Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region – Page 4

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!