About food in Japan

Galali (がらり） - Izakayaka (居酒屋）

After a half and a year since my last post about Izakaya top 10 by a british journalist, finally I had a chance to visit one of the top 10 Izakaya in Tokyo.

Galali (がらり） Aoyama is located in tranquil residential area behind Aoyama street or chic fashion area Omotesando. The two-floor building, which had been a traditional style local house, is not easy to find without information.

The bottles of sake and shochu are waiting for dinners' order on the shelf. Several different flavour of "salt" are also welcoming guests on the wooden tables and counter. The restaurant suggests enjoying the salt with food provided there. That tells us...the food must be relatively simple (never with thick sauce) but enough high quality.

We ordered some typical Izakaya menu as well as speciality of the restaurant.

Sashimi plate cannot be missed for a gathering at Izakaya.

Tsukune (つくね, chicken dumpling) is a specialty of this restaurant.

Another chicken plate, grill ... can never do cooking more simple but the juicy taste is even unforgettable. We can recognize the good quality chicken carefully cooked by the chef.   

At the end of the fantastic meal, do not forget ordering a rice ball

That is the best way to enjoy "the taste of fine salt"

Surely I will come back and this is the right choice as the top 10 Izakaya in Tokyo.

Restaurant name: Galali Aoyama
Address: 3-6-5 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Website: http://www.gala-e.com/galali.html

Related story: Izakaya top 10 by British newspaper
http://aboutfoodinjapan.weblogs.jp/blog/2008/03/izakaya-top10-b.html

Ganko Sushi Osaka (がんこ寿司）

My report from West part of Japan continues here.
I believe that Osaka is a place where we can have nice and fresh food, especially in casual style, at reasonable cost compared with ones in Tokyo.

Ganko (meaning "stubborn") sushi is one of the examples. The major restaurant chain in Kansai region including Osaka and Kyoto is well-known for its icon, trade mark of the Sushi chef face with the lips in a straight line. Its first sushi restaurant was born in Osaka almost a half century ago. Its main business is the Sushi restaurant, casual but not Kaiten(rolling-around) style.

 

I visited a unit in Namba central area on the side of a major shopping archade and found a very long Sushi counter where fresh seafood ingredients and several Sushi cook masters were stand-by.

The lunch set includes a plate of Sushi (above but they are not all of them) plus another plate of tempura. The price is reasonable considering the quality of food and the volume provided. It is something difficult to find in Tokyo.

I would like to come to Osaka again to enjoy food...

 

 

Restaurant name: Ganko sushi Namba Honten
Address: 3-1-15 Namba, Chuo-ku, Osaka City, Osaka
Website: http://www.gankofood.co.jp

 

 

Machiya restaurant - Mukadeya(百足屋), Kyoto

I had a short trip to Kyoto in this summer.
In Kyoto, where traditional style buildings are still alive, we can find "machiya"(町屋）, traditional town house. Sometimes machiya is used as restaurant, cafe or even spa.

Mukadeya(百足屋, literally meaning centipede house) is one of these restaurants, located in 5minute-walk from Karasuma staion, center of Kyoto. One of the charateristics of machiya is its small entrance (5-10 meters width) and long depth space  as twice to four times as the entrance width, had been organized because of the taxation system in a few hundreds years ago.

It is known that the house was used by a kimono trader and it has been restored as a restaurant.
After a space with high tabels, and a welcoming room, I had a table in tatami floor room with a view of its small Japanese garden. The next of this room is former "kura" (蔵）, old storehouse.

Speciality of Mukadeya is called obanzai(おばんざい）, traditional home cooking menu in Kyoto. It is not always true that obanzai menu at restaurants are inexpensive. Dinner courses especially are considered as a kind of Kaiseki. But we can enjoy obanzai lunch at Mukadeya at reasonable cost.

 

Japanese course meals at upscale restaurants always remind us "the season".
The late summer plates made me feel cool...

The last plate is the restaurant's speciality rice with black means.
It brought with nice smell of Japanese cypress from the wooden box

Defenitely it is recommendable address in Kyoto to taste local specialities of the ancient capital in the traditional town house.

Restaurant name: Mukadeya
Address: 381 Mukadeya-machi, Nishiki-koji Agaru, Shinmachi tori, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto
Website in Japanese: http://www.kurochiku.co.jp/inshoku/shinmachi/index.htm