Category Archives: Teppanyaki

KOGENTEY

by Afra

Located in the middle of an upper class residential area, the street leading towards it dark except for the illuminated entrance, Kogentey is a welcomed oasis in the heart of Sakurashinmachi. Two restaurants and a cafe built as warm wooden structures sit in its lovely compound. You don’t find this kind of architecture a lot in Tokyo.

The first restaurant is the “Konamon” where they serve okonomiyaki (japanese style pizza).

The second is a dessert shop “Yukinoshita” (the hut on the right in the picture below) where they serve a variety of desserts.

The third, is the “Kogentey” which is a teppanyaki restaurant where I will have dinner today.

I loved the entrance with its gorgeous lighting. You really feel like you are entering a different world in this compound.

There are only 2 private rooms where the chef can cook live in front of you. The rests are just regular tables like the picture below.

Since it’s a teppanyaki restaurant, I feel like it is always better to have the chef cook live in front of you as part of the entertainment. Below is a picture of the room I booked.

I have a certain weakness for special menus. I chose the “Natsu Tora” for my meal which means Summer Tiger. It is part of their summer menu and the only difference from their signature menu is that they had lobster on the list. No hesitation, I chose this one.

The first to arrive from the set menu was the Gazpacho, a cold tomato based soup made from raw vegetables originally from the southern Spanish region of Andalusia.

Second is the Hors d’oeuvre, Fish with summer vegetables.

Third, the chef showed us the ingredients of the Poisson, Lobster, Sea Urchin, and Scallop. All fresh.

She grilled the lobster and scallops first and used the sea urchin as a sauce she poured on top.
It was the ocean on a plate and tasted heavenly.

After the seafood, we moved on to the Viande, Oumi Beef from Shiga perfecture,

Fried garlic, asparagus, eggplant and wasabi were served as the sides.

Soumen, a kind of Japanese noodle from Akita prefecture served cold came last.

The dessert was a pannacotta with passion fruit sauce. A refreshing tropical summer dessert.

From all the dishes I loved the lobster the best. It truly was amazing.

Other than that, I would recommend this place for its unique atmosphere. An oasis in the middle of bustling Tokyo.

Price: $$$

Kogentey
4-14-1 Tsurumaki, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 154-0016
Phone +81 (0)3-3425-0393

AHILL

by Bianca

IMG_6122

This restaurant calls itself a “French Teppanyaki” restaurant so I was rather intrigued to find out what that meant. Ahill has a branch in nishi-azabu but I visited the one at the Velvia building in Ginza a few days ago for lunch with some friends. It was a small and cozy restaurant on the 8th floor with a very reasonable lunch set menu of 2000 or 3500 yen.

There are three choices of appetizers and we decided to each take something different to taste. Here is what we had :

First appetizer choice : Shrimp quenelles gratin style with mushroom and potatoes

First appetizer choice : Shrimp quenelles gratin style with mushroom and potatoes

Second appetizers choice : Yellowtail marinated with ginger, tomato and eggplant tapenade

Second appetizers choice : Yellowtail marinated with ginger, tomato and eggplant tapenade

And the third appetizer choice some roast beef with horseradish gravy

And the third appetizer choice some roast beef with horseradish gravy

Then came a soothing warm pumpkin potage.

Warm pumpkin potage

Warm pumpkin potage

If you order the 3500 yen set you will get an extra plate of today’s fish.

salmon. The fish of the day.

Salmon. The fish of the day.

There are also three choices of the main course which is rump steak, hamburger or sautéed pork.

The rump steak

The rump steak

The hamburger with pieces of foie gras inside

The hamburger with pieces of foie gras inside

What comes next is a definite must try. Their fried curry rice. The 2000 yen menu doesn’t have this in it, but you can order extra for 500 yen. Definitely worth it!. It was one of the best curry rice I’ve tried.

The fried curry rice

The fried curry rice

The creme brule is also a definite must try. I loved how thin it was so you can really taste the burnt crust.

The creme brule

The creme brule

And there is also a choice of apple mousse dessert.

Apple mousse dessert

Apple mousse dessert

So this is what you call French-Teppanyaki. I loved my meal. It was delicious for its reasonable price. I especially loved the curry rice and creme brule. I think I might come back.

Price : $

AHILL.
Ginza2-4-6, Ginza Velcia-kan 8F
Phone : 3562-8080

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAZANKA Teppanyaki at Hotel Okura

by Bianca

IMG_4265

“Old school but still cool” would be the perfect sentence to describe this teppanyaki restaurant on the 11th floor of hotel Okura. The interior is vintage as is their food presentation but nevertheless, their teppanyaki is very good and reasonably priced.

There a few set menus to choose from and the prices are about 10.000 yen and over for dinner. Lunch sets are more reasonably priced with about the same amount of food in it. This is what I had…

A refreshing salad to start

A refreshing salad to start

Some duck liver if you like

Some duck liver if you like

 

Some savory crab and fish

Some savory crab and fish

 

A few slices of abalone

A few slices of abalone

 

Some grilled veggies

Some grilled veggies

And of course, the highlight of the evening came to follow. Some lusciously soft red marbled beef. The kind you can only find in Japan.

The beautiful beef

The beautiful beef

The chef in action

The chef in action

And to end things on a wonderful garlicky note…some wonderful garlic rice.

The garlic rice

The garlic rice

As you probably have noticed from the pictures, Sazanka is not big with food presentation. Unlike most Tokyo eateries, they don’t worry that much about how the food looks on your plate. However, the food is delicious and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters, right ?

Price : $$

SAZANKA. Hotel Okura Tokyo 11F, Main Building. Tel.+81-3-3505-6071

 

Delicious steak at AZUMAN

by Bianca

IMG_2979

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 : $$$

OMAE XEX Teppanyaki

by Bianca

I’ve written about this restaurant before in biancasuitcase.com as one of ‘must try’ restaurants in Tokyo last year. I have been frequenting this restaurant since it was still under the watchful eyes of iron chef Morimoto and named Morimoto XEX. It has since changed chefs and is now named after chef Omae. It has however been awhile since I’ve visited Omae XEX.

The cool, dark dungeon-like interior of this Roppongi establishment is still the same with two large teppanyaki counters and a table that seats about 10. There was however some changes in their menu. They have included a vegetarian menu which seemed rather strange to me for a teppanyaki restaurant , but noticing a lot of foreign guests at the restaurant they must have succumbed to the pressure. The chef recommendation menu that used to be my favorite had somewhat changed. The set menu starts at 6,800 yen and goes up to 18,000 yen for the highest grade of Kobe beef. They do however have an a la carte menu which is pretty reasonable.

My first course was strangely enough a mango sorbet. Sorbet before the main course is common, but at the beginning of the meal ?. Well, it tasted alright so I gulped it all down.

Then I had a choice of appetizers. I chose the vegetable dip with crab miso sauce which is always delicious. The crab miso sauce is simply divine. I could lick it all up if it didn’t make me look stupid.

The vegetable dip with crab miso sauce.

My husband chose their shrimp tartare signature dish which never fails and is a ‘must try’ item on the menu.

Shrimp tartare

Next course : Seafood of the day and yesterday it was scallop and mackerel in a creamy sauce.

Mackarel and scallop, seafood of the day

And then it was time for the beef. I chose the dry aging beef this time and was really surprised at how good it was. The meat was tender, juicy, light and really, really good. I couldn’t help comparing it to the most expensive steak I had at Aragawa the night before and had to admit that this was much better.

The dry aging beef

The meat came with some delicious sweet roasted onion and a small bowl of mashed potatoes.

The mashed potato

As the last part of the meal you had a choice of garlic rice or cold udon. I chose the rice and finished the whole thing in seconds.

The garlic rice

And to end things on a sweet note, some lovely, juicy Japanese melon, unlike any other melon in the world.

Japanese melon desert

My verdict stays the same. Omae XEX is still a ‘must try’ restaurant in Tokyo.

Price : $$$

Address: I.K.N. Bldg., B1/1F/2F, 7-21-19 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Telephone: 03-3479-0065
Hours: 6pm- 12am (LO 11pm);

A night full of surprises at UKAI TEI GINZA

by Bianca

Ukai tei ginza courtesy of Ukai tei website

I’ve had Teppanyaki many times before and in many different restaurants. Some mediocre, some good, some extremely delicious. I’ve even had teppanyaki at the charming Ukai-tei branch in Omotesando. Teppanyaki was good, no surprise considering their name, but I honestly had to say I’d had better. So on a rather hot September evening, when my other half and I attended a dinner invitation at the Ukai-tei in Ginza, we were just looking forward to some good Teppanyaki. However, we were in for a very pleasant surprise.

Our gracious hosts, had prepared a very special menu for us. First we were served some chilled pumpkin soup and some slices of sushi. Then, Chef Lee, who speaks excellent english and is very charming, proudly presented to us some lovely huge abalones that were so fresh they were still moving. I am not a big fan of abalones, but somehow the way chef Lee cooked the abalone aroused my curiosity. He seasoned them, placed them nicely in between some leaves and covered them in a mountain of salt.

While we waited for the abalone to slowly roast, plates of roasted eels were placed before us. Now here comes the surprise. Chef Lee came around and sliced some fresh truffle on top of it. Now grilled eel with truffle is something I have never tried before. And in September!!!. Truffle season is not even here yet. Chef Lee explained that the truffle comes from Australia. I have to tell you that it was one of the best dishes I’ve ever tried and I’m not just saying this because I am a truffle fan. Something about the grilled eel and the truffle blends deliciously in your mouth. At this point, I so regretted that I didn’t bring my camera. I wish I could have taken a picture of this.

Then it was time for the abalone. Chef Lee retrieved the abalone from under the salt mountain and started slicing it on to our plates. Here comes the second surprise. More truffles!!!!. At this point I was ecstatic. Abalone with truffle was another first. And it was also the first time I really enjoyed abalone.The mixture of abalone and truffle was absolutely delightful. I finished it so fast I was sure my hosts were thinking I had starved myself for weeks.

Then came the beef, which was delicious yet became pale in comparison to its predecessors. The beef came with some very sweet onion and you had a choice of wasabi or soy sauce. What I liked was the portion which was very reasonable. Only 5 pieces. Just enough to fill my tummy.

The last dish was the garlic fried rice which chef Lee made with extra care. As little fat as possible was used. No eggs. Just garlic and rice. My favorite.

For desert, yogurt sorbet. Reminded me of pinkberry yogurt in the states. I loved it and finished the whole plate which I don’t normally do for desert.

This was the end of one of the best meals I’ve had in a while. A meal full of wonderful ‘firsts’ and pleasant surprises. I’ve always been one who likes surprises.