Name: 香り家 / Kaorika
Style: Soba
Neighborhood: 恵比寿 / Ebisu
Website: None, but see http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1303/A130302/13001653/
My friends Naoco and Nick introduced to this awesome soba restaurant, which is surprising considering it's right near my house and not near theirs! I have nothing but props for this place. They have a whole variety of interesting drinks (an awesome nihonshu whose name begins with kiku, nigori umeshuu, and sobayu+sobashochu among others) and a lot of good food to warm up with (the dashimaki was really good, as was the chicken tataki). But of course it's a soba restaurant so the highlight was the soba at the end. As advised by our guides we order the gomadare (sesame sauce) soba, which is thicker than typical soba but oh-so-good. And of course drinking the leftover sauce with sobayuu afterward is equally awesome.
After this win-win experience I can't wait for the next place they've promised to introduce me to, Spoon in Shinjuku 3chome.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
The Pie that Mama Makes
Restaurant: Mama Tarte Daikanyama / ママタルト代官山
Neighborhood: Daikanyama (duh) / 代官山
Style:Pie Shop
Website: http://daikanyama.st/mamatarte/ but http://www.coocle.jp/sh/21499/ has more info
Oops, I realized I never posted about this place. When you have a hankerin' for full-on American-style pie, this is the place. There are a sprinkling of pie shops all over Tokyo, but to be honest, most of them aren't all that good. This place, despite being busy, has a pretty relaxed feel and a great selection of pies. It was awhile ago when I went, so I don't remember the exact items we got, but every piece of pie was great.
They do have non-pie "real food" items as well, which were tasty but very limited in selection, so go here because you want some dessert!
Neighborhood: Daikanyama (duh) / 代官山
Style:Pie Shop
Website: http://daikanyama.st/mamatarte/ but http://www.coocle.jp/sh/21499/ has more info
Oops, I realized I never posted about this place. When you have a hankerin' for full-on American-style pie, this is the place. There are a sprinkling of pie shops all over Tokyo, but to be honest, most of them aren't all that good. This place, despite being busy, has a pretty relaxed feel and a great selection of pies. It was awhile ago when I went, so I don't remember the exact items we got, but every piece of pie was great.
They do have non-pie "real food" items as well, which were tasty but very limited in selection, so go here because you want some dessert!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
American Brunch Problem -> Solved
Restaurant: 57
Neighborhood: Roppongi
Style: American Brunch (on weekend mornings)
Website: http://www.fiftyseven.co.jp/
One of the few kinds of food (besides deep-dish pizza, sigh) that I actually miss in Japan is good American-style brunch: eggs, omelettes, pancakes, waffles, etc. I used to be addicted to Hobee's in the Bay Area and although Japan is full of good food there's nothing quite like that.
Fortunately, my friend Jin organized a meetup (via www.meetup.com) for brunch this morning, and although I'm always leery of going to Roppongi 57 turns out to be exactly the brunch place I've been looking for!
First of all, this restaurant is one of the most American-feeling places I've been in Japan. The ceilings are tall, the tables are widely spaced (definitely something that sets it apart from most Tokyo eateries) and there's actual open space on the floor. The staff, although mostly Japanese, reflects the Roppongi setting by being English-friendly. In another clear indication of the western-ness of the place, the chef came out after awhile and worked the room, introducing himself to everyone and inquiring after their meals.
Next up: the coffee. This place serves one of the best cups of coffee I've ever drank, period. Not particularly bitter, not particularly strong and yet not weak like so many Japanese restaurants; simply one of the best-balanced cups of coffee I've ever had the pleasure to pour down my throat. There's only one minor downside to 57's coffee: unlike a typical American brunch spot, it is not bottomless. That's probably just as well, I might have ended up overcaffeinated!
And, I wouldn't the posting about this place if it wasn't for the food. Because we were a large group, we were ordering off of a limited menu and it was still awesome. I got the French toast, which was definitely heavy and yet showed no trace of actual egg bits: the egg was fully absorbed into the bread before heating. The serving was what I would expect in Japan in terms of size (two triangles), but it more than made up for that by coming with two awesome condiments. One, as you would expect here, was real maple syrup. But actually the big winner of the whole meal was the second condiment, house-made applesauce with small chunks of apple and brimming with spices. My fellow diners reported that just being able to sit in the vicinity of the applesauce was a pleasure.
I didn't get to sample 57's brunch menu widely although the fruit smoothies were certainly tasty, so I need to go back. And, I gather they're actually primarily a dinner restaurant. But the french toast brunch was certainly a great way to start!
Neighborhood: Roppongi
Style: American Brunch (on weekend mornings)
Website: http://www.fiftyseven.co.jp/
One of the few kinds of food (besides deep-dish pizza, sigh) that I actually miss in Japan is good American-style brunch: eggs, omelettes, pancakes, waffles, etc. I used to be addicted to Hobee's in the Bay Area and although Japan is full of good food there's nothing quite like that.
Fortunately, my friend Jin organized a meetup (via www.meetup.com) for brunch this morning, and although I'm always leery of going to Roppongi 57 turns out to be exactly the brunch place I've been looking for!
First of all, this restaurant is one of the most American-feeling places I've been in Japan. The ceilings are tall, the tables are widely spaced (definitely something that sets it apart from most Tokyo eateries) and there's actual open space on the floor. The staff, although mostly Japanese, reflects the Roppongi setting by being English-friendly. In another clear indication of the western-ness of the place, the chef came out after awhile and worked the room, introducing himself to everyone and inquiring after their meals.
Next up: the coffee. This place serves one of the best cups of coffee I've ever drank, period. Not particularly bitter, not particularly strong and yet not weak like so many Japanese restaurants; simply one of the best-balanced cups of coffee I've ever had the pleasure to pour down my throat. There's only one minor downside to 57's coffee: unlike a typical American brunch spot, it is not bottomless. That's probably just as well, I might have ended up overcaffeinated!
And, I wouldn't the posting about this place if it wasn't for the food. Because we were a large group, we were ordering off of a limited menu and it was still awesome. I got the French toast, which was definitely heavy and yet showed no trace of actual egg bits: the egg was fully absorbed into the bread before heating. The serving was what I would expect in Japan in terms of size (two triangles), but it more than made up for that by coming with two awesome condiments. One, as you would expect here, was real maple syrup. But actually the big winner of the whole meal was the second condiment, house-made applesauce with small chunks of apple and brimming with spices. My fellow diners reported that just being able to sit in the vicinity of the applesauce was a pleasure.
I didn't get to sample 57's brunch menu widely although the fruit smoothies were certainly tasty, so I need to go back. And, I gather they're actually primarily a dinner restaurant. But the french toast brunch was certainly a great way to start!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Heavenly Neighborhood Yakitori
Restaurant: Kushi-waka-maru / 串若丸
Neighborhood: Nakameguro / 中目黒
Style: Yakitori-ya / 焼鳥屋
Website: None that I know of, but google 串若丸 or kushiwakamaru for lots of reviews
This is one of those places that makes living in Japan special. I was hanging out at another restuarant, the extremely sociable Pampa in Meguro, when another customer recommended Kushi-waka-maru to me. This fellow customer also explained the origin of the name to me: it's a complicated wordplay on a Edo-era historical figure combined with 串 / kushi, the character for the skewer in yakitori cuisine.
My friend Atsushi was up visiting from Kansai the first night we went, and so we met the most infamous part of Kushiwakamaru, the long wait for a table. We waited almost an hour, which is almost unheard of in Japan (rather than waiting, you just go somewhere else). The wait was inconsequential after we got to taste the food, though. Everything was absolutely top-of-the-charts among yakitori-style restaurants and we spent the evening chatting with the couple sitting next to us.
Tonight I grabbed late dinner there which only reinforced what an awesome place this is. The highlight of tonight's meal was the toriwasa, which is raw chicken with wasabi and shoyu. I've had chicken tataki at a number of places, but was little rolls of tataki chicken with very little in the way of added flavoring. Oh my goodness, so delicious. As a bonus, while I'm pretty sanguine about eating things in Japan even if it's raw chicken, but I don't think I'd try this in rural China, so it's a definite Japan treat.
Besides that, I had a salad (the battle in Japan is to try and get your greens), some scrumptious tsukune, anogo shiroyaki, and of course some dashimaki tamago. It's an "I feel lucky to live here" feeling. Kushiwakamaru isn't particularly expensive, even if you eat a lot your food bill will be 3000-4000円 and you can easily dial that down if you're on a budget. Beers are a normal 600円 or so.
Seriously, you can wait a long time here; come early or be ready for a good time hanging out in line.
Neighborhood: Nakameguro / 中目黒
Style: Yakitori-ya / 焼鳥屋
Website: None that I know of, but google 串若丸 or kushiwakamaru for lots of reviews
This is one of those places that makes living in Japan special. I was hanging out at another restuarant, the extremely sociable Pampa in Meguro, when another customer recommended Kushi-waka-maru to me. This fellow customer also explained the origin of the name to me: it's a complicated wordplay on a Edo-era historical figure combined with 串 / kushi, the character for the skewer in yakitori cuisine.
My friend Atsushi was up visiting from Kansai the first night we went, and so we met the most infamous part of Kushiwakamaru, the long wait for a table. We waited almost an hour, which is almost unheard of in Japan (rather than waiting, you just go somewhere else). The wait was inconsequential after we got to taste the food, though. Everything was absolutely top-of-the-charts among yakitori-style restaurants and we spent the evening chatting with the couple sitting next to us.
Tonight I grabbed late dinner there which only reinforced what an awesome place this is. The highlight of tonight's meal was the toriwasa, which is raw chicken with wasabi and shoyu. I've had chicken tataki at a number of places, but was little rolls of tataki chicken with very little in the way of added flavoring. Oh my goodness, so delicious. As a bonus, while I'm pretty sanguine about eating things in Japan even if it's raw chicken, but I don't think I'd try this in rural China, so it's a definite Japan treat.
Besides that, I had a salad (the battle in Japan is to try and get your greens), some scrumptious tsukune, anogo shiroyaki, and of course some dashimaki tamago. It's an "I feel lucky to live here" feeling. Kushiwakamaru isn't particularly expensive, even if you eat a lot your food bill will be 3000-4000円 and you can easily dial that down if you're on a budget. Beers are a normal 600円 or so.
Seriously, you can wait a long time here; come early or be ready for a good time hanging out in line.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Let's see, Cheap... Great Tempura... oh, did I mention crowded?
Restaurant: Tempura Imoya / 天ぷら いもや
Neighborhood: Jimbocho / 神保町
Style: Tempura
Website: None, but see this tabelog page
I was meeting my friends Suzuki-san and Namikoshi-san from DCAJ for lunch, and I thought about getting tempura. If you've only ever eaten tempura as it's made in America, you can't have any appreciation for the form. And, even in Japan, the tempura you get at most general-purpose restaurants is just OK. The only way to have truly great tempura is to go to a tempura-ya, a shop where they serve just tempura. I was lucky enough to have my friend Scott Frazier take me to such a place on a long-ago trip to Japan, and it totally changed my idea of what tempura is!
A little searching in Japanese found a lot of recommendations for Tempura Imoya, which is in Jimbocho not too far from my friend's work. I asked Suzuki-san about it, and he said it's famous and in fact he had tried to go there before. But, he had only gotten to the restaurant at 11:45am and so they couldn't get in for lunch! He suggested meeting there at 11:15.
If you go there, the tabelog page map will send you to the shop on Hakusan-dori, which is the Ten-don (Tempura Donburi) shop. The actual tempura shop is on the side street just south of the Ten-don shop. The two places have exactly the same name and sign, only the menu differs!
At the tempura shop, like a lot of good specialty tempura places, there's not a lot of choice in the ordering. You can either get the Tempura Teishoku (set meal) which has one each of 6 kinds of Tempura, rice (a generous amount), miso soup, and tea; or the Tempura Teishoku Ebikei, which is the same meal but all of the Tempura is ebi (shrimp). You can also ask for rice oomori (free), which means they'll heap your bowl extra-high with rice (unless you're unbelievably hungry there's no need).
And, as you'd expect from this kind of place, the tempura was awesome! The tempura you get at a specialty place like this is completely different from the greasy, heavy food that goes by that name in America. Japanese specialty tempura is very light and almost completely grease-free (they'll often put the tempura on a piece of paper, and there will only be a few small grease spots on the paper afterwards). They control the batter, the oil, and the temperature to make for a very different experience. On the day I was there, the tempura teishoku included one each of ebi (shrimp), fish, kabocha (pumpkin), a leafy green, a root vegetable, and something else that I think was seafood of some kind.
Besides the tempura, I really have to call out the miso soup. It was a red miso made with a lot of small clams, and had plenty of taste to stand up to being drank along with the tempura.
Finally, like a lot of tempura houses, Tempura Imoya is cheap! The Tempura Teishoku is 650 yen (I don't know how much extra for ebikei, none of us got it). The only downside is that, as you'd expect given the above, this place is crowded. We had no problem getting seats since Suzuki-san and I got there at 11:15, but the place was full when Namikoshi-san showed up a bit late at 11:25. By 11:35, we had finished and people were waiting, so we gave up our seats. To actually do the catching up and talking we wanted to do, we had to migrate to a Doutour around the corner. Nevertheless, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Tempura Imoya for your light, crunchy food fix!
Neighborhood: Jimbocho / 神保町
Style: Tempura
Website: None, but see this tabelog page
I was meeting my friends Suzuki-san and Namikoshi-san from DCAJ for lunch, and I thought about getting tempura. If you've only ever eaten tempura as it's made in America, you can't have any appreciation for the form. And, even in Japan, the tempura you get at most general-purpose restaurants is just OK. The only way to have truly great tempura is to go to a tempura-ya, a shop where they serve just tempura. I was lucky enough to have my friend Scott Frazier take me to such a place on a long-ago trip to Japan, and it totally changed my idea of what tempura is!
A little searching in Japanese found a lot of recommendations for Tempura Imoya, which is in Jimbocho not too far from my friend's work. I asked Suzuki-san about it, and he said it's famous and in fact he had tried to go there before. But, he had only gotten to the restaurant at 11:45am and so they couldn't get in for lunch! He suggested meeting there at 11:15.
If you go there, the tabelog page map will send you to the shop on Hakusan-dori, which is the Ten-don (Tempura Donburi) shop. The actual tempura shop is on the side street just south of the Ten-don shop. The two places have exactly the same name and sign, only the menu differs!
At the tempura shop, like a lot of good specialty tempura places, there's not a lot of choice in the ordering. You can either get the Tempura Teishoku (set meal) which has one each of 6 kinds of Tempura, rice (a generous amount), miso soup, and tea; or the Tempura Teishoku Ebikei, which is the same meal but all of the Tempura is ebi (shrimp). You can also ask for rice oomori (free), which means they'll heap your bowl extra-high with rice (unless you're unbelievably hungry there's no need).
And, as you'd expect from this kind of place, the tempura was awesome! The tempura you get at a specialty place like this is completely different from the greasy, heavy food that goes by that name in America. Japanese specialty tempura is very light and almost completely grease-free (they'll often put the tempura on a piece of paper, and there will only be a few small grease spots on the paper afterwards). They control the batter, the oil, and the temperature to make for a very different experience. On the day I was there, the tempura teishoku included one each of ebi (shrimp), fish, kabocha (pumpkin), a leafy green, a root vegetable, and something else that I think was seafood of some kind.
Besides the tempura, I really have to call out the miso soup. It was a red miso made with a lot of small clams, and had plenty of taste to stand up to being drank along with the tempura.
Finally, like a lot of tempura houses, Tempura Imoya is cheap! The Tempura Teishoku is 650 yen (I don't know how much extra for ebikei, none of us got it). The only downside is that, as you'd expect given the above, this place is crowded. We had no problem getting seats since Suzuki-san and I got there at 11:15, but the place was full when Namikoshi-san showed up a bit late at 11:25. By 11:35, we had finished and people were waiting, so we gave up our seats. To actually do the catching up and talking we wanted to do, we had to migrate to a Doutour around the corner. Nevertheless, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Tempura Imoya for your light, crunchy food fix!
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