Showing posts with label Tokyo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tokyo. Show all posts

Rigoletto Bar & Grill (Tokyo)

Posted on Sunday, November 16, 2014 by
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Address: 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato (5th floor of the West Walk in Roppongi Hills)
Website: http://www.rigoletto.jp/
Type of Meal: Lunch
Located on the in the Roppingi Hills complex, Rigoletto is one of the few restaurants with low prices; it’s also spacious and serves American favourites such as burgers, pizzas and pasta.

Despite its extensive menu and prix fixe lunch menu options, my husband and I stuck with the a la carte menu and each had a salad and 6 inch pizza (pizzas are also available in 10 inch sizes).

The mixed salad (¥400) I ordered was a simple spring mix with grape tomato, cucumber, sprouts and asparagus shavings. The vegetables were all tossed with a creamy miso dressing and topped with fried garlic chips. Although the ingredients were quite ordinary, the dressing and garlic chips added a nice Japanese twist to the salad which was quite enjoyable. 


Meanwhile, my husband’s Caesar salad (¥500) was pretty standard… I didn't bother to try it. 


Rigoletto’s menu contained an interesting sounding sour cream shrimp pizza (¥1,100). The crust was the blistered Neapolitan style, which is softer and doughier making it harder to hold slices of. With no tomato sauce but rather just the tangy sour cream it reminded me of eating naan bread with dip. Except in this case there was a liberal amount of shrimp, broccoli and capers on top. All in all, an interesting twist but wouldn’t be my go-to combination.  


The spicy diavola (¥1,100) contained various cured meats (spicy salami and prosciutto), button mushrooms and garlic chips. Once again I didn’t try it so unable to comment on its taste. But, my husband did like the spicy oil they brought for the pizza to add extra flavour.  
Overall, Rigoletto is in line with most chain restaurants you’d find in North America. It’s a cheerful environment as they shout as you enter and leave. Moreover, they have a huge open view kitchen – we sat at a booth right in front of the person shaping burger patties – so it’s entertaining. Like the North American chains it’s a good family restaurant with the louder environment, quick service and reasonable price points. If you do visit, I’d suggest trying their burgers as it seemed to be the more popular dish as we saw these flying out of the kitchen most often.

Overall mark - 7 out of 10

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 ____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

Chikappa (Tokyo)

Posted on Sunday, November 16, 2014 by
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Address: 4-3-6 Chuo-ku, Ginza (Nagoya Chamber of Commerce Hall 1F)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E3%81%8A%E5%8F%96%E3%82%8A%E5%AF%84%E3%81%9B%E3%83%90%E3%83%BC%E3%83%ABChikappa-GINZA/325180354274159?id=325180354274159
We wandered into Chikappa by chance after walking around Ginza and wanting to stop for a break. With its cheerful exterior Chikappa seemed welcoming and hence we entered and found a charming Italian restaurant. With reasonably priced craft beers and wines from around the world – I had a decent cabernet sauvignon for ¥500 – there’s great options for anyone.


On their other hand, their food tended to be pricier in relation to drinks. We ordered some appetizers to tide us over before dinner, the first dish a cheese plate (¥1,200). Containing a luxurious black pepper goat cheese, creamy brie and salty cheddar there was a nice combination of textures and flavours. If only there were more than just two slices of bread for so much cheese.


Wanting some vegetables, we ordered a simple cucumber and tomato (¥680) with a thick miso dipping sauce. Although it was plain, the vegetables were fresh and a great quality. For some reason it tasted really good to me after not having many North American type vegetables.



Overall, even though we just stopped by for a snack and drinks, my husband and I were happy with the experience and would recommend it if you’re looking for a resting place in Ginza.

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 ____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

Kanda Matsuya 神田まつや (Tokyo)

Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2014 by
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Address: 1-13 Kanda-Sudacho, Chiyoda
Website: www.kanda-matsuya.jp/p01.htm
Type of Meal: Lunch 
Soba are thin buckwheat noodles served cold or hot (heated with a warm dipping sauce or in broth). Like ramen, restaurants will generally specialize and offer only that type of noodles on their menu. One such restaurant is Kanda Matsuya, one of Tokyo’s most popular places to eat te-uchi (hand cut) soba noodles. Started in 1884, Kanda’s longevity may be accredited to their meticulous focus to quality – from cultivating their buckwheat in Hokkaido to perfecting the ratio of buckwheat to wheat flour - their noodles are an artisanal treat.  
Tourists and locals alike know about Kanda and line-ups often form even before the restaurant opens. When we arrived ten minutes before their 11:30 opening there were already 30 people in line. Luckily, the small restaurant uses communal seating so it can fit a surprisingly large number of customers at any given time (approximately 50-60) so we made it inside.


Wanting to enjoy the noodles in its purest form, I opted for the cold soba with a soy dipping sauce (¥650). They were deliciously springy with the sauce being just salty enough to flavour without overwhelming the nutty noodles. But, you need to order the noodles omori (extra large) as I was still hungry after devouring mine.  It may look like a lot of noodles, but they are actually sitting on top of a flat bamboo plate so it’s a relatively thin layer.
My husband’s tempura soba (¥2,000) was much more filling and he was satisfied after finishing the bowl. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to try any as I was sick, but he noted it was good – nothing outstanding but decent and the hot broth satisfying on a cold winter’s day.



As a warning, it’s pretty hard to order at the restaurant as there is no English menu or speakers. I saved pictures and characters of what we wanted to order on my phone and showed it to our waitress. But this meant we couldn’t spontaneously order something - I saw a table order delicious looking grilled fish and other small eats that would have gone perfectly with my plain noodles. Alas, I had no idea how to order them off and the table was sitting pretty far away so it seemed impolite to point.
But, if you love noodles, it’s worth it to make the trip out to Kanda Matsuya (just arrive earlier to avoid waiting). Moreover, it’s walking distance from Akihabara, the bustling electronics neighbourhood in Tokyo. So, if you’re not in the mood to eat at a chain or maid café, Kanda Matsuya may be the perfect alternative.

 
Overall mark - 8 out of 10

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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System

  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!



Baden Baden (Tokyo)

Posted on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 by
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Address: 2-1-8 Yurakucho, Hibiya

Baden Baden is literally off the beaten path housed under the east side Yurakucho Station train tracks. Located in Ginza by the Imperial Hotel, it's hard to imagine that beneath the tracks there would be such a cozy restaurant serving up German classics. And yes, you can hear the light rumbling of the train as it goes by, but it’s not disruptive or annoying.

We had to admit, after seeing the row of restaurants built into the tracks, we were intrigued – after all how big could they possibly be with their limited real estate? So, we decided to stop and check one out. Baden Baden isn’t large by any standard, but surprisingly still seats quite a few people. At first, only expecting to get some drinks, we ended up trying some food after seeing tempting pretzel and goulash on the menu.

The pretzel (¥431) was freshly made, arriving hot and doughy soft. It’s less dense and chewy compared to the ones I’ve had in malls and sporting events, but its lightness is fitting when you’re also downing pints of beer. Although I’m a big fan of savoury foods, it would have been nice if the salt coating it was toned down a bit and instead a dipping sauce accompany it as well since it was a tad dry. 


After having bowls of goulash while on a Contiki trip, the memories of the thick flavourful stew still haunts me. Whenever it’s on a menu, I generally end up ordering it in hopes of being reunited with the flavours I enjoyed at roadside stops across Austria. Baden Baden’s goulash (¥1,565) had a thick stew consistency filled with tender cubes of beef that had some tendon attached to it so there was some gumminess to it – I know this sounds strange, but it’s something I enjoy. The flavours could have been a bit more spicy but the addition of diced sweet peppers brighten up an otherwise simple dish. If only the pretzel arrived with it, the sauce would have made an excellent dip for the pretzel. Alas, we had polished that off too quickly.



The restaurant, although not hidden, may be hard to find as you do need to find the right part of the tracks. So, I’ve enclosed pictures of their business card below in case it helps you locate it. Cheers and good luck with your journey, this unique little place is worth a stop.
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New York Bar ニューヨーク バ ー(Tokyo)

Posted on Wednesday, February 26, 2014 by
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Address: 3-7-1-2 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku (Park Hyatt Tokyo, 52nd floor)
Website: http://tokyo.park.hyatt.com/en/hotel/dining/NewYorkBar.html

We decided to visit New York Bar on a Saturday night to check out the iconic venue featured in Lost in Translation, where Bill Murray’s character Bob goes to at nights to reflect and enjoy a drink.

Located in the bustling Shinjuku area, at the top of the Park Hyatt Tokyo, it’s a calming jazz club environment with a great live band playing that night. In fact, the singer was an American that flew in for the performance.


We each paid a cover charge of ¥2,200 and were led to a table right beside the band and in front of large windows offering an amazing view of Tokyo city. Unfortunately, iPhones aren’t known for their great night time pictures but the ones below give you an idea of what we saw.


Since we had already eaten dinner, we only had drinks; although we couldn’t help finishing off the bowl of Japanese rice cracker and nuts they gave us to snack on. While my husband was boring and just stuck with scotch (14-year Clynelish for ¥1,800), I tried a few of their cocktails. To begin, the classic French 75 (¥1,800) an easy going champagne cocktail made with Tanqueray No.10 (gin) and lemon and lime juices. Arriving in a martini glass without the champagne, at first I was shocked with the small drink size. A moment later, the waiter returns with a bottle of champagne to top it up. As always, a sparkly refreshing drink to start the night.


Afterwards, I had to try their L.I.T. martini (¥1,900) named after the movie. A very easy going fruity drink made with sake, sakura (cherry blossom) liqueur, peach schnapps and cranberry juice. In looking around, most tourists appeared to be drinking the same popular drink.


Lastly, my favourite drink of the night, the Monkey 52 (¥1,900), an interesting mix of Monkey 47 (gin), elder flower syrup, cucumber juice and lime. Personally, I love when cocktails use cool cucumber juice and floral elder flower syrup so this was the drink for me.

All in all, we stayed there for about two hours that night and thoroughly enjoyed the music, view and found this to be a great opportunity to reflect on the highlights of our trip. If you don’t mind paying a little more for drinks, New York Bar is a great night time venue; especially if clubbing is not your cup of tea. 
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CLOSED: Robot Restaurant ロボットレストラン (Tokyo)

Posted on Wednesday, January 15, 2014 by
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Address: 1-7-1 Kabukicho, Shinjuku
Type of Meal: Dinner 


Make your way through the maze of bustling streets in Shinjuku, look for a building that hurts your eyes if you stare directly at it and you will have found Robot Restaurant.  Despite four shows on Saturday night (three every other day) and rain during our visit, the 100+ seat arena was still full. To avoid disappointment, I suggest making a reservation – although as a warning it doesn’t help you get through the line any faster. Nonetheless, even their entrance is entertaining enough with two ladies sitting in moving robots and one drumming away.
After making your way down endless flights of stairs to the basement the showroom and “restaurant” awaits.  You hand in your ticket (chosen upstairs) and are given a meat or fish bento box.
The ¥5,000 charge per person certainly isn’t spent on food costs; my chicken and pork were a tepid temperature and made me feel squeamish about food safety. To play it safe, I decided to stick with the tasteless balls of rice mixed with pickled vegetables to tie me over until a follow-up dinner can be had. Luckily, the bottled green tea provided at the seats were cold and refreshing and draft beers were available (believe was ¥500) if you get there early enough. 
Any visitor will tell you, what makes you want to go back is not the food.  In fact, they should just consider doing away with the horrible bento and provide rice crackers and nuts instead.  What makes you want to return is the sheer unbelievable experience of an hour filled with huge props, flashing lights and beautiful skimpily clad women.  From robots, sharks, bulls and everything in between each set becomes more outrageous than the last.

The minute the show is supposed to start, the beer cart is whisked away and people ushered back to their seats where a safety demonstration is given.  Individuals occupying the first row are warned that these floats and robots will come inches of you.  Immediately, the lights dim and twenty girls on drumming floats burst out with dragons woven in for good measure.
Having only visited once, I can’t be sure on whether the show changes.  But, when we visited over Christmas, the following pole-dancing sequence was set to Mariah’s “All I Want for Christmas is You”. So, I sense they do try to change things up somewhat to make the show applicable to the season.

Afterwards, things start getting jumbled.  A robot, shark, bull and mermaid battle break out where every time the black curtain lifts something else unbelievable flies out into the middle of the room.

Glow sticks are given out and the audience is encouraged to cheer and pump their firsts as a cacophony of robots, circle bikes, Segways and giant robots circle the room – all done to Psy’s “Ganganam Style”.

Just when you think it’s over and disappointment starts seeping in, giant lit robots come out … certainly every Transformer’s fan’s dream come true. Soon, the women flood the room again with each one getting a shout out and doing a dance move in the middle of the robot crowd.  Think of it as a high school dance gone astray… with robots of course.
To end, a brightly lit tank, plane and barrels (trust me it sounds weird but all works) float around the room with a crazy amount of cheering.  The groups of young business people, giggling girls, couples, tourists and rowdy teenagers alike seem to be enthralled with the spectacle. At this point, you can’t help it but you’re bopping around in your chair and waving the glow stick like it’s your job. At least that was my experience.
Consequently, although I ate a “meal” at this “restaurant”, I can’t give Robot Restaurant a mark – how do you a rate something where the food is a zero but the experience a ten? Unless you’re sensitive to flashing lights, I highly recommend you check out Robot Restaurant. It’s here where you’ll truly get a sense of that wild Japanese game show experience and wonder where you’ve been transported to. It’s here where you have stories to tell your friends when they asked you what you did in Japan, only to have them look at you like you’re crazy.

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Kimuraya 木村屋 (Tokyo)

Posted on Wednesday, January 15, 2014 by
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Address: 4-5-7 Ginza, Chuuou (beside the Wako department store by exit A10 of Ginza station)
Website: http://www.ginzakimuraya.jp/bakery/index.html  

Few businesses last for decades let alone for centuries. Kimuraya is one of these rare companies that started in 1874 and still exists today, right beside the Wako department store near exit A10 of Ginza station.

Yasubei Kimura, the founder of Kimuraya, also invented the anpan a sweet bun filled with red bean paste. The dark red paste is common in Asian desserts where azuki beans are mashed and sweetened. Today, Kimuraya also sells buns with various other fillings including sesame, white beans, chestnuts, etc.
The oldest bakery in Japan is fairly small and busy during my weekday visit. Prefilled bags of bread and rolls were prepared on shelves and cakes & other pastries sit in the back in a display case. But, the busiest section lies at the front of the store – wooden boxes filled with dozens of rolls and women stand bagging them to order. Since there was no English signage, it was difficult for me to decipher what was bagged, so I played it safe and waited in line at the front where the wooden boxes at least display buns so you can guess at what fillings were inside.
Keeping with tradition, I purchased two red bean and two black sesame buns for my husband and I.  One was ¥150 per bun while the other ¥170, which is fairly expensive for a scone sized roll. 
You may be wondering, other than the history, what makes it so special? From what I can gather, it has a higher filling to bun ratio and the filling is set perfectly in the middle of the bun for even distribution rather than off to one side like competing products. Moreover, the filling itself is thicker and uses a lot of the ingredients so you really get the natural taste of the red bean and sesame without it being overly sweet. Sorry for the poor picture quality, but I just remembered to snap a photo of the filling while gobbling down my second bun.

Aside from sweets, Kimuraya is also known for their tofu bread, but I wasn’t able to find it due to the lack of labels. Overall, if the queue isn’t long and you’re in for a snack, drop by Kimuraya when you’re shopping around Ginza to try out one of these historical baked goods.

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Hishinuma 日本料理 菱沼 (Tokyo)

Posted on Saturday, January 11, 2014 by
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Address: 5-17-1, Roppongi, Minato (in the Axis building B1 level)
Website: http://www.restaurant-hishinuma.jp/
Type of Meal: Lunch 

Hishinuma provides a tranquil environment against the busy Roppongi street with it being located on the basement level of the Axis Building. We had a particularly intimate experience, while visiting during the Christmas holidays, since we were only one of two tables. Upon arriving, there was no one at the door so we tentatively walked in and found the chefs preparing in the open concept kitchen. Luckily, they noticed us and shouted out greetings to alert the host (also the waiter for the day) to show us to our table.


Their lunch menu consists of three, four or five course options; we went with the four course version (¥5,000 per person). In reality, we received seven courses when it was all said and done. The first amuse bouche was a thick pumpkin mousse, the consistency of custard, with a rich savoury pumpkin taste. Granules of coarse sea salt were sprinkled at the bottom of the dish enhancing the natural sweetness from the squash.  
The second course was the most challenging of the meal for me - marinated cold sea snails. Personally, I’m squeamish when faced with bugs and lizards, so when the bowl of four of them were presented, my stomach dropped.  Luckily, they were cooked!  The hardest part of eating the dish was extracting the meat from the shell – a toothpick is given and you essentially need to stab it and rotate the shell until the snail is freed.  Honestly, they tasted decent having been marinated in a slightly sweet soy sauce.  The meat is firm and the texture and taste resembles abalone (another type of crustacean common in Asian cuisine). In the end, I was able to stomach three of the four. 
Arriving next was a simple braised daikon adorned with carrot slices and green onion slivers.  Upon lifting the lid, you get a whiff of smokiness that wasn’t present in the food itself. Poached in a relatively light consommé, the vegetables were soft but still held their shape.  It’s a nice neutral dish where the sharp green onion is what really adds any flavour. After the first two comparatively more flavourful dishes, this helped calm the taste buds prior to the sashimi course.
Kampachi (the red fish) and another unknown white fish comprised the sashimi and was my first experience in Japan.  The fish is firmer and has a more distinct flavour compared to the various sashimi I’ve had in Toronto. This could be on account of the freshness where restaurants regularly purchase the fish from the nearby Tsukiji fish market.  In fact, we were having great difficulties getting reservations after December 29th as Tsukiji was slated to close and move so specialized sushi restaurants ended up closing for the holidays as well.
Perhaps what I’ll miss most is the freshly grated wasabi we received adding heat to the tongue but not hitting your nose. Hishinuma’s soy sauce was also fairly neutral with neither saltiness nor sweetness being overly prevalent.

The steamed shrimp dumpling was my favourite dish of the meal. Although it was presented as a “dumpling” it was wrapperless with the shrimp paste being light as air with small pieces of shrimp mixed throughout to add texture. Accompanying was a light shoyu dipping sauce but was watered down so the sweetness of the shrimp still shone through. I would happily order this dish by itself again if I can ever find them elsewhere.

Alas, the final course is presented and you’ll know it’s the last as rice and soup arrive with it.

The fish was a beautifully grilled piece of yellowtail tuna (jaw portion of the fish); its skin was crispy while the meat tender and juicy with just the right amount of fat to give it flavour. The jaw portion is actually great for people who aren’t skilled with eating fish with bones as they are in large pieces so you won’t risk choking on anything. A plate of wasabi mixed with miso and marinated seaweed accompanied the fish for flavouring but I found the salt lightly coating the fish sufficient.
The miso soup also differed from the Toronto versions given it wasn’t overly salty and the paste didn’t settled or have any graininess to it. Moreover, it retained heat really well with plump soft mushrooms and herby leaves of some sort giving some meatiness to the soup.  
To end a hunk of strong coffee jello arrived in a sweet vanilla custard cream.  It was surprisingly flavourful compared to the natural tastes of all the previous courses. All in all, a good way to end the meal and helped ward off a food coma.
Dishes at Hishinuma may seem simple and understated (no heavy sauces or garnishes in sight) but it really allows the quality of the ingredients themselves to shine through.  Overall, I was pleased with my first Japanese style meal in Tokyo. 

Overall mark - 8 out of 10

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 ____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

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