Monthly Archives: February 2013

REI-KA-SEN

by Bianca

If you ever get hit by a hunger pang while strolling through Shinjuku’s Takashimaya department store and can’t decide what to eat, Rei-ka-sen, a ‘chinese’ restaurant perched on the 13th floor may be an option.

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The interior of the restaurant is clear and bright with a nice view towards the terrace. They are best known for their shark fin noodles ( I know…I know…I really don’t eat shark fin that much). Anyway, they have a choice of shark fin noodle soup, shark fin rice porridge or shark fin i fu mie at a very reasonable price of about 2000 yen.

Shark fin noodle soup

I fu mie

I fu mie

Other options are the lunch menus which offer a wonderful array of chinese dishes for a reasonable 1260 to 3360 yen. My friend tried one of the lunch menus and this is what she had :

A fresh green salad

A fresh green salad

Shrimp stir fried accompanied by a soup and brown rice

Shrimp stir fried accompanied by a soup and brown rice

And a meat stir fry

And a meat stir fry

We also decided to try some other dishes like their tan-tan ramen (ramen with sesame broth) and prawn with mayonnaise.

Tan Tan Ramen

Tan Tan Ramen

Prawn mayonnaise

Prawn mayonnaise

We also tried the almond jelly and mango pudding dessert. Now this you can skip, it wasn’t that good.

The dessert

The dessert

Just a reminder, the food in this restaurant is not authentic chinese so don’t go expecting that. Still, it was a pretty good, reasonably priced meal.

Price : $

Takashimaya Times Square Shinjuku, 13th floor.
151-8580
5-24-2 Sendagaya,Shibuya-ku,Tokyo

HENRI CHARPENTIER : The best mille feuille in town

by Bianca

Ok, I have definitely found the winner for best mille feuille in town and the award goes to Henri Charpentier’s caramel mille feuille stack. Pierre Herme used to hold the prize for the best mille feuille in my book before I stumbled upon this lovely pastry shop in Ginza, but today I pass the award along.

The mille feuille

The mille feuille

Not to mix things up, it is not a mille feuille you buy at the pastry shop but one you have to order from the menu at their cafe in the basement of their Ginza shop. If you get confused, there are pictures in the menu. Just pick the one pictured above. It is so heavenly delicious I am having trouble picking out the words to describe it. I am speechless. The mille feuille combines the perfect amount of crunchiness of the puffs with some lovely hazelnut cream and a touch of caramel syrup. I was so afraid that this is only a seasonal menu, I didn’t even dare ask.

Enough raving about the mille feuille, now we may move on to some more dainty delights that Henri Charpentier has to offer. Although disputed by some, Henri Charpentier, a french chef, was known as the creator of the crepes suzette. Of course, I had to try some. Ordering the crepe suzette here brings a waitress with a trolley who cooks the crepes right in front of you.

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I have never been a fan of crepes suzette (or any dessert that has an orangey taste to it), so my review might be biased. Lets just say, it wasn’t bad.

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Another pastry I found absolutely delectable was their caramel bon-bon.

The caramel bon bon

The caramel bon-bon

I am sure all the other mouth-watering pastries on display are absolutely delicious as well.

The pastry display

The pastry display

Well, I’ll just have to go back and find out. The coffee is also good and it is better to pay them a visit in the late afternoon. There are always lines at lunch hour and a little bit after. Around 5 pm would be the perfect time to visit and I will be doing so again very soon. Before I leave, some pictures of their interior and exterior.

The interior

The interior

The exterior

The exterior

Prize : $$ (for pastries)

HENRI CHARPENTIER GINZA. Address : 2-8-20 Ginza Chuo-ku. Tel : 03-3562-2721.


			

	




	

		
Delicious steak at AZUMAN

				

			
				
			
						
			by Bianca			
					

			

		

		
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I’m so glad I found this Japanese steak house in Azabujuban. I loved everything about it from the minute I walked in for lunch a few days ago. The opulent interior, the relaxed atmosphere, the wonderful service all contributed to an excellent lunch.


The lunch set menu is quite reasonably prized, starting at a little over 5000 yen per person but prices go up at dinner to over 10.000 yen because they serve higher grade wagyu for dinner.


The first course was a delicious cawan mushi (egg custard) with some beef sashimi.


First course
First course


The second course was a lovely creamy potato soup with just the right amount of texture.


The second course
The second course


Followed by the meat which is cooked at your table. There is also an option for counter seats which might be interesting for smaller groups.


The meat course
The meat course


The kind-looking chef that serves at the bar comes to your table to cook your meat to perfection for you. You have a choice of three sauces to pick from.


The chef
The chef


What I also loved about this restaurant was the fact that the chef was actually excited to see me take pictures of his food, unlike many upscale restaurants in Tokyo who I feel are unnecessarily strict about taking pictures. This chef actually offered to garnish my meat to make my picture more interesting.


My meat with a touch of red garnish courtesy of the chef
The beef with a touch of red garnish courtesy of the chef


One course gets about six lovely chunks of meat followed by some very interesting garlic rice that is served in a soup.


The garlic rice
The garlic rice


Last is a wonderful chocolate cake for dessert which was irresistible . I finished the whole piece.


The chocolate dessert
The chocolate dessert


AZUMAN.  2F 2-3-9 Azabu-juban, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Phone : 03-3454-5871


Price : $$$