other category of food to try at Ghaangothree is Indian Chinese.
Over the years the Singaporeans have developed a few interesting mixes of Chinese and Indian foods, and the Ghaangothree it's represented as "Indian Chinese Side Dishes". These are curries, and since the restuarant is all vegetarian, your choices are to pick Manchurian, Chilli, or Sichuan; and "dry" or "gravy". The "dry" curries are pastelike and need a spoon or fork to spread them on your Naan; the gravy ones are more similar to North Indian curries. Either one is good but I recommend the Dry; it's yet another chance to try something different and uniquely Singaporean.
Last but not least, Ghaangothree is pretty easy on the wallet. Even a totally orgiastic bout of eating will only set you back S$20 or so. Take a walk back through Little India to work it off -- we went on a Sunday and so the area was packed with Indian workers on their day off.
Style: Indian Street Hawker Food
Address: 5 Hindoo Road, Singapore (honest, that's how the street name is spelled)
Website: www.tasteourfood.com (sweet domain name, huh?)
Chaat seems to be basically be the Indian word for tapas, and the thing to do at Ghaangothree is to ignore all the Indian food you've ever heard of (yes, Naan and Curry are available and not bad, but that's not the point). Instead, key off of the restaurant's subtitle as the "House of Chaats & Shakes" and order lots of small plates (Chaats) and a generous amount of the various delicious drinks. The standout -- everyone should start with it -- is the house special Lime drink. Lime juice is a staple in Singapore for dealing with the hot climate, and Ghaangothree takes it up a notch by blending various spices and thickeners into it to make an amazingly cooling drink for the heat (which, in Singapore, is a constant -- it's 30C / 85F almost year-round). We also sampled one of their smoothies and their Mint Lassi at various points during the meal, which were all awesome (my friends starting joking about my "liquid diet").
But the heart of the meal is to, at your own leisurely pace, order various Chaats. Happily, like True Blue, I spent most of the meal eating foods I had never heard of before; unhappily, that means I don't remember the names of most of them. Pani Puri is the one I do remember unaided: Pani means 'water', and 'puri' (or 'poori' is it's usually spelled in Indian restaurants in America) is a puffy, deep-fried bread. For Pani Puri, the puri is tiny -- only 3-4cm across -- and has a whole in the top. You take a spoon and fill the puri first with a watery tamarind-flavored sauce, and finally with a little bit of spicy red sauce. It leaks a little, but don't worry, that's part of the point -- once it's filled, you pop the whole thing in your mouth and eat it in one bite! The liquid all sloshes around in your mouth, making a delectable taste mix. My friend Himanshu described the result as "an Indian Popper".
Another particularly good Chaat I think was called Samosa Chaat. Instead of the dumpling-like Samosa I know, this Chaat was a small, deep-friend pastry base with various ingredients heaped on top, almost like an Indian nacho in structure. Those went fast! We tried a lot of other Chaats (we had the advantage of a rolling 10-person group to keep various food flowing across the table), but the other category of food to try at Ghaangothree is Indian Chinese.
Over the years the Singaporeans have developed a few interesting mixes of Chinese and Indian foods, and the Ghaangothree it's represented as "Indian Chinese Side Dishes". These are curries, and since the restuarant is all vegetarian, your choices are to pick Manchurian, Chilli, or Sichuan; and "dry" or "gravy". The "dry" curries are pastelike and need a spoon or fork to spread them on your Naan; the gravy ones are more similar to North Indian curries. Either one is good but I recommend the Dry; it's yet another chance to try something different and uniquely Singaporean.
Last but not least, Ghaangothree is pretty easy on the wallet. Even a totally orgiastic bout of eating will only set you back S$20 or so. Take a walk back through Little India to work it off -- we went on a Sunday and so the area was packed with Indian workers on their day off.
(report from Singapore) What rhymes with Peranakan?
So, I was in Singapore for the last five days and as always when in Singapore, it's about the food. The next couple posts are some fantastic places I ate in the land of multi-ethnic food. Besides these places, if you go to Singapore, be sure to try Jumbo Seafood for Chili Crab or Pepper Crab, and of course any hawker place for Chicken Rice!
Leo
----------------------------------
Name: True Blue
Address: 117 East Coast Road Singapore
Style: Peranakan
Website: None, but you can Google quite a few reviews with "True Blue Singapore"
Peranakan is the word in Singapore for the culture also known as Straits Chinese. In a sentiment that seems sensible to Americans (but unusual in Asia), Peranakans happily relate that theirs is a culture resulting from the blending and intermarriage of migrant Chinese with the Malays found on both sides of the Straits of Malacca, and now settled in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Peranakan culture has a lot of the decorative motifs of Chinese culture, but incorporates Malay manners of dress, and, significantly, cooking!
On Saturday night in Singapore we went to a great Peranakan restaurant called True Blue. It's located in a beautiful traditional building (117 East Coast Rd. for any Singaporeans reading!) that includes a display of lots of Peranakan antiques and arts. The proprietress clearly kept the house in order as we assembled our array of dishes. Happily, twice on this trip to Singapore, I went to dinner and did not know the names of hardly anything I ate! At True Blue, we shared around about 8 dishes; the only dish I had ever heard of before was the delicious version of Beef Rendang, which was good but not the highlight of the meal.
The standout was probably the chicken-nut dish (like most of the food, I've forgotten the real name). It's made with a black Malay nut, resulting in a very dark brown appearance not unlike a Mole sauce. The taste is as deep a taste as a Mexican Mole but with more earthiness, and since this is infused in a slow-cooked piece of chicken-on-the-bone, the dish comes with a tiny spoon that you use to essentially scrape the chicken meat off of the bone.
However, every dish we got at True Blue was absolutely delectable. We actually chose to try wine with our dinner, but truth to tell the food is probably better served by Singaporean juice drinks or beer. Prices were reasonable though this is no hawker restaurant! The only downside I can list for True Blue is that if you don't have someone who knows Peranakan cooking with you, it may be hard to order -- even though you can read the menu, you just won't know what any of the dishes are! Just ask the staff, who are very friendly.
Our friend David Hook's birthday happened to be the day we went, so we asked the staff and from somewhere they consed up a birthday cake for the confused honoree.
The picture also gives you some idea what the interior of True Blue is like.
Leo
----------------------------------
Name: True Blue
Address: 117 East Coast Road Singapore
Style: Peranakan
Website: None, but you can Google quite a few reviews with "True Blue Singapore"
Peranakan is the word in Singapore for the culture also known as Straits Chinese. In a sentiment that seems sensible to Americans (but unusual in Asia), Peranakans happily relate that theirs is a culture resulting from the blending and intermarriage of migrant Chinese with the Malays found on both sides of the Straits of Malacca, and now settled in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Peranakan culture has a lot of the decorative motifs of Chinese culture, but incorporates Malay manners of dress, and, significantly, cooking!
On Saturday night in Singapore we went to a great Peranakan restaurant called True Blue. It's located in a beautiful traditional building (117 East Coast Rd. for any Singaporeans reading!) that includes a display of lots of Peranakan antiques and arts. The proprietress clearly kept the house in order as we assembled our array of dishes. Happily, twice on this trip to Singapore, I went to dinner and did not know the names of hardly anything I ate! At True Blue, we shared around about 8 dishes; the only dish I had ever heard of before was the delicious version of Beef Rendang, which was good but not the highlight of the meal.
The standout was probably the chicken-nut dish (like most of the food, I've forgotten the real name). It's made with a black Malay nut, resulting in a very dark brown appearance not unlike a Mole sauce. The taste is as deep a taste as a Mexican Mole but with more earthiness, and since this is infused in a slow-cooked piece of chicken-on-the-bone, the dish comes with a tiny spoon that you use to essentially scrape the chicken meat off of the bone.
However, every dish we got at True Blue was absolutely delectable. We actually chose to try wine with our dinner, but truth to tell the food is probably better served by Singaporean juice drinks or beer. Prices were reasonable though this is no hawker restaurant! The only downside I can list for True Blue is that if you don't have someone who knows Peranakan cooking with you, it may be hard to order -- even though you can read the menu, you just won't know what any of the dishes are! Just ask the staff, who are very friendly.
Our friend David Hook's birthday happened to be the day we went, so we asked the staff and from somewhere they consed up a birthday cake for the confused honoree.
The picture also gives you some idea what the interior of True Blue is like.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Yum! Yakiniku!
Name: Maritan / まりたん
Neighborhood: Shimokitazawa / 下北沢
Style: Yakiniku
Website: None, but there's a Yahoo Gourmet page
At the recommendation of Polygon's head of Human Resources, Kikuchi-san, we trekked north from Shimokitazawa on Friday night to this allegedly superior yakiniku restaurant.
Yakiniku is the style of Japanese eating with a charcoal pit in the center of the table. The raw meat is brought thinly sliced on separate plates -- usually they'll try to bring as many slices as you have people at your table, roughly -- and diners grill the meat themselves, followed with dipping in ponzu, shoyu, or lemon sauces.
Yakiniku is always pretty good, we actually have a yummy place right next to work with very reasonably priced lunch yakiniku set (Y1000). But Kikuchi-san attested that Maritan was special in that regard, and so we found ourselves trekking north from Shimokitazawa station.
Unlike the extremely nigayakana (lively) south side of Shimakitazawa, the north side is actually very quiet, and it took a little backtracking to find Maritan, especially because we were distracted by the barkers for the restaurant upstairs (Maritan is on B1). They were very friendly and tried their best to convince us to abandon our reservation and accompany them inside their street-level new restaurant. With diligence we pried Damien away and went down to Maritan.
The ambience of the restuarant is, frankly, nothing special; it had the expected four-person tables, that we squeezed 5 around. Drink ordering was a challenge for the non-Katakana readers, but we realized they had a selection of 3-4 French wines, one of which Damien knew the Chateau for. This led to our first disappointment: high-class yakiniku or no, they refrigerate their red wines, like most restaurants in Japan. It took plenty of persuasion to convince Damien not to try and instruct the proprietress in the error of her way (refrigerated red wine is what the Japanese customers will expect).
As we went through trying to order our meat, the proprietress wasn't looking any too happy at having a table full of gaijin in her restaurant. While I can read the names in the menu (most names are written in katakana), that doesn't help much unless you know what the words actually mean (anybody: what is horumon?), so we were asking lots of questions in Japanese, then struggling with food-word-vocabulary to understand the answers. At one point she asked, "Have you ever eaten Yakiniku before?"
We got through ordering various courses of meat and went on to the daily-special appetizer (always order the daily special in a Japanese restaurant): Yukke / ユッケ. Yukke is a lot like Steak Tartare, it's raw beef minced with various spices. However, the big difference is that Yukke is better! It was absolutely delicious. We all uttered appropriate exclamations of happiness, mostly in Japanese, which warmed up the proprietress' attitude a bit.
They started bringing our plates of meat, and the proprietress had decided that as soulless barbarians we would ruin the meat if she let us cook it ourselves. Since that absolutely would not do, she took over and started cooking the meat for us, which she continued to do for pretty much the entire meal.
We got into the main part of the meal: sliced pieces of various parts of a cow. Omigod. It. Was. Good. We actually didn't realize there could be this much variation among yakiniku places, but everything we tried was good: rohsu / ロース, which is basically short for roast beef; horumon / ホルモン, which we think is intestine although we're not sure; karupi / カルピ, etc. We exercised all of our complimentary vocabulary expressing our delight.
The highlight of the mail by universal acclamation was the hattsu / ハッつ, beef heart. It was delicious, tender, and totally came apart in your mouth. We were also pretty grateful for the lady's cooking assistance, since the heart only wanted to be cooked for a very short time; left to our own devices, we would indeed have overcooked it.
By the end of the mail, the now-friendly proprietress introduced herself as the restaurant's namesake: her name is Maritan, and she's been there since the place opened 15 years ago. They're clearly learned how to run a superior yakiniku operation in that time and we'll be back! Big thanks to Kikuchi-san!
After we left Damien went back to causing trouble with the cute barkers upstairs, but that's a story for another post ;-).
Note: The only warning I would have about Maritan is that it's really not practical to go unless you either have some Japanese speakers in your party, or know at least know the various dishes you're likely to encounter at a yakiniku restaurant by heart. You're not in Roppongi anymore.
Neighborhood: Shimokitazawa / 下北沢
Style: Yakiniku
Website: None, but there's a Yahoo Gourmet page
At the recommendation of Polygon's head of Human Resources, Kikuchi-san, we trekked north from Shimokitazawa on Friday night to this allegedly superior yakiniku restaurant.
Yakiniku is the style of Japanese eating with a charcoal pit in the center of the table. The raw meat is brought thinly sliced on separate plates -- usually they'll try to bring as many slices as you have people at your table, roughly -- and diners grill the meat themselves, followed with dipping in ponzu, shoyu, or lemon sauces.
Yakiniku is always pretty good, we actually have a yummy place right next to work with very reasonably priced lunch yakiniku set (Y1000). But Kikuchi-san attested that Maritan was special in that regard, and so we found ourselves trekking north from Shimokitazawa station.
Unlike the extremely nigayakana (lively) south side of Shimakitazawa, the north side is actually very quiet, and it took a little backtracking to find Maritan, especially because we were distracted by the barkers for the restaurant upstairs (Maritan is on B1). They were very friendly and tried their best to convince us to abandon our reservation and accompany them inside their street-level new restaurant. With diligence we pried Damien away and went down to Maritan.
The ambience of the restuarant is, frankly, nothing special; it had the expected four-person tables, that we squeezed 5 around. Drink ordering was a challenge for the non-Katakana readers, but we realized they had a selection of 3-4 French wines, one of which Damien knew the Chateau for. This led to our first disappointment: high-class yakiniku or no, they refrigerate their red wines, like most restaurants in Japan. It took plenty of persuasion to convince Damien not to try and instruct the proprietress in the error of her way (refrigerated red wine is what the Japanese customers will expect).
As we went through trying to order our meat, the proprietress wasn't looking any too happy at having a table full of gaijin in her restaurant. While I can read the names in the menu (most names are written in katakana), that doesn't help much unless you know what the words actually mean (anybody: what is horumon?), so we were asking lots of questions in Japanese, then struggling with food-word-vocabulary to understand the answers. At one point she asked, "Have you ever eaten Yakiniku before?"
We got through ordering various courses of meat and went on to the daily-special appetizer (always order the daily special in a Japanese restaurant): Yukke / ユッケ. Yukke is a lot like Steak Tartare, it's raw beef minced with various spices. However, the big difference is that Yukke is better! It was absolutely delicious. We all uttered appropriate exclamations of happiness, mostly in Japanese, which warmed up the proprietress' attitude a bit.
They started bringing our plates of meat, and the proprietress had decided that as soulless barbarians we would ruin the meat if she let us cook it ourselves. Since that absolutely would not do, she took over and started cooking the meat for us, which she continued to do for pretty much the entire meal.
We got into the main part of the meal: sliced pieces of various parts of a cow. Omigod. It. Was. Good. We actually didn't realize there could be this much variation among yakiniku places, but everything we tried was good: rohsu / ロース, which is basically short for roast beef; horumon / ホルモン, which we think is intestine although we're not sure; karupi / カルピ, etc. We exercised all of our complimentary vocabulary expressing our delight.
The highlight of the mail by universal acclamation was the hattsu / ハッつ, beef heart. It was delicious, tender, and totally came apart in your mouth. We were also pretty grateful for the lady's cooking assistance, since the heart only wanted to be cooked for a very short time; left to our own devices, we would indeed have overcooked it.
By the end of the mail, the now-friendly proprietress introduced herself as the restaurant's namesake: her name is Maritan, and she's been there since the place opened 15 years ago. They're clearly learned how to run a superior yakiniku operation in that time and we'll be back! Big thanks to Kikuchi-san!
After we left Damien went back to causing trouble with the cute barkers upstairs, but that's a story for another post ;-).
Note: The only warning I would have about Maritan is that it's really not practical to go unless you either have some Japanese speakers in your party, or know at least know the various dishes you're likely to encounter at a yakiniku restaurant by heart. You're not in Roppongi anymore.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The Oliveto's of Japan
Name: Ristorante la Bisboccia
Neighborhood: Hiro-o/Ebisu 広尾／恵比寿
Style: Italian
Phone: 03-3449-1470
Website: http://www.labisboccia.com/
This is a very overdue review of a very deserving restaurant!
Last November I was leaving work on a rainy Thursday and happened to mention to Yoichi that it was my birthday. He immediately rounded me and Matt up and got us a table at La Bisboccia, which is actually just around the corner from Polygon's offices. It's just south of the Tengenjibashi 天元寺橋 intersection near Hiro-o.
It's decorated in the very conventional bistro style adopted by a lot of Japanese restaurants serving European food. However, unlike the typical overcooked pasta places found around Tokyo, La Bisboccia is a superb grill-oriented Italian restaurant. The specialties are various grilled meats -- between the three of us we tried the steak and the lamb and both were delicious, grilled darkly on the outside but still medium-rare to rare on the inside.
Even the pasta side dishes were excellent, it being almost the only time in Japan that I've actually had al dente pasta (I find restaurant pasta here typically overcooked). If that's not good enough, there was a great wine list as well, which typically for Japan focused on European wines.
Of course, this being Tokyo, that excellence didn't come cheap. We had a good quantity of wine and I believe the bill was around 12,000yen per person, and accordingly, Wiktionary translates "la bisboccia" as "the spree". Nevertheless, for a great meal on a special occasion La Bisboccia is definitely on the list!
Neighborhood: Hiro-o/Ebisu 広尾／恵比寿
Style: Italian
Phone: 03-3449-1470
Website: http://www.labisboccia.com/
This is a very overdue review of a very deserving restaurant!
Last November I was leaving work on a rainy Thursday and happened to mention to Yoichi that it was my birthday. He immediately rounded me and Matt up and got us a table at La Bisboccia, which is actually just around the corner from Polygon's offices. It's just south of the Tengenjibashi 天元寺橋 intersection near Hiro-o.
It's decorated in the very conventional bistro style adopted by a lot of Japanese restaurants serving European food. However, unlike the typical overcooked pasta places found around Tokyo, La Bisboccia is a superb grill-oriented Italian restaurant. The specialties are various grilled meats -- between the three of us we tried the steak and the lamb and both were delicious, grilled darkly on the outside but still medium-rare to rare on the inside.
Even the pasta side dishes were excellent, it being almost the only time in Japan that I've actually had al dente pasta (I find restaurant pasta here typically overcooked). If that's not good enough, there was a great wine list as well, which typically for Japan focused on European wines.
Of course, this being Tokyo, that excellence didn't come cheap. We had a good quantity of wine and I believe the bill was around 12,000yen per person, and accordingly, Wiktionary translates "la bisboccia" as "the spree". Nevertheless, for a great meal on a special occasion La Bisboccia is definitely on the list!
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