Category Archives: Southeast Asian food

Monsoon lunch

by Bianca

Decided to try this interesting looking restaurant in Daikanyama for lunch today. I loved their relaxed, eclectic interior and they had a decent Asian lunch menu.

For 850 yen, I had a choice of green curry with rice, pho, Thai style chicken basil with rice, pad thai or pan-fried noodles. For an extra 350 yen you could get a lunch set with a salad buffet, some appetizers and dessert. Since it was a bit chilly outside I chose the pho lunch set and here is what I got :

The salad with sesame dressing

The appetizer plate

The pho

I have to say the food was really delicious and the prices wonderfully reasonable. I will definitely be coming back to sample some other dishes in the future.

Price : $

MONSOON CAFE DAIKANYAMA // 15-4 Hachiyama-cho, Shibuya-ku // Phone : 03-5489-3789

A Singaporean affair at ANTHEMBLE

by Bianca

Ecstatic is the perfect word to describe my feelings about discovering this restaurant tucked in a corner of the third floor of the Marunouchi Brick Square Building. Anthemble has the perfect mix of ingredients that makes a restaurant great ; authentically delicious food, good location, warm interior, cheap prices and good service.

You almost forget you are in Tokyo upon entering this restaurant with its warm wooden floors and dark furnishing. The perfect view towards the Marunouchi Brick Square makes you feel you are somewhere in Europe instead of the midst of bustling Tokyo.

Their set lunch menu costs 1000 yen and you have five choices including laksa and Singapore style chicken curry. The highlight is their Hainan chicken rice. You have choices of steamed or roasted chicken. The roasted one seems to be more popular since it was sold out when we arrived around 1 pm.

I chose the steamed Hainan chicken rice and to be honest, I was expecting a mediocre attempt at Singaporean food whose blandness would be nicely swallowed by the restaurants wonderful surroundings. I was however quite mistaken. The food was actually very good. I am Asian, so I know my Asian food. The chicken rice was tasty and the chili sauce spicy. My friend ordered a Laksa and that too tasted authentic.

I almost passed on desert since I finished the whole set of chicken rice but could not resist their almond jelly. Thank God for that, because their almond jelly with avocado puree is simply out of this world. I don’t think I’ve ever used so many mmmmm’s and yummmm’s in one dessert helping. It really was absolutely exquisite. If you aren’t into Asian food than drop by at tea time for this. It’s really worth it.

So today, I have an intensely happy tummy, which makes me intensely happy.

Price : $-$$

ANTHEMBLE Phone : 5220-1923 . Marunouchi 2-6-1, Brick Square 3F. Open 11am-10pm daily.

 

Chao Bamboo !!!!

by Bianca

I love this little place hidden in a corner of an alley in Omotesando. It has become my go-to place whenever I crave Asian food. I wouldn’t really call it a restaurant. Its more like a food stall with tables and chairs, and the rather ‘dirty’ and un-Japanese vibe kind of reminds me off the food stalls back home.

Their menu is quite extensive and has all sorts of rice and noodle dishes from South East Asian countries.

My favorite are their noodle dishes. The Pho is delicious. When I’m in the mood for rice I go for the Indonesian Fried Rice (nasi goreng). The food is greasy and spicy just the way I like it and most important of all, almost everything on the menu is under 1000 yen.

I would not recommend paying this food stall a visit in summer. I tried it once and left drenched in sweat like I’ve just stepped out of a sauna.

To get to Chao Bamboo walk past the Chanel building in the Harajuku direction and turn left on the second alley after the Chanel building. You’ll see the sign at the end of the alley.

CHAO BAMBOO
Shibuya-ku, 6-1-5 Jingumae
Telephone - 03-5466-4787

Price : $

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

A taste of Singapore at the SINGAPORE SEAFOOD REPUBLIC, Shinagawa

by Bianca

Chilli crab is one of my favorite dishes and do get a craving for it once in awhile. That is how I ended up at the Singapore Seafood Republic for lunch today.

This restaurant near the Shinagawa station is actually massive for Japanese standards. It is housed in a pretty white Singaporean-style house with its signature dark wooden windows and high ceilings. The interior is very cosy indeed.

They have a lunch menu set of chili or curry crab with a side order of rice or steamed buns. There is also the hainan chicken rice set, some stir fried noodles, laksa and fried rice. The chili crab set costs about 1850 yen while the noodle lunch is a little more on the cheaper side for about 850 yen.

I have to say that the chili crab wasn’t the freshest I’ve tasted but the sauce was quite good. Maybe next time I’ll go for dinner and try the larger special crabs.

For dessert we tried the fried banana and kue lapis which were really delicious.

I would recommend this restaurant if you have a big party since not that many restaurants in Japan can accommodate larger groups, and of course you should go for the chili crabs.

Address :

  • Takanawa 3-13-3
  • In front of SHINAGAWA GOOS garden
  • (81)-3-5449-8080