Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Meat Dishes Yakisuki Yanma at Narita Airport Terminal 1
I haven't been to the landside part of Narita Terminal 1 in ages, but this shop caught my eye, not only for all of the meat available, but also the tofu from a Tokyo shop called Tougenkyo, the latter of which was nice and creamy. If you look closely in the upper right hand corner of the photo above, there are some brown oval-shaped thing that I also got precisely because those teppozuke pickles were unique to Narita (i.e., I'd never been to the actual town of Narita despite passing through the airport so much). That gyutan above was fine too, but in retrospect I should have ordered their namesake "yakisuki," which is a mashup of yakiniku and sukiyaki where the beef and sauce are placed on a flat rectangular platter. Maybe next time.
Ginza Chojuan in Tokyo, Japan
We needed a quick bite and randomly decided to try this shop after walking past it on the streets (1 Chome−21−15 Ginza, 03-3561-2647). It looked like one of those local soba shops, but only after sitting down did we realize that this place has been around since 1935 and was the inventor of the kamo seiro. Admittedly the meat didn't blow me away, nor did the broth or noodles. But it was was fast, affordable, and friendly, and good to try the original shop.
Monday, March 18, 2024
Sushi Nakamura in Roppongi, Tokyo
I didn't realize this until I looked it up just now, but there seem to be many sushi places in Tokyo called Nakamura, and I assume that they are all unrelated to each other. To be clear, this is the edomae shop in Roppongi (7 Chome-17-16 Roppongi, 03-3746-0856), and Nakamura-san himself was serving us tonight. Some of my favorites included a roasted blackperch and braised monkfish liver, not to mention an otoro maki. What also made pieces like the one above stand out was the way that the soy sauce and vinegar were blended to be borderline edgy, yet not excessive. Either way, he fed us a very generous amount of very high quality food. It wasn't cheap, but there was also such high value that I was surprised that our bill wasn't higher.
Kusaiya Near Aoyama-Itchome in Tokyo, Japan
This was another one of those local kushiyaki places without any tourists, which was a nice thing (Minamiaoyama 1 Chome−3−21, 03-5411-9318). Each table was adorned with a giant bowl of daikon oroshi, and they served affordable food that went well with drinks, like those giant tsukune above. None of it was so unique that I'd go out of my way to go back there, but I'd go there for a quick meal if I were nearby.
Haru Chan Ramen in Shimbashi, Tokyo
Here's another Bib Gourmand ramen shop that I decided to stop at on my way back (2 Chome−20−15 Shimbashi, 03-6263-9636). It can be a bit hard to find. Basically, go to the drab Ekimai Building 1 just northeast of Shimbashi station to find a bunch of little old food places on the ground floor; this little 6-seater C-shaped counter is on the northwest side of the building.
The best thing here were the flat chewy noodles, which arguably were even better than at Seijo Seika. The broth was crispy here as well, but it definitely wasn't smoky, which was too bad. The thick cuts of meat here weren't exciting either. That means that I'd rather go to Seijo Seika, even if this is more accessible from the city. The proprietor was very sweet though.
Chūkasoba Seijo Seika in Setagaya City
Whoa, I was blown away by how amazing this Bib Gourmand bowl was (3 Chome-1-12 Minamikarasuyama). Despite how deceptively simple it looked, each individual component rocked, in particular that crisp and smoky dried sardine broth. It was scaldingly hot to help cook that thin rare slice of pork, while that tightly bound wad of spring onions and the bamboo shoots pulled it together. He also had sansho grinders on the counter, which totally changed the flavor profile with just a small dusting. I loved this place, but just wish that it weren't so far out of town.
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Yaro Ramen from Akihabara in Tokyo
Once again we just needed somewhere quickly to refuel before getting on the train, and this ramen chain happened to have seats available. I didn't want something so heavy, but somehow I still cleared that bowl with ease given its chewy noodles and loads of veggies. Plus, having an array of toppings like spicy tempura bits also made it kinda fun. But I am not entirely sure whether this qualifies as jirokei nor what the difference is between this tonkotsu bowl and the limited quantity namesake bowl that they seemed to be pushing.
Trying Out An Outlet of Japan's Katsuya
This is a fast tonkotsu chain that I sat down at today because they were one of the few shops around that had seats available. And I picked that set above because the negi looked nice. It's too bad then that the batter was tough, and I wasn't a huge fan of the sauce either. Also, I didn't realize it until afterwards, but somehow I picked the chicken version rather than pork. If I find myself here again, I should probably try their katsudon instead.
Gyukatsu from Kachimasu in Japan
I don't know if there really is a shop called Kachimasu, as it was only what I saw on the sign of an event's outdoor food truck caterers today. Nonetheless, this gyukatsu was much better than I was expecting, especially with its very tender meat and just the right amount of salt on top for seasoning. I actually liked it even better than Motomura.
Tsukiji Itadori Unitora in Tokyo, Japan
I haven't been to Tsukiji after they moved the market, but it seems more touristy than ever, not unlike Kuromon Market in Osaka. Anyway, a suggestion was made to go to this shop in the narrow alleyway this morning (4 Chome−10−5 Tsukiji, 03-6228-4693) because they do an interesting hitsumabushi. Or at least, they did many years ago. Today, it wasn't available, but they had plenty of bowls like this to choose from, including multiple types of uni. My bowl above certainly was fresh, with very tender and sweet shellfish along with everything else on there. But the prices could add up pretty quickly too.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Pizzeria Terzo Okei in Tokyo, Japan
Our need for more food led us to this little pizza shop (Shinbashi 1 Chome−15−10, 03-6205-4057), especially given a recent conversation about Japanese chefs embracing it. And this one was fantastic, not only in terms of how savory the tomatoes were, but also in how delicate yet crispy that crust was (was there rice powder in there or something?). I'm not sure of the background of this place, but it was affordable and fast, and we were happy to have come here.
Bird Land in Tokyo, Japan
I had some pretty high hopes for this kushiyaki place given everything that I'd seen on TV, not to mention its Michelin listing. So I was pretty excited to find that I could get still get seats at the last minute on a Saturday night, even if it was for their Toranomon Hills extension rather than the original out in Ginza (Toranomon 1 Chome−17−1, 03-5860-9804).
The good thing is is that the ingredients were of very high quality and were nicely seasoned, as seen in that firm yet mild chicken teriyaki above, not to mention a delightful chunk of tofu drizzled with olive oil. Other highlights included a grilled cabbage dressed in a buttery savory mixture. Yes, I liked it, but our ¥5000 set (US$33) lacked so much heft that we were still hungry when we left, which was a bit of a buzzkill.
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