Japan – Page 9 – mmm-yoso

Tokyo Day 2: Sensō-ji and tongue eight ways at Tanyaki Shinobu

November 11, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

Even though we'd done a good bit of walking already, the Missus wasn't done. After our light lunch, the Missus decided She wanted to visit Sensō-ji. So we headed back onto the Ginza line, getting off at Asakusa. It was no problem finding the temple, you just follow the crowds! Man was the place packed. There's a long street leading to the temple gate lines with small shops called Nakamise-dōri. It would have been quite charming if things weren't so crowded. To get to the temple, you need to pass through the impressive Kaminari-mon, the "Thunder Gate".

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Sensō-ji was founded in 645, which makes it the oldest temple in Tokyo. According to the story, in 628, two brothers, Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari pulled their nets out of the Sumida River. Caught in the net was a statue of Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy. The village chief, Hajino Nakamoto, recognized the importance of the statue and turned his home into a temple to enshrine the statue.

The area is quite impressive. If we ever get back to Tokyo, I think an early morning visit might be in order.

As things stood, it was a bit too crowded for us. We wandered a bit, before sneaking out a side street.

We got back on the Ginza line, transferring to the Chuo line back to Yotsuya. We strolled the neighborhood a bit before heading back to the apartment to do some laundry and take a short nap.

Soon enough, evening rolled around. On the night we arrived, we had walked to a little place in Yotsuya. Somehow, using just the handful of Japanese I knew, I managed to get reservations for dinner. Finding out that our friend Reiko was free, I told her to call the place….there's just no way I'd be able to communicate effectively over the phone, and have her added to our reservations. We walked over to Yotsuya Station and met Reiko. Getting to the place from here was a short 7-8 minute walk; though if it was up Reiko, who walks at the "Tokyo pace"….very quickly, we'd have gotten there in five!

Our destination was a little shop named Tanyaki Shinobu. Yep, this place specialized in beef tongue.

The interior of the Izakaya is small, rustic, and sorts of wraps you up in itself. There is counter seating, or like what we had tiny tables, with stump-like stools….if you had less than six in your party, you shared the table, which didn't bother us at all. Luckily, the cigarette smoke was kept to a minimum.

A big plus was having Reiko with us…..she told us, there are 8 tongue dishes on the menu……so we ordered all 8.

Things started off with the very simple sounding "Boiled Tongue". Which was simply amazing.

The pure beef flavor was so pronounced that you almost expected the dish to bellow out a strong "Mooo…" The tongue kept its form until it hit your tongue, at which time it just melted away. The was just perfectly flavored and simmered. In fact, we had another order of this.

The Missus just adored the ponzu pickled yamaimo.

I'd never had mountain yam this good. The "ponzu-zuke" really added a nice flavor to the yamaimo, the sour seemed to bring out a bit more of the background sweetness, it also seemed to make the yamaimo less slimy. There's a nice crunch to this very refreshing dish.

The Tan Stew was very tender, with what tasted like a red wine based demi glace.

The Tan no Shogani – ginger stew, brought all those familiar comforting flavors to me.

The salty-sweet-ginger flavors in this shoyu based braised dish was just perfect. Nice texture, not falling to pieces, but with a light chew. We also had an additional order of this.

The tongue stewed in miso was also delicious.

The scallions added just enough pungency and the konnyaku a nice textural contrast. Very balanced flavors and not as salty as I thought it would be.

The pickled cucumbers were a bit of a surprise.

Pickled in shoyu and garlic, with a mild chili kick, both the Missus and I immediately thought of Pai Huang Gua (派黄瓜) – the "Smacked Cucumbers" that I make.

Strangely, the dish the Izakaya is named after; the Tanyaki – broiled tongue was probably our least favorite.

A bit too thick and rubbery for our tastes. It was also on the salty side.

The miso cured tongue (on the left) and the salt cured tongue (on the right) were nice.

I preferred the salt cured version. Eaten with onions and a squeeze of sudachi it was chewy, yet pleasant, and yes, cured, not cooked.

The Kinoko no shioyaki – salt grilled eryngii mushrooms were fragrant and earthy. The texture, nice and meaty.

The meal ended with Tan Soup, which was so good. The soul of the cow condensed into this wonderful, clear broth.

Man, this was a great meal…one main ingredient, beef tongue presented a different ways. When I first told the Missus about this place, She wasn't too thrilled. But now, She was sold.

Tanyaki Shinobu
16 Saneicho
Shinjuku, Tokyo

It was great to see Reiko, it had been a while. Nice to know she is happy and healthy, and we hope to see her again soon!

We walked back to the apartment feeling a bit sad. We had really enjoy our time in Tokyo. Tomorrow, it was off to Kyoto!

Tokyo Day 2: A visit to Meiji-jingu, Shibuya crossing, Hachikō, and you’ll find the good stuff in the basement

November 7, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Markets & Grocers, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

*** Not much food in this one, so I wouldn't blame you if you just decided to come back tomorrow!

On our second full day in Tokyo, both the Missus and I awoke feeling….well, great! I'm sure you would too if you'd had the great meals we'd had the previous day. After doing some laundry the night before, the Missus hatched Her plan for the next morning. And so we started off from our apartment in Yotsuya Sanchome, heading South, then supposedly West….I say supposedly, because we took a wrong turn. Upon hitting Minamimotomachi Park, we realized we were headed in the wrong direction and turned around. From there it was a pretty straight line to our destination, Meiji-jingu.

This Shinto shrine, dedicated to Emperor Meiji and the Empress Shōken is 175 acres of peace and tranquility in busy Shibuya.

And while Tokyo itself is fairly quiet for a city of its size…..you can escape much of the "white noise" here. All you hear is the crunching of gravel as you walk down the paths.

Emperor Meiji presided over the Meiji Restoration, which consolidated power under the rule of emperor. This period marked the modernization of Japan as it formed various alliances and opened its doors to the west.

The gate to the main shrine complex is the largest wooden "tori" (gate) of this style in the world and was built from 1500 year old Japanese Cypress trees from Taiwan.

The grounds give an impression of an old and ancient forested area, but the trees were actually planted during the shrine's construction in the 1920's.

The main shrine complex, at least when we visited, during a weekday morning was so peaceful and relaxing…..

It's a great place to contemplate the day and life in general……which was kind of broken up by the two dudes in suits from you know where shouting at each other trying to get the best shots. You can see them, in a rather Picasso like fashion if you click on the panoramic shot above to enlarge.

As it stands, one of our favorite spots during our time in Tokyo.

Before leaving, we saw some folks taking wedding photos……I read that this is a popular location for traditional style photos.

How cute….

Leaving the area, we headed down toward Shibuya…land of the well…..kind of a "hipster-slacker, punk-goth-Hello Kitty, oh my goodness what is that"….well, let's just say, there's a lot of young people around expressing themselves in the way they dress!

As we walked down the street, I saw "a sign"……well perhaps not divine in origin, it was still a hallowed sign from years ago….my goodness Tower Records! I asked the Missus if we could check the place out….She understands that very few non-food things really get me excited, so this must mean something. Unfortunately, they weren't open, but the Missus decided that we should grab a cup of coffee.

A few minutes before the place was scheduled to open we walked over. There was a fairly young, balding, guy who kept twitching, ants in his pants, almost jogging in place, raring to go at the door. As soon as the doors opened he sprinted up the escalators. Curious, we followed. What was going on here…some new release, tickets to some concert? Well, no….we found the dude in the aisles of the Jazz section? Huh? Pretty goofy…..I actually do a pretty good impression of the guy for the Missus once in a while….the Jazz section….

Actually, I love Jazz and took some time to look around, Kenny Burrell, Jim Hall, the Brecker Brothers! However, I just wanted one thing….I've been trying to get ahold of the "local music" of my hanabata days. I knew from previous experience that a lot of releases, especially the one I was looking for are still available in Japan….and guess what? I found what I wanted.

We made our way down to Shibuya Crossing, considered to be the busiest crosswalk in the world…while not too busy at this time of the day, we just had to cross…..to get to the other side of the road of course.

Here's what it looks like from Shibuya Station.

You should see some of those Youtube videos of the crossing, like this one.

Man, this placed was packed with shops…..just about everything catered to young people. We walked over to Shibuya 109, the young and trendy fashion shopping mecca for young people…and boy am I old! I couldn't believe how short some of those skirts were….sheesh. The Missus was also not having a good time so I asked Her where She wanted to go? "Ginza……" So off we went on the Ginza line. It was getting pretty close to lunch….even after yesterday's meals, the Missus was craving one thing…..salad. I had an idea….but before we headed off for Ginza, there was one thing I had to see. You can read the story about Hachikō here. I just needed to come here and take a photo……it's all I really wanted to do in Shibuya.

And so we got on the Ginza line….getting off at the stop where Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi, the flagship store of the chain is located.

So here's the deal…in the lower floors of any major department store, like Daimaru or Mitsukoshi….you'll even find department stores in every major train station, there will be ton of vendors and stands.

There's quite an assortment of western and traditional dishes available, usually priced by weight or by piece.

It's not cheap….especially the roasted sweet potato the Missus got…..630 yen!

Still, we ended up having a light meal….. There are no places to eat in the basement, but if you ask, you'll be advised to head up to the 9th floor…..where the restaurant, cafe, and gardens are.

There you'll find folks eating, whether they bought their food at Mitsukoshi or not….the couple next to us was really cute….they ate exactly the same items at exactly the same time.

We ordered just a few things….that smoked duck was really awesome. Like I said, the Missus was missing salad….

Notice the portion sizes? I came to appreciate the portion sizes….you got the fried stuff, they ate ramen with rice, no denying the love of sweets…..but they were all thin….because they walked and used public transportation. Oh, that's the Missus's roasted potato to the right….She felt so bad about the price that She made it last three meals!

Funny…..

And for folks old enough…remember when we had the Mitsukoshi Building in Waikiki? 2155 Kalakaua? They had an entire floor of video games……Galaxian!

Thanks for reading!

Tokyo Day 1: Dinner at Suzunari

November 6, 2014 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

I'd planned of having a heck of a first full day in Tokyo….it was to be our "red lettered day". We started out at Tsukiji Market, then had lunch at Sushi Iwa. I wanted to finish off the evening with something special. initially, I thought about one of those 2-3 Michelin Star places….but, as I've mentioned before, I think folks put a bit too much in the "star" system, though there's a good bit a rating like that does say. I started thinking a bit differently about things when I overheard a conversation regarding some of the "top rated" places in Tokyo…..and I read about this common theme as well. You won't find any Japanese Nationals at many of these places….nowadays it's mostly Chinese/European/American tourists. Nothing wrong with that, but it's just not our style. Also, we wanted something that wasn't too stuffy or pretentious, not overdone and precious. I wanted a place where we'd find Japanese eating. After doing a whole lot of research, hemming and hawing, a little Kaiseki place named Suzunari came up. No, you won't find it on Chowhound, I just did a search on the Japan board before starting this post. A big plus was this little place was located in rather close proximity to our apartment in Yotsuya. The only obstacle was trying to get reservations…nothing online, we had no concierge, no English spoken. We're lucky to have friends who were able to make reservations for us. So we headed down the narrow streets of Arakicho a neighborhood of small, somewhat private looking bars and restaurants….we just followed the Salarymen.

I had read that Suzunari had no real sign and it was very difficult to find so we started early….strangely, perhaps it was luck, we found the place with no problems at all. Sticking my head in the door, quietly saying in my fumbling Japanese "Yoyaku shitemasu……" to the young woman working the tables, suddenly I heard a greeting from behind me……this happened to be Chef Murata and the kind and warm young lady is his wife. They were of course expecting us, first grabbing our coats then leading us to our seats at the bar.

The bar seating was already filled in this tiny restaurant.

There are three versions of the menu available, basically, 60, 100, or 150 dollars. Heck, we were in Tokyo, we had arranged for the 15,000 yen menu. There's so much preparation done ahead of time, that you need to indicate which offering you want. I had the folks choose our Nihonshu, just indicating we wanted something "local"… the young woman knew a little English, which helped, and I did my best….which wasn't much.

It was great watching Chef Murata and his assistant prep all the dishes. The entire staff was a total of four, the Chef, his second, his wife who worked the front of house, and an older woman, who seemed to be one of their mothers, who took care of the dishes and cleaning….it really seemed to be a family affair. And yes, this is Tokyo, most everything was done in almost a hushed silence.

The meal itself was amazing…..Chef Murata would often stop everything he was doing to try and explain what he was serving, or his wife would try to find the English words for items……they seemed to be pleasantly surprised that I knew the Japanese or at least the English names of what was being served. Of course there were still many, many, gaps…items I've not had experience with, which made this meal even more pleasant.

The Sakizuke, first course was a refreshing, understated course of shrimp and tender tako with what seemed like, but I don't think was grated yamaimo, it was too smooth. The aspic was subtle, but refreshing.

The range of flavors all seemed to compliment each other…….so smooth…

The Hassun, basically a arrangement of appetizers was one of the most impressive things I've ever seen.

No matter what angle I tried; I couldn't capture the breath of this in one photo. It's also impossible to explain all the tastes, textures, and fragrances in just a few words.

I will say, some the simpler items were just amazingly perfect; the smoked duck was moist and tender that you would think it was pork, except it had that nice duck flavor….the ginnan, earthy, with a hint of sweet and bitter but also made crunchy. The two almost ohitashi like dishes; the greens and mushrooms with yuzu, topped with beautiful, briney ikura, served in a hollowed out yuzu….the fragrance of the fruit adding a nice touch. The tai with shiokara sauce, sweet, pungent, chewy and silky smooth at the same time. The bo-zushi was a fantastic combination of milky and savory flavors, cut by the vinegar in the rice. You really could go on and on…..

And yet, the one item we're still talking about is the simply perfect shirako……..perhaps my best bit of the year. Firm until it enters your mouth, turning into a wonderful melting creaminess upon your first bite. Just simply amazing.

The Mukōzuke, the sashimi course, was fine…….

The Mushimono – steamed dish was a fabulous. A chawan-mushi, steamed egg dish, was so smooth and custard like. This version had suppon (soft shell turtle) in it.

Comfort food taken to the next level…..the suppon is quite mild in flavor.

Botan Ebi – October is pandalus nipponesis season from what I understand.

You know which part we treasured the most, right?

We watched as fish were skewered and roasted/broiled in the salamander. Chef told me what kind of hikarimono these were but I really couldn't understand and I didn't want to take him away from the now full house he was dealing with. I figure these were the yakimono items.

The fish were rich, with good oil, savory, and quite tender. Our favorite was the version served with a smooth, savory, beany, but not salty aka miso. It just blended in so well with the fish and especially the shiitake mushroom….umami overload.

This was so good, we don't even remember the next item…….

I'm thinking this was a palate refresher….because next up was the Kamameshi, the grand finale as it were. Noticing that I was taking photos……the young lady kindly brought me the pot of rice to photograph before serving……it was just so touching in a way….so thoughtful….

Mixed and served with the typical Kōnomono, seasonal pickles…..this was by far the best kamameshi we'd ever had…it was just masterfully prepared, so perfect in proportion. Also, the entire pot was for us! We saw the couple next to us totally clean out the entire pot….but there was no way we could do this. In the typical way, they made onigiri for us.

The aka miso shiru had a large amount of lobster in it. It was rich, yet not salty……it wasn't a favorite of the Missus, who I guess prefers the really salty versions we have here in the states….She really didn't care for any of the miso soup we had in Japan.

And yes, there's dessert….but there was no way we'd be able to do that. I just nodded "no" and patted my stomach and said, "oh no. soon sumotori….." Which got a nice laugh.

As the evening wore down, the folks here took time to formally introduce themselves to us and kind of of wondering where we were from. I do wish I spoke and understood more Japanese. They were genuinely surprised to find we were from San Diego.

We both loved Suzunari. In fact, if we're ever back in Tokyo, I'll try and find a way to return. The food is great, the folks running the place are wonderfully gracious, very relaxed, and so sincere. It's more than wonderful food; it was a memorable experience It was the perfect place for us; no pretense, not stuffy, a family operation, gracious hosts, and fantastic food. There were no tourists in the place other than us……the place was fully booked. We didn't want any concessions and that's a great thing we found in Japan, I'm sure there are places that will do this….but as a whole, you'll eat like the people. We loved it!

Yes, you need to book months in advance as it has perhaps 8 bar seats and three small tables. And yes, they do have a Michelin star.

All customers are escorted out as they leave and thanked; though the Chef came out from behind the counter to join us as well….to give me his business card. But I gotta ask…..when was the last time you saw a Michelin-starred Chef flashing the peace sign in a photo? You gotta love this place! We do!

Suzunari
7-9 Arakicho, Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo

The Santouka Effect…..

October 30, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

In my opinion we had some pretty good ramen in Japan.

I mean, for me, it was a total slam dunk…I loved my choices.

1 – Nagi Ramen – which I've already posted on

2 – Ippudo

3 – Rokurinsha

We had one bowl which we both didn't care for.

But the place made killer fried chicken.

Strangely, during the whole time, the Missus kept saying…."you know, this is not as good as Santouka!" Say what?!? I love Santouka and all, but really! Perhaps I should have gone to Santouka in Kyoto just to set things straight. I'm thinking She really didn't care for the stronger niboshi flavors…..but She also wasn't impressed with the richness of the broth! Nagi Ramen? Rokurinsha? Really?

If She believed Santouka is that much better than anything we had, then fine. I wanted some confirmation. So, this past Saturday, it was off to Santouka, which by the way, is my favorite ramen in San Diego.

We ordered just as we did in Japan. The Missus, minimizing the carbs……She almost fell out of Her seat the first time She saw someone having ramen, rice, and gyoza! Ramen and rice?!? Anyway, She'd have a bit of noodles, a bit of rice, usually a decent amount of broth, and sometimes more than 1 egg. She did readily admit that the eggs in Japan were just that much better.

Anyway, one sip of the broth did it. "Huh, it's kind of thin, sort of bland……. I don't know what I was thinking?" Yes, She had somehow mentally put the broth and everything else at Santouka on a pedestal! We all do this….but not usually with items we've recently had….food nostalgia strikes us all. But I've never seen this in the short term.

No, it wasn't quite as rich, nor robust in flavor, as much of what we had. The noodles, well, the Missus doesn't care for Hakata style noodles, yet the texture in each bowl we had was excellent.

"You know, I feel kind of disappointed….I don't feel that I enjoyed those bowls as much as I could have. I put Santouka up on a fictional level. It was all in my head….."

"Doesn't it suck when you find out that Santa Claus doesn't exist? Oh, and….as an FYI…..neither does the Easter Bunny"

"I feel gypped……"

"Hey, we can always circle back. I'm more than willing to return to Japan. And, we can even check out Santouka while we're there!"

Like I said. Santouka is our favorite. But a little perspective is always good. And maybe, just maybe….we'll be able to sample more good ramen in Japan again soon.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope you're having a great week!

Tokyo Day 1: Lunch at Sushi Iwa

October 26, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Sushi and Sashimi, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

I'd planned on making our first full day in Tokyo our "red lettered day" for our trip and things were starting out great with a visit to Tsukiji and breakfast at Tenfusa. We left Tsukiji and decided to walk up to Ginza. We stopped for coffee in a nice quiet shop and struck up a conversation with a nice couple, he was retired military, his wife, a native of Tokyo, returns yearly to lecture. It was quite an entertaining discussion.

Ginza is the upscale shopping and entertainment neighborhood of Tokyo….huge multilevel department stores, like Mitsukoshi, which once had a shopping complex in Waikiki which had an entire floor of video games. So large it even has its own subway stop on the Ginza line! More on that later.

We walked around the Ginza area killing time. I'd gotten lunch reservations at Sushi Iwa through the wrangling of some friends. That's the deal with being in an apartment, there's no concierge service, but I think we did fine. For what it's worth, the place has a Michelin Star, which, I guess for some people is all that really matters…… sigh.

Now finding a single doorway on a side street in Ginza while trying to use the Japanese address system, can be frustrating. Armed with a photo of the storefront, finding the address 8-5-25 Ginza, Chuo-ku ranks right up there with spending your day chewing on aluminum foil. For some reason, the Missus did exceptionally well once we could locate the "chome" – district, in this case 8-chome. The next number is the block, which was easy enough….you find 4 or 6 and you know "5" is in there somewhere. That last number is the building….the trick here being that the numbering for buildings is not consecutive. Rather, buildings are numbered in the order in which they were built or in reference to some "center"! All this made finding almost everything an adventure. We really didn't feel bad after seeing so many Japanese visitors and even residents of Tokyo…even our friend Reiko has no idea how to find a place without using a business card, an app, or asking directions. Given the immense tolerance and patience of folks we ran into, this is fairly common.

The shop itself is quite tiny; only six seats. The lines very clean, very neat, the space wide open for viewing the chef Hisayoshi Iwa preparing our meal.

So why lunch? Well, the Missus was having a hard time justifying spending over $200 per person for a sushi dinner, kaiseki maybe, but just not sushi. Plus, with rice involved, we tend to fill up rather quickly. Sushi Iwa has a basic sushi lunch (10 pieces) for 4750 yen – (under $50, you can get the 13 pieces for $85). This is a bargain in my eyes.

We started with a nice clean, cold sake, which the Chef recommended.

It was a joy to watch the precision practiced by the rather young (mid-late 30's) Chef. I love the single bite Edo style sushi. The rice here is very mild and balanced in flavor, which is my preference. The nikiri is also quite neutral, no heavy sweet or salty tones, just adding a mild umami. I loved what I call the "rice explosion", when the nigiri enters the mouth and just breaks down without chewing….the Missus still isn't used to this having had too much neighborhood sushi back in the states.

1 – Hirame.

It's standard operating procedure to start with a firm and mild shiromi and hirame (fluke/flounder) fits the bill. I personally love shiromi, the subtle flavors, rasied by a nice nikiri. This had a bit too much wasabi on it for my taste, but was still a nice firm piece.

2 – Madai

Firm then yielding, my kind of fish.

3 – Kinmedai

I really loved this fish, golden eye sea bream, when I had it earlier in the year at Shunji. This just confirmed my love for the firm, yet deceivingly fatty flesh which was elevated by the nikiri. We basically used no soy sauce for any of our nigiri.

4 – Akami-zuke

Lean maguro, "cured" in a soy sauce mixture. This was fine, but really nothing special in terms of flavor or texture. In fact, this one just reinforced how good Tadokoro is in my mind.

5 – The prep for the ika was amazing to watch. The squid was sliced horizontinally into paper thin sheets….you could actually see through them! It was then cut into very thin strips.

It almost looked like shio ebi! After having mine, I told the Missus this one was going to change Her view of ika. And it did! It was amazingly tender with great flavor….it nearly melted in our mouth.

6 – Katsuo

Good oil, but still quite mild, nice meaty texture…..the usual ginger helped refresh.

7 – Ishigaki Clam

At first I thought it looked like mirugai, but I was told it was Ishigaki-gai – Giant Clam from Ishigaki Island, something new for me. It was firm and crisp and more briney than sweet. In fact, the rather heady flavor reminded me of Chocolate Clams.

8 – The hotate (scallop) was cured, then massaged.

Man, this was awesome, so tender, sweet, and almost ethereal as it melted away in your mouth.

9 – Ikura

The Missus had also never had ikura that tasted like this. It was clean, like a orb of the cleanest, sweetest, ocean water. I often go back to this line, "I've been told that the freshest, cleanest salt water in the world exists several hundred miles off the South coast of the Big Island, deep in the ocean, the Ikura made me think of how clean and refreshing that water would taste" from a post from the past.

10 – Anago.

True Edo-mae sushi places in Tokyo will never serve you unagi, rather, only items from the ocean, and out of Tokyo bay will be served. This was an excellent example of the sweet, mild, melt in your mouth, anago nigiri. Nothing I've ever had (Kaito, Kokoro, Tadokoro, places in LA) has ever been this good.

11 & 12 – Things ended with some miso shiru and a combination of rolls.

All in all, a wonderful meal, and a bargain at $110 for the two of us.

Sushi Iwa
8-5-25 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tokyo, Japan

Wow, we'd had quite a day….and it was only half over!

Stay tuned!

Tokyo Day 1: A walk around the neighborhood, Tsukiji Market, and Tenfusa

October 25, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Seafood, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

On our first day, I made the decision NOT to get up at 330am and catch a cab, get in line, and take a chance at checking out the tuna auction at Tsukiji Market…. a 20 minute cattle call. Heresy, I know. It's not that we don't wake up early; heck I wake up at 5am during the week, jet lag always wakes us early on our trips as well. Remember us walking around Hanoi at 430am? If you're a regular reader, you do know I love visiting markets when travelling. It's amazing what you might learn and see. I've even been to various fish auctions, in both Hilo and Oahu, and heck even in Djerba, Tunisia. Instead, we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood, then stroll to Yotsuya Station and heading off to Tsukiji at around 630.

The narrow side streets bore little resemblance to the busy main artery a few blocks away.

We were told that the Yotsuya area was historically a Samurai and Ninja District:

"Honshio-cho & Sakamachi are located in front of the ministry of defense,between Yotsuya, Ichigaya and Akebonboashi station.

There were two big Ninja group.Iga school and Koga.The top of Iga was Hanzo Hattori, his name is still kept at the gate of the Emperor's palace and as the name subway line. Koga Ninha residence was located in Honshio-cho and the entire district was a fortress, isolated from other area."

Indeed, the gravesite of Hattori Hanzo is located somewhere nearby at Sainen-ji temple. And no, it's not this Hattori Hanzo. The story of the REAL Hattori Hanzo is much more fascinating. Unfortunately, there are a ton of temples in the area, so we never found Sainen-ji Temple, which, in addition to having Hattori Hanzo's gravesite, also has Hattori Hanzo's spear. Next time….

Yotsuya is also prominently mentioned in the famous ghost story Yotsuya Kaidan. Like Hattori Hanzo's reappearance in Kill Bill, there's a connection between what is called the most famous "obake story" of all time and a modern retelling of it.

Like many neighborhoods in Japan, I'm sure there are a thousand stories for every block of real estate.

We managed to only visit a few places, really not knowing the significance of them. Hopefully, one day, we'll be able to visit again and get an understanding of the history of the area.

As it is, we ended up back on the main street and walked on over to Yotsuya Station and arrived at the Tsukiji-shijo Station at 645. From there it was a slam dunk finding the market…..just follow the dude in waders carrying wicker baskets….

Namiyoke Dori Street is the main street for the market. It is also probably the easiest way to find the entrance to the outer market, which is basically the retail area for Tsukiji. In some ways, I found what was here more interesting, though the Inner Market is more fascinating . This area opens at 5am, whereas the Inner Market is not open to the public until 9am.

Anyway, here are some photos. I tried to do things quickly….there's nothing more irritating than some butthead stopping in the middle of the street blocking folks trying to actually do some business, setting up his gear…. "ooooh, it's wasabi!"

I really loved all the pickled vegetables…tsukemono and the like….

There's a huge section of just tamago…..

I think you get the point, right???

Whew….need a break? Head on back to Namiyoke Dori. There's an area with vending machines right next to the info center….which doesn't open until 8am BTW. Still, you can grab a seat, next to bunch of other folks, many of them looking like vendors from the market taking a break and grab something refreshing.

And take in the street scene.

Right at the end of Namiyoke Street, right before you turn into the main market area is Namiyoke Inari Shrine. People believe that this shrine guards and protects the market. When it was built during the Edo Period it was at the water's edge. As it is; the shrine is functional. We saw several workmen come by while visiting…..

The Missus really loved this shrine. Mainly for one rather charming (in my opinion) reason. To the right, of the entrance lies a few shrines and monuments. One of them, picuted to the right is the "Tamago-zuka"…. that's right, the monument to the egg, probably the Missus' favorite food item. This is part of the "sushi-zuka" monuments to sushi residing on shrine grounds.

The one to the far right in the photo below is the monument to shrimp! You gotta love it! We loved this little shrine…..

It was now about 830…still a bit too early for the wholesale market which opens to the public at 9am. Perhaps it was time for some breakfast. Time to queue up with all the other toursts at one of the sushi places in the market, right? Not so fast Kemosabe. First, the last thing I wanted was a rushed tourist class sushi meal, elbow to elbow with a bunch of other toursts. Second, I had reservations at a sushi place for lunch. Tenfusa, a small, 2 table and four bar seat tempura place sounded just right.

We walked in, away from the chaos and lines at Sushi Dai and Daiwa on the same alley, to a quiet little oasis. THe guys eating at the counter seemed like regulars; they all knew the woman running the front of house. This was my kind of place.

The Missus still had Her heart set on having some fish at Tsukiji; so we ordered the maguro sashimi, which wasn't the highest grade of fish; but super fresh, and a bargain at 500 yen ($5).

I ordered the Tendon (1100 yen – $11), a very generous portion of rice (does anything other than a generous bowl of rice exist in Japan). Man, this was tasty….the green bean was great. The shrimp had that pure shrimp flavor I recalled having as a child. The Missus prefers "American tempura" the hard, laquered version….. The fish was sweet, I attempted to ask what it was and was told "megochi" – flathead, something I don't think I've ever had.

A very nice breakfast.

Tenfusa
Uogashi Yokocho Building #6
Tsukiji Market 5-2-1

After breakfast we headed first to the Vegetable and Fruit Wholesale Market, then the Seafood Wholesale Market; dodging the turret trucks and scooters…..

There's a kind of intensity to the Wholesale Seafood Market; after all it is one of the largest wholesale seafood markets in the world and probably the best known.

Everything you've read or heard about Tsukiji….well, it's probably true. If it swims in the sea you'll probably find it here.

Honestly, I should have taken a ton more photos, but I was so mesmerized by what I saw. Plus, I really didn't want to be one of the many who just stuck their cameras everywhere.

Tsukiji is amazing, just as everyone says……

Thanks for reading!

Tokyo: First impressions, Shinjuku, and Nagi Ramen

October 24, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel, yoso-silly

Back in July, having just returned from Belgium and the Czech Republic, the Missus sent me a text. Something along the lines of "let's go to Japan." To which I replied, "great, so next year, we'll go to Japan". Her response? "No, I mean let's go to Japan in October, after seeing my parents." And so it came to pass….

For some strange reason; I'd never really been motivated to visit Japan. But now, the wheels set in motion, I just couldn't wait. Though busy at work and time was short, I did some research, and found things I needed to know; the somewhat confusing address system, making sure I had photos of the storefronts of the places we needed to be at. I got us apartments in Tokyo and Osaka, and even a Machiya in Kyoto. Had friends make reservations at two places in Tokyo. We don't really plan much in the way of activities; mostly just broad outlines. The Missus likes to do most of that when we reach our destination. This can be a challenge, but She does it based on where we need to be.

All in all, Japan turned out to be one of the easiest places we've ever visited. It's amazingly orderly, folks at the worst are polite and everyone we met was helpful. That the Missus could read Kanji proved to be a major plus as other than the hiragana and katagana, and Japanese pronunciations, She could cull out meaning. I know a handful of words though my phrasing is (sometimes hilariously) woeful. When it comes to food though, I understand much more.

Well, enough of that….I'll get more into it in future posts.

As things turned out, all you really need is a Japan Railpass, Suica Card, the Hyperdia App, addresses both in English and Japanese, the word "sumimasen", and a little patience and you'll do just fine.

I really thought Tokyo was going to be a bear and was prepared to be overwhelmed, and in a way we were, but not exactly in the way we thought we'd be. First off, getting around in Tokyo was very easy for us. Finding exact locations weren't. Tokyo itself is made up of 23 wards…..think of it as 23 cities packed into one mega-city. Yes, it's busy, but also very quiet. The train/subway can be packed to the gills and yet, there's not a single word uttered in anything above a whisper! Folks line the stairs and escalators…all to the left in Tokyo, letting folks pass to the right. They walk…a lot…they eat tons of carbs and are very thin…folks do not eat while they walk, it's bad manners, even though there are very few public waste receptacles, the sidewalks are extremely clean.

We arrived in the neighborhood of Yotsuya and found the business of the person we were renting our apartment from with rather minimal problems. She was in the middle of teaching a class, so we dropped off our luggage, we travel super light, and set off to get something to drink, and to do some exploring. We walked down one of the side streets….

Seeing the sign above we walked down the alley like street and were totally over whelmed by all the restaurants and bars……which led to the big question. How does one actually make a choice here? There are so many places and options. I'm sure Tabelog and Gurunavi would help, but man, there's just so much. The Missus made the comment, "man, there are more restaurants in this little street than all of Clairemont Mesa!"

Luckily, I had reservations taken care of for the next night, had a plan for this evening, and had an outline of where to eat in the area for our last evening in Tokyo. In fact, we went looking for that Izakaya and actually found the place….using my really, really bad Japanese, I uttered one of the few phrases I know, "Yoyaku wo onegaishimasu"…. actually getting reservations.

We finally got settled into our apartment, which ended up being in the Yotsuya Sanchome area. A bit more residential, busy main streets, but quiet side streets.

We were meeting an old friend of mine; Reiko for dinner. nothing major, I wanted some ramen, and it would be great seeing Reiko, who used to work for one of my friends several years (actually more than several) back. Reiko was born and raised on Tokyo, so I thought getting to where we wanted to go to would be a slam dunk…well, not quite. You see, first we had to get to Shinjuku Station, claimed to be the busiest in the world (according to Wikipedia, the station was used by over 3.6 million people a day and has 200 exits).

Shinjuku itself is a popular business, entertainment, and shopping area…. lets just say popular is an understatement. Tons of younger folks gather outside the station, just milling around, as it seems to be a popular meeting and socializing area.

The place I'd ask Reiko to find had several locations within Kabukichō, the red light district and the Golden Gai, so it goes to figure that Reiko isn't really familiar with the area. After passing the Robot Restaurant (if you really gotta know, you can read about it here.) and missing the photo op of a large group of business men taking a photo with one of the "Robot Warriors", she needed some help and got a bit of direction….

This was sensory overload….after a while, things started looking like this.

I was seeing blurred outlines by now…all the blinking lights, the neon….. the punk-goth Japanese girls, good god, I was ready to fade to black.

Just in time Reiko pointed and said, "there it is Kirk-san…. Nagi Ramen."

Yes, all this effort for ramen. Would you expect anything less from us? Of course, not just any ramen….

Then of course, there was navigating the ramen ticket machine. You enter in your money and press the buttons for the various options you want.

The tiny shop has a single counter with a few seats. Behind the counter, two guys do everything….. it's hot and hard work.

Nagi is famous for their hardcore niboshi broth. Vast quantities of dried anchovies are simmered for over 12 hours to come up with a heady broth.

The broth is hearty, thick, savory, packing a huge punch. Pungent and full of flavor, it's not eveyone's cup of tea. Indeed it was a bit too strong at first for the Missus. That first sip of the broth will do that to you. We both ordered the combination of noodles, the regular, kind of doughy-chewy noodles and the wide and flat "hirauchimen"noodles which the Missus preferred. The egg had that perfect bright orange orb of a yolk. I had ordered extra green onions which helped balance out the flavor of the broth. My only issue was with the chashu which looked medium rare and was very tough and chewy. Otherwise, this was love at first bite….though perhaps not for the Missus who was a bit overwhelmed by it all.

Leaving the restaurant, things seemed to slow down, everything felt like it was slowing down, all was right in the world, things were starting to make sense…. though I still didn't have an explanation for the Robot Restaurant!

Thanks for reading!

Where in the world were we….the we’re back edition

October 22, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Travel

Wow, we're back home, exhausted but exhilarated. Got in at midnight last night, got to sleep at 3am, back to work at 6am, so I thought I'd do one of these to regroup.

Our last major stop was just a crazy array of smells, sights, sounds…..what you'd expect from a city whose motto basically means "to eat until you drop".

We had a chance to sample to sample a few of the city's iconic dishes…..

We also got to meet up with one of my favorite food bloggers….finally, after over 8 years! Thanks again Kat and Satoshi for a fantastic evening!

There's so many eateries that you could spend your life aimlessly wandering the alleyways paralyzed with indecision.

We managed to make a few decisions and had some nice meals.

We even managed some nice side trips as well.

Ending up right where we started…..

So just hang in there for a bit while I catch up on my sleep, ok?

See you soon!

Where in the world are we…such beauty and sorrow edition

October 17, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Travel

It's been a typical day for us, starting early and ready for bed by 9. Since it's still a bit early, I thought I'd do a short post. Our previous stop was one of amazing breath taking beauty.

All of this tremendous beauty was balanced by what happened in this area almost 70 years ago.

It is quite a sobering experience.

In terms of food. Oyster season has just begun here, so ordering is a no-brainer.

The area is also famous for this.

One evening we were wandering around and found a little alley where we enjoyed a fun evening. No English spoken, but who cares…..things got sorted out quite easily.

The pig ear was amazingly prepared.

Anyway, it's time for me to hit the sack.

The Missus says tomorrow is supposed to be an "easy day", but other than the typhoon day, we haven't had one of those yet and I don't think tomorrow will be an exception!

Hope you have a great weekend!

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