Monthly Archives: March 2012

RAKUICHI, another gem of a restaurant in Niseko

by Bianca

Once again I will be straying away from Tokyo for this post. Just came back from another weekend of skiing in Niseko and it is slowly becoming a food mecca for me. I found another gem of a restaurant that I just have to share with you. This time it is a small soba restaurant called Rakuichi.

 

Finding this restaurant takes a little effort. It was practically hidden behind mountains of snow when we went searching for it. You had to walk over a wooden bridge until you arrived at a cozy little wooden hut. I’d imagine it to be really lovely in summer as well. A husband and wife team dressed elegantly in a kimono and yukata greeted us and showed us to our counter seats. The restaurant only has 12 counter seats and serves soba for lunch and a set menu for dinner that costs roughly about 5000 yen per course.

The first course was a shabu-shabu set :

I loved how graciously the wife served our meals while the husband cooked away in the small kitchen behind the counter.

The second set was small appetizers :

Followed by some delicious scallop and mackerel sashimi. I have never tasted raw scallop so sweet.

Then came the fresh and scrumptious oyster :

Followed by a plate of crunchy vegetable tempura with green tea salt on the side :

We watched how our soba was hand-made as we munched on our tempura.

Our soba being made...

And for the final course, a bowl of hot duck soba noodles with some onion tempura topping. Absolutely delicious and perfect to heat up the body on a cold day.

If you ever find yourself in Niseko and looking for a place to eat, I suggest you try this little gem. It might be a bit of a hassle if you don’t speak or read Japanese because there are no english menus and the english spoken by the husband and wife team is very limited, but still, if you eat whatever is offered to you, you’ll be fine.

RAKUICHI

431 Niseko, Niseko-cho, Abuta-gun, Hokkaido

phone : 0136583170

Ps. I’ll be going on vacation for the next 2 weeks. Will catch up on posts after.

Organic Japanese-Italian at CODE KURKKU

by Bianca

Last night, I finally got around to try Code Kurkku for dinner after writing about the Yoyogi Village a few months ago. If you want to read about Yoyogi Village where this restaurant is located click here.

The design of the restaurant is stunning from the start. ‘Cool’ would be the perfect word to describe the modern design with high ceilings and lightbulbs of different lengths hanging from it.

What excited me about visiting this restaurant was the fact that the executive chef of Code kurkku is Yasuhiro Sasajima, famous for his Kyoto-Italian restaurant, Il Ghiottone. The restaurant has 3 set menus in the 5000-10.000 yen range which is pretty reasonable for Japanese standards. We chose the most extensive menu and here is what we dined on.

The first course was some mozzarella cheese in a broccoli soup.

The first course

The second course which they called the carpaccio was some sliced raw fish over bamboo shoots.

The second course

Third course : Roasted Abalone with chickpeas

Third course

Fourth course : Tomato pasta with uni and langoustine

Fourth course

The fifth course was my favorite : Foie gras with egg over rice.

Fifth course

And last but not least : The beef course.

The sixth course

The dessert was an espresso pannacotta which tasted absolutely delicious.

The dessert

And to end things on a sweet note, some cookies to nibble on with your coffee or tea

Cookies to nibble on

What I found most outstanding from all the food I tasted was the lightness and freshness of it all. The pasta tasted more like soba noodles than the heavy pasta of the west and even the beef and foie gras tasted very light. Code kurkku is the perfect setting for a tasty, light and organic meal.

Location: Yoyogi 1-28-9, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Phone : (03) 6300-5231

Open: Daily lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (last order); cafe 2:30-4 p.m.; dinner 6-11 p.m. (last order). Bar open 6 p.m.-3 a.m. (Sunday till midnight).

A peculiar feast with Alice in Wonderland

by Bianca

Now this restaurant is one of those trippy, quirky and slightly insane things that only exists in Japan. And of course I just had to pay this restaurant a visit as soon as I found out it existed.

Dining with Alice

The pictures I found on the website seemed interesting and it is with excitement that I decided to visit their branch in Ginza (there is another outlet in Shinjuku). The restaurant opens at 5 pm and doesn’t open for lunch. I visited early to sample on some snacks and dessert before dinner.

The restaurant is located on the 5th floor of the Taiyo building on the Ginza main street and as I exited the elevator, I entered a small dark reception area where an Asian (and much skinnier) version of the Queen of Hearts greeted us. She then ushered us through an under-lit hallway until we reached the dining area.

To tell you the truth, the restaurant is much much smaller and darker than I envisioned it to be. Images of cards were painted on the ceilings and a huge saucer that doubles as a booth stands in the middle of the room. All the chairs where of different designs and colors creating a certain feel of quirky chaos. I chose a table with a sofa in the corner.

Waitresses dressed in mini Alice costumes brought us the menu in this cute box :

The menu box

The desserts were fun and tasted good.

The sundae

The dessert platter

However, the atmosphere of the restaurant truly made me feel like I was in one of Mad Hatter’s strange tea parties, and maybe it was just a little too strange for me to return. If you haven’t visited this restaurant however, maybe you should drop by just once and join this peculiar feast so you have something to tell your friends.

Taiyo Bldg, 5F, 8-8-5 Ginza, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo 104 0061
Tel: (03) 35746980

My favorite Tempura in Tokyo : SHIMIZU

by Bianca

Shimizu

I have written about this restaurant before in my other blog as one of the ‘must try’ restaurants in Tokyo. A year has passed, many other Tempura restaurants have been visited yet Shimizu remains my favorite.

The ingredients

It has become increasingly harder to get seats at this small restaurant on the 45th floor of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. They only serve 6 at the counter so booking ahead is a definite must. Set menus for lunch go from around 4500 yen upwards and dinner sets start at 12.000 yen.

Shimizu counter

Shrimp tempura

Some might disagree with me, but I love how the size of their seafood and vegetables are on the smaller side. The shrimps and fish are small and delicate, the vegetables fresh and crunchy. Their exquisite shrimp head fits perfectly into your mouth in one bite.

Asparagus and shrimp head tempura.

What seals the deal for me is the 5 different kinds of salt they offer you to eat your Tempura with including, curry, green tea and plum salt. Before, I used to eat my tempura by dipping them into the sauce, now I just dip them in salt. Simple and delicious.

The variety of salts

At the end of your meal, you will be asked to pick between the ten-don (a small bowl of rice with tempura topping) or the ten-cha (a small bowl of porridge with tempura toppings). I suggest the ten-don.

For desert, you will usually be asked to move to their dining area where you can enjoy the sprawling view of Tokyo from the 45th floor over some ice cream and a cup of green tea.

Tokyo Midtown, 9-7-1, Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-6245 Japan
Phone: +81-3-3423-8000 (ask to be connected to Shimizu)

Cheap and cheerful Italian at La Boheme.

by Bianca

 

La Boheme Shiroganei Branch

If you live in Tokyo, you probably know about this Japanese-Italian restaurant chain spread around Tokyo. Their pasta is cheap (under 1000 yen for lunch) and absolutely delicious. My favorite is their mentaiko (spicy cod roe) pasta which is creamy and absolutely delectable. Second to that would be their steamed chicken pasta with green onion, spinach and sesame oil. Really fresh.

The mentaiko pasta

What you definitely have to order is their Gorgonzola Pizza with honey which is simply the best pizza ever. Whoever thought of the recipe is a genius in my book.

Gorgonzola pizza with honey

Although I’ve tried a few of their restaurants, my favorite is the one in Shiroganei which feels really grand. (First picture above).

They also open late (up until 3.30 am) and can be the perfect place to go to if ever you are in need of a midnight bite.

1F, 2F 4-19-17 Shirokanedai Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0071
Telephone : 03-3442-4060

A sunday brunch, chinese style at Toh-ka-lin

by Bianca

The interior

It’s not easy finding a good, authentic Chinese restaurant in Tokyo. After awhile, you just decide to let go of the authentic part and just settle for what’s good. Toh-ka-lin, a cozy Chinese restaurant on the second floor of the Okura Hotel I find to be one of those places. Simple, good Chinese food. It’s not the kind of chinese food you’d get in Hong kong, but it’s not too bad either.

They have an a la carte menu and about 4 sets of brunch menus to choose from starting at about 6000 yen per person. We chose one of the course menus that cost 8400 yen and here is what we had :

First course : Assorted chilled appetizers

Second course : Shark Fin and Crabmeat Soup

Third course : Crispy chicken, Cantonese Style

Fourth Course : sautéed Scallop with green asparagus

Fifth course : sautéed beef with Oyster sauce

Sixth course : Hot pot of braised prawn in barbecue sauce

Seventh course : Mixed fried rice

Dessert : Almond jelly with coconut rice dumpling

From all the dishes we were served today, the beef and the fried rice were the best. We also tried some of their yam-cha (dim-sum) which were also very good.

The restaurants also has some private rooms and cute semi-private tables hidden behind sheer curtains. This is definitely a good place to feast on some Chinese food in Tokyo.

TOH KA LIN

  • Address: Hotel Okura Main Bldg. 2F, 2-10-4 Tora-no-mon, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0001
  • Phone: 03/3505-6068

Nightly festivities at INAKAYA Roppongi

by Bianca

I don’t know why I haven’t written about this place sooner. I always bring my guests to this restaurant especially if they are first time visitors to Tokyo. The festive atmosphere and drama of this little traditional restaurant in Roppongi never disappoints.

Customers sit at a U-shaped counter facing an assortment of vegetables, beef and seafood beautifully displayed in front of them. Two male chef in traditional attire, sitting in the middle of all the lovely displays will then cook whatever you pick robatayaki (grilled) style. The red snapper is really good and is a ‘must try’.

The food is then handed over to you using an oar which is always fun to watch. The restaurant is always loud and festive with waiters screaming out and repeating every order you make. If you order cold sake which comes in a traditional sake box, the whole staff and guests will join in a chorus screaming “more…more….more” as they pour the sake into the box until it overflows.

At some point you may be asked to contribute in making some ‘mochi’ the traditional way which you will later feast on.

The ‘changing of the chefs’ which happens around 8 pm is always super fun. You will be asked to join in a series of claps to mark the change.

To summon things up, Inakaya is definitely touristy and overpriced (dinner may cost 15.000 yen per head) but it definitely never, ever, disappoints. I’ve been there a zillion times and still leave with a huge smile on my face.

INAKAYA. 4-10-11 Roppongi, Tokyo. Ph : 03/5775-1012