Name: Kahemi Cafe
Neighborhood: Shibuya
Style: Organic
Website: http://www.kahemicafe.com/
A few weeks ago my friend Gilles was in town, and since he's allergic to cigarette smoke we were hunting for a place that was mostly or entirely smoke-free. Alas, non-smoking restaurants are largely non-existant in Japan, but I figured that our best bet would be an organic restaurant, since while not technically non-smoking they don't tend to attract the heavy-partier crowd.
I found Kahemi Cafe through web search, and both the menu and pictures looked inviting so we made it our destination. It turns out to be very much as you'd guess from the pictures: a light, airy place with an open feel, despite being tucked away on the bottom floor of a building up the hill in Shibuya.
We started with an local organic beer they stocked I had never heard of before, and it was good if not enough to make me give up on Ushi-tora. The food was mostly the kinds of things you'd expect at a cafe (fried potato) supplemented with a fair range of entrees. Kahemi Cafe is organic but not especially vegetarian; meats were well-represented and most of the memorable dishes in fact came from the meat side of the menu.
It was also an easy place to hang out; we had a good conversation going and the staff was quite happy to let us jabber away (in the front table, no less). As I guessed going in, there were no smokers in the place at all the night we were there. Kahemi makes for a good option if you're looking for a nice hangout in Shibuya.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Sashimi Insanity in Yokohama
Name: Hatsuyoshi-zushi はつよし寿司
Neighborhood: Yokohama (near hinodecho) / 横浜（日ノ出町駅に近い）
Style: Sushi
Website: None but see for instance http://gourmet.livedoor.com/restaurant/17614/
Sorry for the very long post, but this was just an experience that needs writing about.
Last week was SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 down in Yokohama, and in arranging the week's events, some of my friends (mostly from Pixar) mentioned that they were planning a sushi night. The initial idea had been to take a train to Tsukiji, the famous fish market.
Unfortunately, that's about an hour away, and while Tsukiji is totally worth going to at 5am to see the tuna auction or 7am to eat the proceeds of the tuna auction, in the evening you'll be eating the same fish there that you will in any other restaurant in the greater Tokyo area. So I decided to cast about for a good choice in the Yokohama area. As one does in this new century, I posted on my Facebook that I was looking for a sushi restaurant in Yokohama.
And as happens in this virtual networked world, a friend who lives in Palo Alto California piped up, "well, my friend was born and raised in Yokohama and they recommend Hatsuyoshi-zushi."
That looked like the most promising of the recommendations, and the group had grown to 9 by now, so I called to put in a reservation. Luckily, they could still take the group, and even give us a private room. But then they asked, "Will you be doing a course?" In Japan, it's very common to have a course (set) menu for any group larger than 4 or 5. "Well," I asked carefully, "how much do the courses run?" (one must always be careful talking too explicitly about money here). "Our cheapest course is 7000 yen" came the reply.
Hmm, that's probably more than most of my companions had banked on. But hey, they're visiting Japan, right? "Sure," I said, "we'll take the course."
As always with SIGGRAPH or SIGGRAPH Asia, the day was chaotic and there was some fluctation in the group. Patrick Lin out, a couple other friends in -- we ended up at 10 people. I warned everybody about the course price, which everybody took in stride. We split into 3 taxis, I made sure all the taxi drivers knew where we were going, and off we went.
Well, actually, almost all the taxi drivers knew where we were going. The first two drivers knew exactly where Hatsuyoshi-zushi was (as we were to gather, it's an institution), but our driver in the third cab had no idea, as a result of which he did the most blatant red-light-running I've ever seen in Japan to keep up with the first two cabs. I was seriously wishing I had buckled my seat belt earlier...
Anyway, we all got to Hatsuyoshi without incident and found it to be a old-ish Japanese building. The first-timers in Japan were quite fascinating with the red-light district (love hotel and something that looked to be a soapland) across the street, but we corralled them into the restaurant.
Indeed we got a private room. Hatsuyoshi was a perfect experience for the visitors, in that it was very Japanese-style (tatami mat room with a low table made from one gigantic piece of wood, sliding doors) and yet it isn't fancy -- as I said, many many Japanese businessmen had spent happy evenings there before us, it was very nice but not all pristine and prissy. It also was fun because we were the only foreigners in the place.
We settled down and the first drama started. One of our group loves sashimi and sushi but has a shellfish allergy (allergy with a capital A, as in, he carries an EpiPen at all times). Fortunately, he had the foresight to have a friend write out a card in Japanese explaining exactly what his condition was. For those of you not from Japan, restaurants here are really not used to dealing with food preferences or restrictions of any kind, so when I first explained it to the waitress (who was very efficient, consistent with the fact it looked like she had worked there for 40 years), she got very flustered and insisted there was nothing they could do. I tried to explain that he was happy to eat fish, just not shellfish, but between the general lack of experience with this sort of thing and the fact that the words don't work the same way they do in English, it dramafied. Eventually she said she would need to check with the chef -- at which point it suddently became a non-issue (presumably the chef read the card and said, "oh, OK"). In the end, I think he ended up getting an even better mail than the rest of us, which is saying something.
Once that drama had played out, we got a yummy tataki appetizer and our toriaezu-biiru ("toriaezu biiru" means "First of all, I'll have a beer" and is sort of the default response to the question, "What would you like to drink?"). We were settling in to wait when it happened.
They opened up the sliding doors to their maximum width and brought in not one but two giant one-meter-across platters covered with sashimi.
One meter across. Covered. with. sashimi. Two. of. them. Topping off each platter was a giant lobster (really, it's not a lobster, it's a huge shrimp properly called ise-ebi, which was a word I learned that night) that had had the rear shell removed to reveal the tail meat... and which was still wriggling it's antenna a little bit, meaning it had alive in the kitchen when they started making our platters. They take this fresh food idea seriously.
And it's not like this was cheap-ass sashimi, either. It was a feast. Even for me it was the first time to eat ise-ebi that way, and it was really very good). The rest of the plate was covered with stacks and stacks of tai, maguro, hamachi, tako, ika... Unlike tako (octopus) in the US, which I find rubbery and tasteless, the tako here in Japan is delicious -- as was the ika (squid).
Our shellfish-challenged member -- lest the two meter-wide platters be insufficient -- got a separate plate of fish sashimi only, which included several things we didn't get.
OK, this was a Really Good Thing. So, ten foreigners were doing their best to make their way through all the fish (bad night for mercury content), and it looked like we had a good chance to finish it (except for the compressed loaves of herring roe, which produced reactions ranging from "eh" to "bleh"). And then came... the broiled tai (snapper) heads.
While most things in a sushi restaurant will of course be raw, the head of the tai is often broiled like this, and is considered a real delicacy, including the fat surrounding the eye (no need to eat the eyeball itself, the lens is hard). These tai heads certainly lived up to the reputation, they were absolutely delicious. Well, that made for another eating challenge, to work on the tai heads while finishing off the sashimi. At this point, they had cleared away the ise-ebi carcasses, so the sashimi platters were looking less imposing.
That's when they brought in the second round of broiled tai heads (I don't think this was on purpose, they probably just couldn't get all 10 ready at once). Although, I swear, we ended up getting more than 10 tai heads total between the two rounds. We were now seriously worried that we might not finish everything, but we certainly wanted to keep going because the tai heads were so good.
Oh. And then they brought in the miso soup, which was made from the remains of the ise-ebi they had taken out of the room a few minutes before. Nice touch! Miso soup had the benefit of not being too filling and providing needed water (we were continuing to drink beer and/or sake throughout the meal).
I was starting to get a bit worried. Although I had specified the 7000 yen course when making the reservation, once we arrived they hasn't asked about anything. There was a seriously large quantity of food on the table, and I was wondering whether this was really the entry-level course.
As I was pondering that, they brought two 18" or so platters filled with sushi.
We were all seriously in shock at this point. Especially after the miso (miso soup is often a final course in Japan), we thought we would be done (and we would have been full). But no, now we had two platter of sushi to work on -- and again, the sushi was almost all nigiri (only 2-3 rolls), and was delicious, and included chu-toro. And, our shellfish-challenged member again got his own separate fish-only sushi assortment.
Now I was seriously worried about exactly what course we were getting. We kept doing our best to work down the sashimi, the tai heads, and the sushi, but seriously even 10 foreigners could not finish completely any one of the three. I felt pretty bad about that, because it was all great (unfortunately, not only do they not have a doggie bag tradition in Japan, sushi doesn't work out so well with that anyway...). We came very close to finishing each of the three, but there was still some left.
With some trepidation I asked for the check. The pre-meal calculations involved who had how much cash (like most restaurants in Japan, Hatsuyoshi takes only cash), so if we really were on some more expensive course, we might run short. And, of course, there was the non-trivial matter of all the beer and sake we had been drinking.
The check came. For 10 people, it was 70,000 yen -- exactly, precisely, 10 times 7000 yen. Not only was the massive amount of food covered under the 7000 yen course, that course was also nomihoudai (all-you-can-drink). At that point, this was an extraordinarily good value for a sushi meal here in Japan. Everyone stumbled out of the restaurant in a fish coma, amazed at the fantastic sashimi, sushi, and tai heads, and the incredible experience. We were talking about it all week.
Needless to say, I heartily recommend Hatsuyoshi for a group in Yokohama. I don't know what it would be like to eat there as 2 or 4 people, but it's certainly fantastic for a group. And -- get the course!
Neighborhood: Yokohama (near hinodecho) / 横浜（日ノ出町駅に近い）
Style: Sushi
Website: None but see for instance http://gourmet.livedoor.com/restaurant/17614/
Sorry for the very long post, but this was just an experience that needs writing about.
Last week was SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 down in Yokohama, and in arranging the week's events, some of my friends (mostly from Pixar) mentioned that they were planning a sushi night. The initial idea had been to take a train to Tsukiji, the famous fish market.
Unfortunately, that's about an hour away, and while Tsukiji is totally worth going to at 5am to see the tuna auction or 7am to eat the proceeds of the tuna auction, in the evening you'll be eating the same fish there that you will in any other restaurant in the greater Tokyo area. So I decided to cast about for a good choice in the Yokohama area. As one does in this new century, I posted on my Facebook that I was looking for a sushi restaurant in Yokohama.
And as happens in this virtual networked world, a friend who lives in Palo Alto California piped up, "well, my friend was born and raised in Yokohama and they recommend Hatsuyoshi-zushi."
That looked like the most promising of the recommendations, and the group had grown to 9 by now, so I called to put in a reservation. Luckily, they could still take the group, and even give us a private room. But then they asked, "Will you be doing a course?" In Japan, it's very common to have a course (set) menu for any group larger than 4 or 5. "Well," I asked carefully, "how much do the courses run?" (one must always be careful talking too explicitly about money here). "Our cheapest course is 7000 yen" came the reply.
Hmm, that's probably more than most of my companions had banked on. But hey, they're visiting Japan, right? "Sure," I said, "we'll take the course."
As always with SIGGRAPH or SIGGRAPH Asia, the day was chaotic and there was some fluctation in the group. Patrick Lin out, a couple other friends in -- we ended up at 10 people. I warned everybody about the course price, which everybody took in stride. We split into 3 taxis, I made sure all the taxi drivers knew where we were going, and off we went.
Well, actually, almost all the taxi drivers knew where we were going. The first two drivers knew exactly where Hatsuyoshi-zushi was (as we were to gather, it's an institution), but our driver in the third cab had no idea, as a result of which he did the most blatant red-light-running I've ever seen in Japan to keep up with the first two cabs. I was seriously wishing I had buckled my seat belt earlier...
Anyway, we all got to Hatsuyoshi without incident and found it to be a old-ish Japanese building. The first-timers in Japan were quite fascinating with the red-light district (love hotel and something that looked to be a soapland) across the street, but we corralled them into the restaurant.
Indeed we got a private room. Hatsuyoshi was a perfect experience for the visitors, in that it was very Japanese-style (tatami mat room with a low table made from one gigantic piece of wood, sliding doors) and yet it isn't fancy -- as I said, many many Japanese businessmen had spent happy evenings there before us, it was very nice but not all pristine and prissy. It also was fun because we were the only foreigners in the place.
We settled down and the first drama started. One of our group loves sashimi and sushi but has a shellfish allergy (allergy with a capital A, as in, he carries an EpiPen at all times). Fortunately, he had the foresight to have a friend write out a card in Japanese explaining exactly what his condition was. For those of you not from Japan, restaurants here are really not used to dealing with food preferences or restrictions of any kind, so when I first explained it to the waitress (who was very efficient, consistent with the fact it looked like she had worked there for 40 years), she got very flustered and insisted there was nothing they could do. I tried to explain that he was happy to eat fish, just not shellfish, but between the general lack of experience with this sort of thing and the fact that the words don't work the same way they do in English, it dramafied. Eventually she said she would need to check with the chef -- at which point it suddently became a non-issue (presumably the chef read the card and said, "oh, OK"). In the end, I think he ended up getting an even better mail than the rest of us, which is saying something.
Once that drama had played out, we got a yummy tataki appetizer and our toriaezu-biiru ("toriaezu biiru" means "First of all, I'll have a beer" and is sort of the default response to the question, "What would you like to drink?"). We were settling in to wait when it happened.
They opened up the sliding doors to their maximum width and brought in not one but two giant one-meter-across platters covered with sashimi.
One meter across. Covered. with. sashimi. Two. of. them. Topping off each platter was a giant lobster (really, it's not a lobster, it's a huge shrimp properly called ise-ebi, which was a word I learned that night) that had had the rear shell removed to reveal the tail meat... and which was still wriggling it's antenna a little bit, meaning it had alive in the kitchen when they started making our platters. They take this fresh food idea seriously.
And it's not like this was cheap-ass sashimi, either. It was a feast. Even for me it was the first time to eat ise-ebi that way, and it was really very good). The rest of the plate was covered with stacks and stacks of tai, maguro, hamachi, tako, ika... Unlike tako (octopus) in the US, which I find rubbery and tasteless, the tako here in Japan is delicious -- as was the ika (squid).
Our shellfish-challenged member -- lest the two meter-wide platters be insufficient -- got a separate plate of fish sashimi only, which included several things we didn't get.
OK, this was a Really Good Thing. So, ten foreigners were doing their best to make their way through all the fish (bad night for mercury content), and it looked like we had a good chance to finish it (except for the compressed loaves of herring roe, which produced reactions ranging from "eh" to "bleh"). And then came... the broiled tai (snapper) heads.
 | The platter is so thick, and the servings of sashimi so big, it's hard to get a sense of how much food this was. Look at the pitcher of beer for scale refrence. We had already been eating for quite some time by now. |
| From SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 | |
While most things in a sushi restaurant will of course be raw, the head of the tai is often broiled like this, and is considered a real delicacy, including the fat surrounding the eye (no need to eat the eyeball itself, the lens is hard). These tai heads certainly lived up to the reputation, they were absolutely delicious. Well, that made for another eating challenge, to work on the tai heads while finishing off the sashimi. At this point, they had cleared away the ise-ebi carcasses, so the sashimi platters were looking less imposing.
That's when they brought in the second round of broiled tai heads (I don't think this was on purpose, they probably just couldn't get all 10 ready at once). Although, I swear, we ended up getting more than 10 tai heads total between the two rounds. We were now seriously worried that we might not finish everything, but we certainly wanted to keep going because the tai heads were so good.
Oh. And then they brought in the miso soup, which was made from the remains of the ise-ebi they had taken out of the room a few minutes before. Nice touch! Miso soup had the benefit of not being too filling and providing needed water (we were continuing to drink beer and/or sake throughout the meal).
I was starting to get a bit worried. Although I had specified the 7000 yen course when making the reservation, once we arrived they hasn't asked about anything. There was a seriously large quantity of food on the table, and I was wondering whether this was really the entry-level course.
As I was pondering that, they brought two 18" or so platters filled with sushi.
We were all seriously in shock at this point. Especially after the miso (miso soup is often a final course in Japan), we thought we would be done (and we would have been full). But no, now we had two platter of sushi to work on -- and again, the sushi was almost all nigiri (only 2-3 rolls), and was delicious, and included chu-toro. And, our shellfish-challenged member again got his own separate fish-only sushi assortment.
Now I was seriously worried about exactly what course we were getting. We kept doing our best to work down the sashimi, the tai heads, and the sushi, but seriously even 10 foreigners could not finish completely any one of the three. I felt pretty bad about that, because it was all great (unfortunately, not only do they not have a doggie bag tradition in Japan, sushi doesn't work out so well with that anyway...). We came very close to finishing each of the three, but there was still some left.
With some trepidation I asked for the check. The pre-meal calculations involved who had how much cash (like most restaurants in Japan, Hatsuyoshi takes only cash), so if we really were on some more expensive course, we might run short. And, of course, there was the non-trivial matter of all the beer and sake we had been drinking.
The check came. For 10 people, it was 70,000 yen -- exactly, precisely, 10 times 7000 yen. Not only was the massive amount of food covered under the 7000 yen course, that course was also nomihoudai (all-you-can-drink). At that point, this was an extraordinarily good value for a sushi meal here in Japan. Everyone stumbled out of the restaurant in a fish coma, amazed at the fantastic sashimi, sushi, and tai heads, and the incredible experience. We were talking about it all week.
Needless to say, I heartily recommend Hatsuyoshi for a group in Yokohama. I don't know what it would be like to eat there as 2 or 4 people, but it's certainly fantastic for a group. And -- get the course!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Get Yer Belgian On
Name: Delirium Cafe
Neighborhood: Kasumigaseki
Style: Belgian Beer Cafe
Website: http://www.deliriumcafe.jp/
Wow, I'm really behind on the blogging. I went with my friend Manny to Delirium months ago, and had forgotten to write it up until I found the business card today.
Delirium is located in the very business-y district of Kasumigaseki; fortunately, that's easy for me to get to since it's on the Hibiya line. It claims to be a branch of the famous Delirium Cafe from Brussels, which got into the Guinness book in 2004 for having the most varieties of beer commercially available (also 2,004). It's pretty plausible, since even the Tokyo branch has a huge selection of beers.
Most of them are indeed of the Belgian variety -- sweeter Trappist-style ales. It's going to take you a while to make your pick from the beer menu, and if you're not familiar with the Belgian beers they really are quite different (certainly all different from a Japanese lager). I don't remember everything I ordered, but I got a slightly off-the-Beligan-path doppelbock here that was delicious. We were here for awhile so I got to try a couple other ales as well.
Unlike the very light food at most beer cafes, the food at Delirium as fairly substantial. Full entrees as well as the expected euro-esque snacks are available, and there's usually a course menu available from 3000-4000 yen.
Like most Belgian or craft beer cafes in Tokyo, this selection doesn't come cheap. You should expect to be shelling out 800 to 1000 yen for each full-size beer you get here.
Delirium is definitely a more upscale option than some of the other beer bars, with its European-park decor. If you're near Kasumigaseki and want something more interesting than Kirin, check it out; I'm sure I'll be back from time to time.
Neighborhood: Kasumigaseki
Style: Belgian Beer Cafe
Website: http://www.deliriumcafe.jp/
Wow, I'm really behind on the blogging. I went with my friend Manny to Delirium months ago, and had forgotten to write it up until I found the business card today.
Delirium is located in the very business-y district of Kasumigaseki; fortunately, that's easy for me to get to since it's on the Hibiya line. It claims to be a branch of the famous Delirium Cafe from Brussels, which got into the Guinness book in 2004 for having the most varieties of beer commercially available (also 2,004). It's pretty plausible, since even the Tokyo branch has a huge selection of beers.
Most of them are indeed of the Belgian variety -- sweeter Trappist-style ales. It's going to take you a while to make your pick from the beer menu, and if you're not familiar with the Belgian beers they really are quite different (certainly all different from a Japanese lager). I don't remember everything I ordered, but I got a slightly off-the-Beligan-path doppelbock here that was delicious. We were here for awhile so I got to try a couple other ales as well.
Unlike the very light food at most beer cafes, the food at Delirium as fairly substantial. Full entrees as well as the expected euro-esque snacks are available, and there's usually a course menu available from 3000-4000 yen.
Like most Belgian or craft beer cafes in Tokyo, this selection doesn't come cheap. You should expect to be shelling out 800 to 1000 yen for each full-size beer you get here.
Delirium is definitely a more upscale option than some of the other beer bars, with its European-park decor. If you're near Kasumigaseki and want something more interesting than Kirin, check it out; I'm sure I'll be back from time to time.
Magic Spice
Name: Magic Spice
Neighborhood: Shimokitazawa
Style: Curry
Website: www.magicspice.net
Magic Spice is tucked away near the Shimokitazawa Town Hall, but it's easy to find once you're close: look for the line of people waiting outside. In general, there's not much of a waiting culture here; I'm always surprised by the fact that the default response when a restaurant is full is not, "Can I put my name in?" but rather "Ok, bye." However, at Magic Spice, they don't take reservations so if it's a weekend, you're gonna be waiting a while.
In this as in many other ways, it feels like a bit of a hippy hangover place. It's all Tibetan-themed decorations applied several layers of brocade thick and overlaid with flyers advertising various local yoga classes, and of course peridically they feature live music as well. A quick trip to the website will give you a good sense of the vibe.
But, people wouldn't be there for the decorations alone, it's all about the curries. And thankfully, unlike the canonical Japanese "curry house" that serves overly sweet, completely mild, thick curries, these are Indonesian-style, awesomely spicy, thin soup-like curries bursting with fresh ingredients. They're even spicy enough to give a San Franciscan pause, so don't rush to order the maximum spice level like you would in most places in Japan.
I went here with a group of 7 and we spread ourselves out around the menu trying various of their specialty curries, and every single one was delicious (there was a lot of sampling going on around the table). So take your time to work through the menu (an English menu is available but as is often the case, may not have the specials on it) and pick something, but don't sweat it too much cuz they're all good (you can do the sweating after the curry arrives).
The prices are all pretty reasonable -- I don't have the menu anymore but I recall it was 1000ish yen for food -- and a bowl of curry here will keep you nicely filled up. A couple draft beers and you've had a dinner that made the wait well worthwhile.
Neighborhood: Shimokitazawa
Style: Curry
Website: www.magicspice.net
Magic Spice is tucked away near the Shimokitazawa Town Hall, but it's easy to find once you're close: look for the line of people waiting outside. In general, there's not much of a waiting culture here; I'm always surprised by the fact that the default response when a restaurant is full is not, "Can I put my name in?" but rather "Ok, bye." However, at Magic Spice, they don't take reservations so if it's a weekend, you're gonna be waiting a while.
In this as in many other ways, it feels like a bit of a hippy hangover place. It's all Tibetan-themed decorations applied several layers of brocade thick and overlaid with flyers advertising various local yoga classes, and of course peridically they feature live music as well. A quick trip to the website will give you a good sense of the vibe.
But, people wouldn't be there for the decorations alone, it's all about the curries. And thankfully, unlike the canonical Japanese "curry house" that serves overly sweet, completely mild, thick curries, these are Indonesian-style, awesomely spicy, thin soup-like curries bursting with fresh ingredients. They're even spicy enough to give a San Franciscan pause, so don't rush to order the maximum spice level like you would in most places in Japan.
I went here with a group of 7 and we spread ourselves out around the menu trying various of their specialty curries, and every single one was delicious (there was a lot of sampling going on around the table). So take your time to work through the menu (an English menu is available but as is often the case, may not have the specials on it) and pick something, but don't sweat it too much cuz they're all good (you can do the sweating after the curry arrives).
The prices are all pretty reasonable -- I don't have the menu anymore but I recall it was 1000ish yen for food -- and a bowl of curry here will keep you nicely filled up. A couple draft beers and you've had a dinner that made the wait well worthwhile.
Russian Restaurant Rogovski
Name: Russian Restaurant Rogovski
Neighborhood: Shibuya
Style: Russian (duh)
Website: http://www.rogovski.co.jp/
I can't believe I haven't blogged about this restaurant yet! My friend Sonoko's family are the operators of this Russian restaurant right in the middle of Shibuya as a result of which I've eaten there two or three times. Rogovski has been around for a good long time, so they have a stream of regular patrons but it's still fairly easy to get in.
Russian food always conjures up images for me of overwhelmingly heavy stews and borscht, so Rogovski was a pleasnt surprise by providing reasonably light Russian fare (it helps that Japanese portion sizes mean that you don't get too much of any one thing). I've never actually seen Borscht here but they have a lot of Russian standards, including Piroshki, Chicken Kiev, nd the highly recommended Pickled Herring (I know you might not immediately rush to order Pickled Herring, but seriously, it's good).
If you ordered a course meal (I never have because Sonoko's family is always consulting on the items for the evening) they range from 4000 to 7000 yen, which gives a good idea of the price range for the place. They have plenty of drinks to choose from including various Russian beers and of course Stoli, in addition to the standard Japanese beer on tap.
Because the Chogayas are really enthusiasts for Russian cooking, there's also a selection of Russian mixes and canned goods you can buy to take home. If I heard the story right, the original way that the family got involved in Russian cooking involved WWII and a POW camp. I often forget to think of this place when I'm in Shibuya, which is a shame because it's actually easy to find: it's on the 9th floor of the Tokyu Plaza, in the same building with the Kinokuniya (south exit from Shibuya-eki).
Neighborhood: Shibuya
Style: Russian (duh)
Website: http://www.rogovski.co.jp/
I can't believe I haven't blogged about this restaurant yet! My friend Sonoko's family are the operators of this Russian restaurant right in the middle of Shibuya as a result of which I've eaten there two or three times. Rogovski has been around for a good long time, so they have a stream of regular patrons but it's still fairly easy to get in.
Russian food always conjures up images for me of overwhelmingly heavy stews and borscht, so Rogovski was a pleasnt surprise by providing reasonably light Russian fare (it helps that Japanese portion sizes mean that you don't get too much of any one thing). I've never actually seen Borscht here but they have a lot of Russian standards, including Piroshki, Chicken Kiev, nd the highly recommended Pickled Herring (I know you might not immediately rush to order Pickled Herring, but seriously, it's good).
If you ordered a course meal (I never have because Sonoko's family is always consulting on the items for the evening) they range from 4000 to 7000 yen, which gives a good idea of the price range for the place. They have plenty of drinks to choose from including various Russian beers and of course Stoli, in addition to the standard Japanese beer on tap.
Because the Chogayas are really enthusiasts for Russian cooking, there's also a selection of Russian mixes and canned goods you can buy to take home. If I heard the story right, the original way that the family got involved in Russian cooking involved WWII and a POW camp. I often forget to think of this place when I'm in Shibuya, which is a shame because it's actually easy to find: it's on the 9th floor of the Tokyu Plaza, in the same building with the Kinokuniya (south exit from Shibuya-eki).
Nagatacho Kurosawa
Name: Nagatacho Kurosawa
Neighborhood: Nagatacho. Around the corner from the PM's house.
Style: Shabu-shabu
Website: http://www.9638.net/eng/Nagatacho/index.html
The son of the famous film director Akira Kurosawa runs several restaurants, of which the flagship is Nagatacho Kurosawa. We ended up coming here for our big Saturday night meal during the SIGGRAPH Asia CAF Jury meeting.
The restaurant is a spectacular old Japanese building in Nagatacho, the seat of Japanese government. It really looks like its been here a couple hundred years, though that's probably not the case in actuality. The service is excellent, as is the shabu-shabu. Unfortunately, I don't eat pork so I couldn't join in on eating the kurobuta (Black Berkshire Pork) which is one of the specialties of the house.
There's no one thing I would rave about at this place, but it's very well-executed in all regards and is commensurate with the price. Course dinners starts at about 5500 yen and range upwards depending on what you order; kaiseki is also available.
They're used to foreign guests, so going here without a Japanese speaker is basically fine.
Neighborhood: Nagatacho. Around the corner from the PM's house.
Style: Shabu-shabu
Website: http://www.9638.net/eng/Nagatacho/index.html
The son of the famous film director Akira Kurosawa runs several restaurants, of which the flagship is Nagatacho Kurosawa. We ended up coming here for our big Saturday night meal during the SIGGRAPH Asia CAF Jury meeting.
The restaurant is a spectacular old Japanese building in Nagatacho, the seat of Japanese government. It really looks like its been here a couple hundred years, though that's probably not the case in actuality. The service is excellent, as is the shabu-shabu. Unfortunately, I don't eat pork so I couldn't join in on eating the kurobuta (Black Berkshire Pork) which is one of the specialties of the house.
There's no one thing I would rave about at this place, but it's very well-executed in all regards and is commensurate with the price. Course dinners starts at about 5500 yen and range upwards depending on what you order; kaiseki is also available.
They're used to foreign guests, so going here without a Japanese speaker is basically fine.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Sausage #1
Name: Salsiccia Uno
Neighborhood: Hiro-o / 広尾
Style: Italian
Website: http://www.kiwa-group.co.jp/restaurant/a100457.html
For our first round of SIGGRAPH Asia Jury meetings, we were at Polygon Pictures, so we needed to arrange a reasonably-priced dinner somewhere close by. As most of the folks in the first round were Japanese, we weren't constrained to Japanese food as we are when we have out-of-town guests, so our first plan was to go to Plates, a nice Italian place in Hiro-o.
However, I noticed a few days before the event that there was a new Italian place almost across the street called Salsicca Uno, and since they were new even three days ahead of time they could accommodate a big group on a Saturday night.
As you'd guess from the name if you spoke Italian, this is a meat, and in particular sausage, oriented restaurant. We had enough people that we got a course, but since they had a decent and decently priced Italian winelist we skipped the 飲み放題／nomihoudai/all-you-can-drink and ordered bottles of wine instead.
We had a good time with a very mixed group. As I said we were mostly Japanese and so was most of the conversation, but there were a few English-only speakers and a fair number of bilinguals. I guess as I've been here longer that's becoming the norm for me...
The antipasti was yummy and the salad was generous, but the standout of the evening was definitely the sausages: lots of tezukuri (handmade) sausages of various sorts. I didn't have any (I don't eat pork) but the assembled crew pronounced them awesome. Advised that I didn't eat pork, the chef Koji Asakura 浅倉 康治 whipped up a beef plate for me on the spot which was awesome. Great improvisation on their part.
Even with wine off the winelist, the whole bill was about Y4500 per person, very reasonable for an excellent night out in Tokyo. And we got everybody back to the station in time for their last trains, even Julian. This place is in Hiro-o so gaijin are no big deal, you don't particularly need to worry about speaking Japanese.
Completely at random, Salsiccia Uno turns out to be from the Kiwa Corporation group, which runs a couple dozen restaurants in Tokyo. My friends Nick and Naoco swear by any of the restaurants in the group, although it had nothing to do with decided to try out Salsiccia Uno! Honest!
Neighborhood: Hiro-o / 広尾
Style: Italian
Website: http://www.kiwa-group.co.jp/restaurant/a100457.html
For our first round of SIGGRAPH Asia Jury meetings, we were at Polygon Pictures, so we needed to arrange a reasonably-priced dinner somewhere close by. As most of the folks in the first round were Japanese, we weren't constrained to Japanese food as we are when we have out-of-town guests, so our first plan was to go to Plates, a nice Italian place in Hiro-o.
However, I noticed a few days before the event that there was a new Italian place almost across the street called Salsicca Uno, and since they were new even three days ahead of time they could accommodate a big group on a Saturday night.
As you'd guess from the name if you spoke Italian, this is a meat, and in particular sausage, oriented restaurant. We had enough people that we got a course, but since they had a decent and decently priced Italian winelist we skipped the 飲み放題／nomihoudai/all-you-can-drink and ordered bottles of wine instead.
We had a good time with a very mixed group. As I said we were mostly Japanese and so was most of the conversation, but there were a few English-only speakers and a fair number of bilinguals. I guess as I've been here longer that's becoming the norm for me...
The antipasti was yummy and the salad was generous, but the standout of the evening was definitely the sausages: lots of tezukuri (handmade) sausages of various sorts. I didn't have any (I don't eat pork) but the assembled crew pronounced them awesome. Advised that I didn't eat pork, the chef Koji Asakura 浅倉 康治 whipped up a beef plate for me on the spot which was awesome. Great improvisation on their part.
Even with wine off the winelist, the whole bill was about Y4500 per person, very reasonable for an excellent night out in Tokyo. And we got everybody back to the station in time for their last trains, even Julian. This place is in Hiro-o so gaijin are no big deal, you don't particularly need to worry about speaking Japanese.
Completely at random, Salsiccia Uno turns out to be from the Kiwa Corporation group, which runs a couple dozen restaurants in Tokyo. My friends Nick and Naoco swear by any of the restaurants in the group, although it had nothing to do with decided to try out Salsiccia Uno! Honest!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
It's Italian, no wait it's European, no wait...
Name: bigote
Neighborhood: Shinjuku Sanchome 新宿三丁目
Style: Well, that's a complicated question
Website: http://bigote-placer.com/
After coming out of Star Trek Saturday night, we were looking for somewhere to eat, and after the usual wander through the entertainment district (in this case through Shinjuku Sanchome) we picked bigote due to its appealling second-story corner location.
Going in we found just as interesting as it looked: a combination of bare concrete and visible fittings, but with unfinished wood tables and a very summer-camp-looking table for six in the far corner.
The menu -- which we initially thought to be Italian due to the pizza and pasta -- was actually quite a bit more interesting than that. We did have a pizza, and they did a good job with the ingredients -- soft salami with mozzarella and ricotta cheese -- but they don't have a pizza oven, so it might be more accurate to call the resulting product flatbread (not that there's anything wrong with warm flatbread with salami and cheese).
However, the next couple dishes we got were non-Italian and extraordinary. The grilled New Zealand lamb was a pair of delicate lamb chops grilled to perfection, topped with a sprig of rosemary and accompanied by a couple slices of braised squash and a healthy dollop of potato... salad? puree? paste? Picking up the chop by the bone and taking a first bite, it was clear this was the hit of the night. Every last piece of meat got gnawed off of those bones, and we seriously considered ordering two more immediately (amazingly, the lamb dish was only 600 yen).
Fortunately, our sense of variety prevailed and instead we checked out the Japanese side of the menu by ordering the Katsuo tataki. Memories of the lamb were greatly dulled as this in turn became the hit of the evening. Raw katsuo grilled oh so slightly and served as sashimi... that's what I was talking about.
Going along with all of that, bigote has not only a very full bar and a set of house cocktails, but a great wine selection by the glass -- seven red wines by the glass, and none of them were refrigerated to boot! (many Japanese restaurants still serve red wine chilled... sigh). After a couple glasses of it, I no longer remember the name of the spicy medium-bodied red I had, but it complemented the pizza and lamb perfectly (it was a bit much for the katsuo, so I had to refrain from having any while the katsuo was on the palette. Of course, the katsuo was so good, that wasn't very long!).
Towards the end of the evening, the owner, Tetsuhiro Ichimura 市村 哲宏 stopped by the table to chat a bit. His other job is a record buyer for DJs, so he makes a trip to New York about once a year to pick up new records, and try a few restaurants while he's there. bigote was specially designed to be hard to categorize: they try to incorporate appropriate dishes from all over the world. I thought they were doing pretty good at it!
So, if you're in Shinjuku Sanchome for a pilgrammae to Sekaido, try stopping by bigote afterwards.
Neighborhood: Shinjuku Sanchome 新宿三丁目
Style: Well, that's a complicated question
Website: http://bigote-placer.com/
After coming out of Star Trek Saturday night, we were looking for somewhere to eat, and after the usual wander through the entertainment district (in this case through Shinjuku Sanchome) we picked bigote due to its appealling second-story corner location.
Going in we found just as interesting as it looked: a combination of bare concrete and visible fittings, but with unfinished wood tables and a very summer-camp-looking table for six in the far corner.
The menu -- which we initially thought to be Italian due to the pizza and pasta -- was actually quite a bit more interesting than that. We did have a pizza, and they did a good job with the ingredients -- soft salami with mozzarella and ricotta cheese -- but they don't have a pizza oven, so it might be more accurate to call the resulting product flatbread (not that there's anything wrong with warm flatbread with salami and cheese).
However, the next couple dishes we got were non-Italian and extraordinary. The grilled New Zealand lamb was a pair of delicate lamb chops grilled to perfection, topped with a sprig of rosemary and accompanied by a couple slices of braised squash and a healthy dollop of potato... salad? puree? paste? Picking up the chop by the bone and taking a first bite, it was clear this was the hit of the night. Every last piece of meat got gnawed off of those bones, and we seriously considered ordering two more immediately (amazingly, the lamb dish was only 600 yen).
Fortunately, our sense of variety prevailed and instead we checked out the Japanese side of the menu by ordering the Katsuo tataki. Memories of the lamb were greatly dulled as this in turn became the hit of the evening. Raw katsuo grilled oh so slightly and served as sashimi... that's what I was talking about.
Going along with all of that, bigote has not only a very full bar and a set of house cocktails, but a great wine selection by the glass -- seven red wines by the glass, and none of them were refrigerated to boot! (many Japanese restaurants still serve red wine chilled... sigh). After a couple glasses of it, I no longer remember the name of the spicy medium-bodied red I had, but it complemented the pizza and lamb perfectly (it was a bit much for the katsuo, so I had to refrain from having any while the katsuo was on the palette. Of course, the katsuo was so good, that wasn't very long!).
Towards the end of the evening, the owner, Tetsuhiro Ichimura 市村 哲宏 stopped by the table to chat a bit. His other job is a record buyer for DJs, so he makes a trip to New York about once a year to pick up new records, and try a few restaurants while he's there. bigote was specially designed to be hard to categorize: they try to incorporate appropriate dishes from all over the world. I thought they were doing pretty good at it!
So, if you're in Shinjuku Sanchome for a pilgrammae to Sekaido, try stopping by bigote afterwards.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
New Hamburger King?
Name: AS Classics Diner
Neighborhood: Near Komazawa Koen 駒沢公園, in between Jiyugaoka 自由が丘 and Komazawa Daigaku 駒沢大学
Style: American Diner / Burgers
Website: http://www.asclassics.com/
I still love the meat patties at Pakutch in Shibuya (and it's a good deal more conveniently located), but I think AS Classics is the new standard for Tokyo burgers. I had noticed the writeup for AS Classics in Metropolis' coverage of Tokyo burger stands, and so it's been on my to-do list for awhile.
It's a beautiful weekend in Tokyo, so I was out for a bike ride along the Tamagawa. Usually I get out to the Tama by riding out Komazawa-dori from my house in Nakameguro, and on the way back today I noticed that's where AS Classics is. It's right near the corner of Komazawa-dori and Jiyuu-dori, by Komazawa Olympic Park (I have no idea why the park is called that, does anyone know?), so it's not particularly convenient to any train lines.
Unlike any of the other burger places in Tokyo, AS Classics is going for the whole American diner thing, so they have stainless steel and a lot of vintage American ads all over the place. For this time of year, they have a few outdoor tables, which is a bonus. Like most of the customers I saw there, I ignored the other menu options and went straight for the burger: cheeseburger straight up -- I love Teriyaki Burgers but I figured I should give the new restaurant a chance to present their default.
First off, AS Classics makes their own buns, and it shows -- they're oh-so-slightly crunchy on the outside, none of the bad squishiness. Secondly, they've got the fixins' part of a hamburger down: Full slices of tomato, lettuce, and onion come with the burger.
None of that would matter if the meat was substandard, but no worries there: it was well-cooked (medium but not medium well), and super-juicy, which is of course a key for hamburgers. My patty actually had a little bit of not-fully-ground meat left in it, suggesting the hamburger is being locally ground (I haven't waded through the Japanese of the website to know for sure).
Unlike most burger places in Japan, AS Classics serves the burger directly on a plate: none of the V-shaped paper dripping catchers you get at most places. Thus, the plate got pretty drippy by the time the burger was gone a few minutes later, which is always a good sign.
They have lots of drink options, both non-alcoholic (shakes, natch) and beery (a nice selection of American and Mexican beers, plus Budweiser).
The only negative regarding AS Classics concerns the fries. They were cooked nicely, but even for Tokyo the portion is pretty small. Worse yet, unlike the care lavished on the buns, fixins', and patties, they were clearly from frozen: slightly mealy on the inside. They could do with some lessons from In'n'Out about how to make the fries match up to the burgers.
Neighborhood: Near Komazawa Koen 駒沢公園, in between Jiyugaoka 自由が丘 and Komazawa Daigaku 駒沢大学
Style: American Diner / Burgers
Website: http://www.asclassics.com/
I still love the meat patties at Pakutch in Shibuya (and it's a good deal more conveniently located), but I think AS Classics is the new standard for Tokyo burgers. I had noticed the writeup for AS Classics in Metropolis' coverage of Tokyo burger stands, and so it's been on my to-do list for awhile.
It's a beautiful weekend in Tokyo, so I was out for a bike ride along the Tamagawa. Usually I get out to the Tama by riding out Komazawa-dori from my house in Nakameguro, and on the way back today I noticed that's where AS Classics is. It's right near the corner of Komazawa-dori and Jiyuu-dori, by Komazawa Olympic Park (I have no idea why the park is called that, does anyone know?), so it's not particularly convenient to any train lines.
Unlike any of the other burger places in Tokyo, AS Classics is going for the whole American diner thing, so they have stainless steel and a lot of vintage American ads all over the place. For this time of year, they have a few outdoor tables, which is a bonus. Like most of the customers I saw there, I ignored the other menu options and went straight for the burger: cheeseburger straight up -- I love Teriyaki Burgers but I figured I should give the new restaurant a chance to present their default.
First off, AS Classics makes their own buns, and it shows -- they're oh-so-slightly crunchy on the outside, none of the bad squishiness. Secondly, they've got the fixins' part of a hamburger down: Full slices of tomato, lettuce, and onion come with the burger.
None of that would matter if the meat was substandard, but no worries there: it was well-cooked (medium but not medium well), and super-juicy, which is of course a key for hamburgers. My patty actually had a little bit of not-fully-ground meat left in it, suggesting the hamburger is being locally ground (I haven't waded through the Japanese of the website to know for sure).
Unlike most burger places in Japan, AS Classics serves the burger directly on a plate: none of the V-shaped paper dripping catchers you get at most places. Thus, the plate got pretty drippy by the time the burger was gone a few minutes later, which is always a good sign.
They have lots of drink options, both non-alcoholic (shakes, natch) and beery (a nice selection of American and Mexican beers, plus Budweiser).
The only negative regarding AS Classics concerns the fries. They were cooked nicely, but even for Tokyo the portion is pretty small. Worse yet, unlike the care lavished on the buns, fixins', and patties, they were clearly from frozen: slightly mealy on the inside. They could do with some lessons from In'n'Out about how to make the fries match up to the burgers.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sign-ing On
Name: Sign
Neighborhood: Daikanyama
Style: Western-oriented cafe
Website: http://www.transit-web.com/shop/cafe/sign-daikanyama/index.html
Today I went to Sign, a cafe right outside the station in Daikanyama, and I had two things I had never had before, both of which were really good:
A Shandy Gaff is a drink that's half beer and half ginger ale. I've known about them for a long time, but I had never actually had one, in large part because most American ginger ale is too sweeet for me. Fortunately, ginger ale in Japan is usually quite dry, and so when I saw this on the menu at Sign I went for it. On a warm sunny spring day, a Shandy Gaff is just the thing! I'm a convert.
The second item doesn't have a name, but it was great nonetheless: gravilox with potato pancakes. This appetizer was three small silver-dollar-sized potato pancakes, and a generous amount of gravilox covered with olive oil, salt, and pepper, with a side of sour cream. You put a little sour cream on the potato pancake, plopped a piece of gravilox on top, and enjoyed! It all felt vaguely Jewish. The only bummer is that Japanese sour cream isn't very good. It's too hard and not sour enough, some good old Quality Checkd from Safeway would have been an improvement.
Neighborhood: Daikanyama
Style: Western-oriented cafe
Website: http://www.transit-web.com/shop/cafe/sign-daikanyama/index.html
Today I went to Sign, a cafe right outside the station in Daikanyama, and I had two things I had never had before, both of which were really good:
A Shandy Gaff is a drink that's half beer and half ginger ale. I've known about them for a long time, but I had never actually had one, in large part because most American ginger ale is too sweeet for me. Fortunately, ginger ale in Japan is usually quite dry, and so when I saw this on the menu at Sign I went for it. On a warm sunny spring day, a Shandy Gaff is just the thing! I'm a convert.
The second item doesn't have a name, but it was great nonetheless: gravilox with potato pancakes. This appetizer was three small silver-dollar-sized potato pancakes, and a generous amount of gravilox covered with olive oil, salt, and pepper, with a side of sour cream. You put a little sour cream on the potato pancake, plopped a piece of gravilox on top, and enjoyed! It all felt vaguely Jewish. The only bummer is that Japanese sour cream isn't very good. It's too hard and not sour enough, some good old Quality Checkd from Safeway would have been an improvement.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Portugal in Tokyo
Name: Manuel Marunouchi
Neighborhood: Marunouchi
Style: Portuguese
Website: http://www.manuelm.com/marunouchi/
The last night all of my SIGGRAPH Asia friends & Co-workers were in town, Kanako organized a get-together of friends at this basement restaurant. It's a small personally-run place in the basement of one of the giant buildings in Marunouchi, and Portuguese food turns out to be a similar take on Iberia to its Spanish neighbor -- lots of small plates, with highly varying spices.
The standout dish of the evening was the beef stew, which we ended up ordering three times (we were a big group of about 12 by the time everyone made it), but there was lots to love here -- pork dishes, vegetable sides, and of course an excellent wine list.
We would have been remiss if we didn't finish with a glass of port, so I had the Tawny -- pleasure I haven't had in Tokyo for quite awhile. This place isn't expensive for what it is, but that's still to say you're not going to get out for less than 5000yen per person unless you totally abstain from the alcohol. And with a winelist like this, that would be wrong.
Neighborhood: Marunouchi
Style: Portuguese
Website: http://www.manuelm.com/marunouchi/
The last night all of my SIGGRAPH Asia friends & Co-workers were in town, Kanako organized a get-together of friends at this basement restaurant. It's a small personally-run place in the basement of one of the giant buildings in Marunouchi, and Portuguese food turns out to be a similar take on Iberia to its Spanish neighbor -- lots of small plates, with highly varying spices.
The standout dish of the evening was the beef stew, which we ended up ordering three times (we were a big group of about 12 by the time everyone made it), but there was lots to love here -- pork dishes, vegetable sides, and of course an excellent wine list.
We would have been remiss if we didn't finish with a glass of port, so I had the Tawny -- pleasure I haven't had in Tokyo for quite awhile. This place isn't expensive for what it is, but that's still to say you're not going to get out for less than 5000yen per person unless you totally abstain from the alcohol. And with a winelist like this, that would be wrong.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Classy Wine Bar
Name: Acqua Gradita
Style: Wine Bar
Neighborhood: Ohashi (btw Shibuya and Sangenjaya)
Website: None, but I put it on my Google Maps here. Phone is 03-3461-0424.
At the izakaya I had mentioned I loved wine, so for our second stop we grabbed a cab over to Acqua Gradita, since Asami knows the master from his previous job.
This is a very nice wine bar in Japanese style, meaning you come in and sit at the counter where you chitchat with the master as well as with your friends. Every glass of wine is a new adventure, which begins with a negotiation with the master as to what kind of wine you feel like right now.
In truth, the wine list isn't that big -- if there's a group and you have a couple glasses each, you'll start to see the limits -- but the conversation always makes a brief stop worthwhile, especially since the selections mostly change over time.
The master (Tetsuya Fuijta) is pretty English-friendly, but as far as I could tell it wouldn't be right to say he speaks English. Expect to conduct yourself mostly in Japanese here.
Style: Wine Bar
Neighborhood: Ohashi (btw Shibuya and Sangenjaya)
Website: None, but I put it on my Google Maps here. Phone is 03-3461-0424.
At the izakaya I had mentioned I loved wine, so for our second stop we grabbed a cab over to Acqua Gradita, since Asami knows the master from his previous job.
This is a very nice wine bar in Japanese style, meaning you come in and sit at the counter where you chitchat with the master as well as with your friends. Every glass of wine is a new adventure, which begins with a negotiation with the master as to what kind of wine you feel like right now.
In truth, the wine list isn't that big -- if there's a group and you have a couple glasses each, you'll start to see the limits -- but the conversation always makes a brief stop worthwhile, especially since the selections mostly change over time.
The master (Tetsuya Fuijta) is pretty English-friendly, but as far as I could tell it wouldn't be right to say he speaks English. Expect to conduct yourself mostly in Japanese here.
Being Okinawan in Shimokitazawa
Name: Champ-rouse / チャンプル〜
Style: Okinawan / 沖縄の料理
Neighborhood: Shimokitazawa / 下北沢
Website: None but Tablelog entry is here
Before I came to Japan I didn't even know there was such a thing as Okinawan cuisine. Now it's one of my favorite things to eat here! Last weekend I got to introduce my friend MJ to one of my regular Okinawan places, Champuru~ (they write it with a tilde to indicate the last sound is extra-long).
Okinawa used to be an quasi-independent kingdom called the Ryuukyuu Islands until the late 19th century (for comparison, it was only about 30 years later that Japan took control of Taiwan). The culture there has a lot of non-Japanese influence through Taiwan, various Polynesian ties, and China, and that shows in the cuisine. While a lot of the ingredients are similar Japanese food, there are also a lot of different elements (and as MJ pointed out, less shoyu overall). Because of the old name, Okinawan food is also called Ryuukyuu cuisine (琉球の料理).
The classic Okinawan dish is what the restaurant is named after: Goya Champuru. Goya is an extremely bitter melon that's common in Okinawan cuisine, and Goya Champuru is sliced bitter melon with seasoning, pork and eggs (when I get it, I ask if they can make it with fish to avoid the pork). It's yummy and warm, but not heavy like a nabemono. You can get Goya Champuru (frequently referred to as "Goya Jumble" by English speaker, although the word's origin is different) in a lot of izakaya in Japan, but Okinawan restaurants do it best.
Another classic item that's not on the printed menu, but is often available as a daily item, is sea grapes (that's a literal transation of the name: 海ぶどう / "umi budou"). If you don't speak Japanese, write that one down so you can ask for it. They're an edible seaweed that looks like a miniature bunch of grapes. They have a fascinating crunchy texture and are really fun to eat.
The only downside of Champuru~ is that it's a bit difficult if you don't speak Japanese. I almost always chat with the staff to find out what's on special that day and make most of the choices from that (the last time we got not one but two awesome tofu dishes), with the result that I don't really remember what any of them were called. And, the staff doesn't speak English, so it's best to go with someone who's at least at the level of negotiating food orders.
Shimokitazawa is one of my favorite neighborhoods, so I'm grateful to Makino-san for introducing me to this place. If you're thirsty afterwards, be sure to head over to Ushi-tora for a Japanese craft beer!
Style: Okinawan / 沖縄の料理
Neighborhood: Shimokitazawa / 下北沢
Website: None but Tablelog entry is here
Before I came to Japan I didn't even know there was such a thing as Okinawan cuisine. Now it's one of my favorite things to eat here! Last weekend I got to introduce my friend MJ to one of my regular Okinawan places, Champuru~ (they write it with a tilde to indicate the last sound is extra-long).
Okinawa used to be an quasi-independent kingdom called the Ryuukyuu Islands until the late 19th century (for comparison, it was only about 30 years later that Japan took control of Taiwan). The culture there has a lot of non-Japanese influence through Taiwan, various Polynesian ties, and China, and that shows in the cuisine. While a lot of the ingredients are similar Japanese food, there are also a lot of different elements (and as MJ pointed out, less shoyu overall). Because of the old name, Okinawan food is also called Ryuukyuu cuisine (琉球の料理).
The classic Okinawan dish is what the restaurant is named after: Goya Champuru. Goya is an extremely bitter melon that's common in Okinawan cuisine, and Goya Champuru is sliced bitter melon with seasoning, pork and eggs (when I get it, I ask if they can make it with fish to avoid the pork). It's yummy and warm, but not heavy like a nabemono. You can get Goya Champuru (frequently referred to as "Goya Jumble" by English speaker, although the word's origin is different) in a lot of izakaya in Japan, but Okinawan restaurants do it best.
Another classic item that's not on the printed menu, but is often available as a daily item, is sea grapes (that's a literal transation of the name: 海ぶどう / "umi budou"). If you don't speak Japanese, write that one down so you can ask for it. They're an edible seaweed that looks like a miniature bunch of grapes. They have a fascinating crunchy texture and are really fun to eat.
The only downside of Champuru~ is that it's a bit difficult if you don't speak Japanese. I almost always chat with the staff to find out what's on special that day and make most of the choices from that (the last time we got not one but two awesome tofu dishes), with the result that I don't really remember what any of them were called. And, the staff doesn't speak English, so it's best to go with someone who's at least at the level of negotiating food orders.
Shimokitazawa is one of my favorite neighborhoods, so I'm grateful to Makino-san for introducing me to this place. If you're thirsty afterwards, be sure to head over to Ushi-tora for a Japanese craft beer!
Down-home Izakaya, in the shadow of Midtown
Name: Sushi Izakaya Matsu-chan / すし居酒屋松ちゃん
Style: Izakaya
Neighborhood: Roppongi / 六本木
Website: None but Yahoo Gourmet page is here
My friend Jill was in town a few weeks ago and some acquaintances took her to an izakaya she was raving about. I tried to meet up with them but due to some cellphone troubles on Jill's end we didn't connect. Fortunately, I met up with her acquaintances for a night out and we went back to Sushi Izakaya Matsu-chan.
This is a classic Japanese izakaya, with cheap prices no less, even though it's in the middle of Roppongi (it's very near Tokyo Midtown). It definitely is not a tourist place, most of the customers were Sabiro-wearing Sararimen, and I didn't notice any other gaijin at all on a busy Friday night. And when I say cheap, I mean pretty cheap: on Friday night draft beers were 290yen for a good-sized glass; if you come between 5-9pm on weeknights, they run a special for 180yen!
The food we had was all good, classic Izakaya fare like karaage (Japanese fried chicken), agedashi tofu, edamame, saba (mackeral) shioyaki. The standout, though, was wakadori yuzu shozou yaki, grilled young chicken with spicy yuzu sauce. Completely yummy!
The place is very busy on prime hours Friday and Saturday so you might want to make a reservation: phone number is 03-5775-7707. Be sure to have a link to the map as well: this place is really, really difficult to find if you haven't been there before. It's on a side street of a side street, even though you're only 2 minutes from Midtown!
Style: Izakaya
Neighborhood: Roppongi / 六本木
Website: None but Yahoo Gourmet page is here
My friend Jill was in town a few weeks ago and some acquaintances took her to an izakaya she was raving about. I tried to meet up with them but due to some cellphone troubles on Jill's end we didn't connect. Fortunately, I met up with her acquaintances for a night out and we went back to Sushi Izakaya Matsu-chan.
This is a classic Japanese izakaya, with cheap prices no less, even though it's in the middle of Roppongi (it's very near Tokyo Midtown). It definitely is not a tourist place, most of the customers were Sabiro-wearing Sararimen, and I didn't notice any other gaijin at all on a busy Friday night. And when I say cheap, I mean pretty cheap: on Friday night draft beers were 290yen for a good-sized glass; if you come between 5-9pm on weeknights, they run a special for 180yen!
The food we had was all good, classic Izakaya fare like karaage (Japanese fried chicken), agedashi tofu, edamame, saba (mackeral) shioyaki. The standout, though, was wakadori yuzu shozou yaki, grilled young chicken with spicy yuzu sauce. Completely yummy!
The place is very busy on prime hours Friday and Saturday so you might want to make a reservation: phone number is 03-5775-7707. Be sure to have a link to the map as well: this place is really, really difficult to find if you haven't been there before. It's on a side street of a side street, even though you're only 2 minutes from Midtown!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Katsu, and so close to work!
Name: Daigo 大五
Style: Tonkatsu 豚カツ
Neighborhood: Shirokane 白金
Website: None
So I finally tried the Tonkatsu place near work. Man, I've been missing out! Daigo is a tonkatsu/steak restaurant about 7-8 minutes' walk from Polygon's offices. Their lunch specials are 800 yen for the Chicken Katsu (that's what I got, since I don't eat pork) or 1000 yen for the Tonkatsu. It's the standard Japanese katsu set, with sauce and lots of cabbage on the side, but it's well-done. The miracle of good Japanese fried food persists: even though katsu is deep-fried (that's pretty much what the word means), it's not particularly greasy. You can experience the same thing at a good Tempura place here as well.
Anyway, Daigo is a strong lunch recommendation. I've heard dinner (including their steaks) is really good as well, although as with many Japanese restaurants dinner is quite a bit more expensive than lunch.
Since they don't have a website, here's some more information on Daigo:
Address: Tokyo-to Minato-ku Shirokane 1-25-21
住所: 東京都港区白金１−２５−２１
Phone / 電話番号: 03-3444-2941
Hours: 11:30-14:00, 17:30-21:00
Style: Tonkatsu 豚カツ
Neighborhood: Shirokane 白金
Website: None
So I finally tried the Tonkatsu place near work. Man, I've been missing out! Daigo is a tonkatsu/steak restaurant about 7-8 minutes' walk from Polygon's offices. Their lunch specials are 800 yen for the Chicken Katsu (that's what I got, since I don't eat pork) or 1000 yen for the Tonkatsu. It's the standard Japanese katsu set, with sauce and lots of cabbage on the side, but it's well-done. The miracle of good Japanese fried food persists: even though katsu is deep-fried (that's pretty much what the word means), it's not particularly greasy. You can experience the same thing at a good Tempura place here as well.
Anyway, Daigo is a strong lunch recommendation. I've heard dinner (including their steaks) is really good as well, although as with many Japanese restaurants dinner is quite a bit more expensive than lunch.
Since they don't have a website, here's some more information on Daigo:
Address: Tokyo-to Minato-ku Shirokane 1-25-21
住所: 東京都港区白金１−２５−２１
Phone / 電話番号: 03-3444-2941
Hours: 11:30-14:00, 17:30-21:00
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Awesome but pricey coffeeshop in Hiro-o
Name: Macchinesti
Style: Western-style coffeeshop
Neighborhood: Hiro-o / 広尾
Website: http://www.macchinesti.com/
Macchinesti is a chain of three aggressively western-style coffeeshops, which has a branch in Hiro-o near my office. They are absolutely the most westernized place I've been into, clearly targeting an international clientele. Not only are the menus bilingual, they have this week's copy of the Economist sitting out on the counter!
In keeping with that theme, they have awesome coffee. Besides a variety of espresso drinks, you can get French Press coffee by the individual pot -- definitely the best way to brew coffee. As a fairly new place, the staff wasn't really familiar with the procedures so it took time to get my coffee, but it was as yummy as expected afterwards.
The atmosphere is remarkably western; since you can't see outside very well, once you're indoors you could easily be in a cafe on the US West Coast. Tasteful wooden appointments, light-color walls and ceiling, the advertised WiFi (didn't try it out), and various decoration all make this a great place to while away a couple hours.
Baked goods selection (the other primary criteria I use for picking breakfast spots) wasn't so great. I was late for work on a weekday so I didn't sample, but they had a couple good-looking options in the muffin vein. Overall a cut below their coffee selection. The light lunch options a couple of western women picked out right behind me in line looked more compelling, quantities were in line with Japanese rather than Western expectations of course.
The downside to Maccinesti is cost; it's just an expensive coffee place no matter how you look at it. My French Press pot (kind of small at that) set me back 500 yen and was appreciably smaller than the Starbuck's grande around the corner. From what I've seen the place is usually pretty thinly populated, so they're clearly having a hard time competing with the social-center coffeeshop a few doors towards National Azabu.
Style: Western-style coffeeshop
Neighborhood: Hiro-o / 広尾
Website: http://www.macchinesti.com/
Macchinesti is a chain of three aggressively western-style coffeeshops, which has a branch in Hiro-o near my office. They are absolutely the most westernized place I've been into, clearly targeting an international clientele. Not only are the menus bilingual, they have this week's copy of the Economist sitting out on the counter!
In keeping with that theme, they have awesome coffee. Besides a variety of espresso drinks, you can get French Press coffee by the individual pot -- definitely the best way to brew coffee. As a fairly new place, the staff wasn't really familiar with the procedures so it took time to get my coffee, but it was as yummy as expected afterwards.
The atmosphere is remarkably western; since you can't see outside very well, once you're indoors you could easily be in a cafe on the US West Coast. Tasteful wooden appointments, light-color walls and ceiling, the advertised WiFi (didn't try it out), and various decoration all make this a great place to while away a couple hours.
Baked goods selection (the other primary criteria I use for picking breakfast spots) wasn't so great. I was late for work on a weekday so I didn't sample, but they had a couple good-looking options in the muffin vein. Overall a cut below their coffee selection. The light lunch options a couple of western women picked out right behind me in line looked more compelling, quantities were in line with Japanese rather than Western expectations of course.
The downside to Maccinesti is cost; it's just an expensive coffee place no matter how you look at it. My French Press pot (kind of small at that) set me back 500 yen and was appreciably smaller than the Starbuck's grande around the corner. From what I've seen the place is usually pretty thinly populated, so they're clearly having a hard time competing with the social-center coffeeshop a few doors towards National Azabu.
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