EZO SEAFOOD & OYSTER BAR in NISEKO

Mar14 by Bianca

I’m going to stray a little in my next few posts to write about some restaurants in Niseko, Hokkaido. I’m here for the weekend and I believe this little ski village has some of the best eateries in all of Japan.I’ve written about Kamimura in my previous posts and today I tried this little seafood place called Ezo Seafood that my friends have been raving about.

As you enter this little wooden restaurant, you are welcomed by a display of mouth-watering fresh seafood. Humongous oysters, vibrant hokkaido crabs and uni, sole fish, rock fish, scallops, asahi clams all await to be devoured in whatever way you choose. Raw, broiled or fried. We decided to leave our meal in the capable hands of James, the chef and owner of Ezo Seafood and this is what we had…

A plate of fresh oysters and super sweet hokkaido crab legs

A mixed platter of sashimi and abalone with butter sauce.

Now the abalone is a definite must. The butter sauce is sooo good.

Asahi clam soup

This clam soup is also uniquely wonderful. I loved the buttery taste of the broth mixed with fresh onion leaves.

Super fresh uni sashimi

Some crunchy fresh vegetable tempura

A delicious fried sole fish

A wonderful bowl of fried rice unlike any fried rice I’ve ever tasted before

James has asked me to acknowledge Keiko Takaoka, the chef and unseen hands of this plethora of deliciousness and I absolutely agree! . Bravo Maestro !

I have to say, this was one of the best meal I’ve ever had in this country. Everything was so fresh and delicious, especially the abalone with butter sauce and the asahi clam soup. Prices are also very reasonable. All this loveliness costs a mere 23.000 yen for 3 persons (including a large 5000 yen bottle of sake). If you ever find your way to Niseko then this restaurant is a definite must !

Price : $$

EZO SEAFOOD

170-165 Aza Yamada Kutchan Cho
Abuta Gun Hokkaido 044-0081 JAPAN

TEL: 0136 223019

HIYAMA Sukiyaki

Mar7 by Bianca

If you feel like dining on sukiyaki the traditional way and can stand sitting crossed leg on the floor for an hour or so, then Hiyama in Nihonbashi would be the perfect restaurant for you. I personally like the Nihonbashi area where you can still find many old traditional restaurants. Designed like an old tea house with many rooms of various sizes (most of them tatami ), Hiyama is one of those quaint, vintage Japanese restaurant with a Michelin star discreetly hidden under it’s sleeves.

I asked the lovely lady in a kimono who helped cook our sukiyaki dish about this Michelin star and she said she had no idea how, when and by whom her restaurant was rated. She did not mind the acknowledgement but explained that many Japanese restaurants didn’t really care that much about the little French star.

There are a variety of lunch menus at Hiyama with prices based on the quality of meat. Prices vary from about 7000 to 10.000 yen for about 200 grams of meat.

The meat and vegetables are cooked for you and then dipped into a bowl of raw egg. The taste of the raw egg mixed with the sweetness of the sukiyaki sauce is simply divine.

To end things, a very simple yet lovely dessert, a single deliciously sweet strawberry.

To summon things up, I think that price, taste and meat quality wise, Hiyama actually matches my other favorite sukiyaki restaurant in town, Imafuku . I wrote about their shabu-shabu before but just realized I haven’t written about their sukiyaki which is excellent. It just depends on what kind of experience you are looking for. Imafuku is more modern, Hiyama more traditional. Both are excellent.

Price : $$$

HIYAMA. 2-5-1 Nihonbashiningyocho, Chu0-ku, Tokyo. Phone : 03-3666-2901

REI-KA-SEN

Feb27 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.

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.

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

Shrimp stir fried accompanied by a soup and brown rice

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

Prawn mayonnaise

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

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

Feb26 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

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.

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.

Another pastry I found absolutely delectable was their 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

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 exterior

Prize : $$ (for pastries)

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

Delicious steak at AZUMAN

Feb14 by Bianca

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

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

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 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

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.

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

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

The chocolate dessert

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

Price : $$$

SHABUZEN, cheap and cheerful shabu-shabu

Jan15 by Bianca

Back from the holidays !. Time to update this blog and what better way to fight this cold weather than with some delicious and cheap shabu-shabu at Shabuzen.

This cozy restaurant is located in the 2nd basement of the Ginza Core buildingon the Ginza main street. They have another restaurant on the 2nd floor with regular tables but the one in the basement is more interesting. The shabu-shabu is served bar style, You have your own steamed pot to dip your beef and vegetables in.

There are some lunch sets in the 1300 yen to 3300 yen range and they have an english menu. I usually take the Beef lunch which costs 1680 yen and consists of a big plate of meat and some vegetables.

You mix your own sauces and your beef and vegetables is accompanied by a hot bowl of rice. The taste to be honest is not exactly spectacular, but for the price, it certainly is a cheap and cheerful meal.

SHABUZEN. Ginza Core Building Basement 2. Ginza Chuo Dori. Phone 03-3571-1717

Price: $

Stylish Dim Sum at SENSE

Dec9 by Bianca

This restaurant with magnificent views perched on the 37th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel is not the usual hustle and bustle dim sum joint. Here dim sum is feasted upon in style. I loved the cool, modern design of Sense. every single detail of their cosy dining room was exquisite.

On Sundays, Sense has a dim sum set menu and it is very wise to book ahead as they are always full. I booked a day before and only managed to snag some counter seats which weren’t all that bad. We had a fabulous view of the Tokyo Sky tree.

The set menu Sense prepares for Sunday brunch is quite extensive and includes an all you can dim sum section so allow at least 2,5 hours to finish the whole course.

The starter is a chinese style fresh vegetable salad.

Followed by seven kinds of Japanese dumplings.

And the healthy soup of the day.

After which you can pick whatever dim sum you want from their main menu. Knock yourself out.

A small bowl of rice or porridge is the last course before dessert.

There are a couple of choices for dessert. I decided on the fried rice ball covered with sesame seeds and my husband went for the mango pudding.

The whole set will cost you about 5.500 yen which is not cheap and if you are expecting an authentic Hong Kong dim sum experience you might be disappointed. However, I did find the food to be quite delicious. It may not be authentic but it was very good, throw in the cosy restaurant and the lovely view, I say it’s definitely worth it.

Price : $$$

SENSE.

2-1-1 Nihonbashi Muromachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-8328, Japan

+81 (3) 3270 8800

MATSUMOTORO’s Golden View

Dec6 by Bianca

The building that houses this cafe in Hibiya Park is so bland and unassuming, I would have walked straight by if I did not notice its lovely terrace. It was during the turning of the autumn leaves a few days ago and Matsumatoro’s terrace had amazing unobstructed views of the magnificent old ginkgo trees that adorn Hibiya Park. The glittering afternoon sun that illuminated the golden leaves when I visited created such a magical view, I decided to brave the cold and sit outside.

I wasn’t expecting too much in terms of food quality but I was pleasantly surprised. Later on I heard that Matsumotoro is very well-known for their curry buffet lunches but in the afternoon, the serve a mouth-watering cake set.

You are presented with a tray of dazzling pastries to choose from. It comes with regular coffee or tea but you need to pay extra if you want a latte or cafe au lait.

Picking out my pastry of choice from all the wonderful options presented wasn’t an easy task. I finally decided on the irresistible strawberry short-cake while my friend opted for the coffee jelly.

Heavenly delight

The strawberry short-cake was heavenly as the picture above clearly illustrates. Soft and moist with just the right amount of sugar, it simply melts away in your mouth.

If coffee jellies are your thing then this one is absolutely gratifying. Bittersweet in all the right ways.

Finally, I leave you with a lovely picture of the Hibiya pond just around the corner. Matsumotoro is definitely an oasis amidst Tokyo’s chaos. I’m so glad I stumbled upon it.

MATSUMATORO Hibiya

Hibiya Park 1-2 Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

03-3503-1451

Price : $

FUKUZUSHI Roppongi, friendly sushi

Nov27 by Bianca

At first I was somewhat skeptical of this sushi restaurant hidden in a small alley in Roppongi. The website was very english friendly and a lot of tourists wrote reviews about this restaurant that I was slightly afraid it would be a tourist trap. Luckily this was not the case.

Fukuzushi entrance

Fukuzushi terrace

Although not exactly traditional, Fukuzushi’s design is rather unique with lots of Japanese ornaments greeting you at the terrace before you enter into their dining space with a sushi bar and a few tables.

Fukuzushi interior

There are a few lunch sets to choose from. A standard Nigiri (10 pieces of sushi set), chirashi (assorted sashimi with rice in a box) and anagojyu (grilled sea eels and chopped omelet with rice in a box) costs around 2625 yen. A tekkadon (tuna sashimi with rice in a box) costs 3675 yen and A premium nigiri or chirashi costs 4725 yen.

I decided to try the premium nigiri sushi set while my friends decided to go a la carte.

The appetizers

The sushi set

The accompanying miso soup

The aburitoro (burned tuna sushi) and toro sushi ala carte

I have to say that the quality of sushi was way up there. It was extremely fresh and delightful. Everything on my plate was savory especially the toro,uni and anago.

If you ordered a set menu then you are escorted into the next room for some coffee and dessert which was a small almond pudding with caramel sauce.

The dessert

I’m really glad I decided to visit this restaurant. Here not only do we get exquisite sushi, the service is friendly. There are no old sushi masters glaring down grudgingly at you as you swallow your sushi, here the sushi chef actually speaks English and is genuinely happy to converse with you. Its really nice to be in an environment where everybody understands you for a change. So, if you are in town and looking for some moderately priced good sushi, this would be the perfect place.

Price : SS

Fukuzuhi Roppongi. Address 5-7-8 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Telephone : 03 3402 4116

Thanksgiving dinner at THE OAK DOOR

Nov24 by Bianca

It is not easy finding a restaurant serving Thanksgiving dinner in Tokyo. Not that many do. I love turkey and I love turkey stuffing but I was a little too late at trying to get a reservation. I was first aiming for Thanksgiving dinner at the Ekki Bar and Grill at the Four Seasons Marunouchi but they were fully booked. My other option was the Oak Door at the Grand Hyatt Roppongi, a much bigger restaurant with dark interiors on the 6th floor and a cosy bar that seems like a cool place to hangout. They had availability.

Dinner is a set menu that is quite pricey, about 9500 yen++. The starter was a smoked trout salad with apple, candied pecans, pomegranate seeds and cider vinaigrette.

The smoked trout salad

I found the salad to be particularly fresh and delicious. The mixture of all the ingredients created the perfect concoction.

The next course was a pumpkin and barley soup which was the perfect comfort soup.

Pumpkin and Barley soup

The roasted turkey with chestnut stuffing main course came immediately after.

Roasted turkey with chestnut stuffing

I found the turkey main course to be just so-so. The stuffing though delicious was a little dry and the gravy poured over the turkey was minimal. It definitely wasn’t the comfort food turkey meal that I expected to warm my tummy, but then again, Oak door is a hotel restaurant. Maybe my expectations were too high.

The pecan pie dessert however cheered me up.

My verdict, the dinner wasn’t really worth the price but judging from the delicious salad and soup I do believe the Oak Door has some potential and I might come back to try other courses in the future.

Price : $$

The Oak Door. 6th Floor, Grand Hyatt, 6-10-3 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Tel : +81 3 4333 8784

Tokyo Food Diary

A journal of my journey through Tokyo's various eateries

Author Archives: Bianca