About food in Japan

Cafe restaurant by Mercedes-Benz, Roppongi (六本木), Tokyo

The global prestige car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz did open a cafe restaurant in its showroom in Roppongi (六本木), Tokyo last month. The German company named the whole two floors space facing Tokyo Midtown, as "Mercedes-Benz Connection", refering that the place is a connect point between autocars and people's lifestyle. 

When we enter to the modern designed showroom, firtsly we found a large wooden table with electric outlets on it and a coffee shop counter next to high and big glass wall. The cafe space is called "DOWNSTAIRS".

The coffee provided there are as high quality as ones served at chain coffee shops like Starbucks.

 

 

 

The upper floor is a restaurant offering lunch and dinner and also opens as a bar until 4a.m. during weekend. For lunch time, it offers several choices of main dishes like pasta, meat or fish all include appetizer and dessert buffet. The price is NEVER expensive as much as Mercedes-Benz cars... It is quite reasonable price, less than Yen 2000.

Because the restaurant's dishes are produced by a chef who works for AW Kitchen, known for fine quality selection of vegetable ingredients, we are able to find colorful and healthy collections of fresh vegetable plates on the buffet table. Here we do not have to worry about nutritional balance, you cannot take less healthy meal.

 

What I took from the buffet board

Left: from appetizer buffet

Right: from dessert buffet, including pumpkin role cake, carrotte mousse 

Main dish - pasta plate 

Sauce with minched meat and turnip

 

Tokyo Tower and Midtown buildings are visible from the window side seats.

The cafe restaurant provides what ladies like in the globaly-known autocar showroom. 

The comfortable space with high quality and well-designed funiture is also adding value to experience at the restaurant. It is an ideal place to take a break during shopping or visiting art museums or hanging with friends before going out for night entertainment in Roppongi.

************ UPDATE 14 January 2013 **************

  As scheduled. Mercedes-Benz Connection restaurant & cafe was once closed on December 2012. And from 18 January 2013, the luxury autocar showroom will be moved to another location, just across a steert from the former location, and the restaurant & cafe will be also re-opened. 

We will post a new report, when we visit the newer space.

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*The cafe and restaurant opens limited-time until December 2012.

Please do not miss a chance to try the modern and cool oasis in Roppongi. 

Restaurant name: Mercedes-Benz Connection 

                           DOWNSTAIRS (coffee shop)

                           UPSTAIRS (restaurant & bar)

Official site: http://www.mercedes-benz-connection.com

Address: 7-8-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 

大きな地図で見る

 

 

 

 

Umaya (うまや), Kabuki actor produced restaurant, Akasaka Tokyo

Akasaka Umaya (赤坂 うまや) is located in the two lowest floors of a Kabuki performance school's training centre. The restaurant is produced by Ennosuke Ichikawa who acquired international reputation as Kabuki actor. It is just off from Hitotsugi dori (一ツ木通り), one of major busy street of Akasaka (赤坂) night spot, while the entrance of the restaurant and surrounding environment with Akasaka Fudoson shrine is unexpectedly calm.

When you go through the traditional style gate from which the restaurant's sign on cloth (called のれん, noren) is hung, all you can find will be Japanese folk interior, traidional or Kabuki related objects.

Can't believe that we had been on the bustling modern night spot until just five minutes before

The plates offered there are variety of Japanese dishes from tofu, seafood, nabe hot-pot, to fried noodle or small bowl of ramen noodle(ラーメン). Many of them are either creative arrangement or local specialty (郷土料理, kyodo ryori) made with fresh high quality ingredients delivered mainly from Kyushu(九州) region. 

Nicely presented dessert assotment plate also can't be missed.

During lunch time, the restaurant offers intersting lunch box, whose menu is inspired and arranged from "catering lunch for Kabuki actors". Imagine you can share same taste with them. Other lunch menu are also available at reasonable price from around Yen1000.

 

Restaurant name: Akasaka Umaya (赤坂　うまや)

Address: 4-2-32 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Website: http://www.jrfs.co.jp/umayahome/akasaka/

大きな地図で見る

Local specialties of Tohoku (東北)

It is five months passed after the very sad narutal disaster in Japan. We keep supporting to the damaged region in many ways even under concern about radioactive pollution. One of the easiest way to support for recovering is to buy and have products from the affected region.

Here we would like to list-up excellent local specialties from Tohoku (東北) that we got　within the last five months. Some of them are not always available especially out of the region. We just want to tell you that these food are "the tip of the iceberg" and that Tohoku region is a gold mine of fantastic Japanese food such as rice, seafood, meat and fruites.

 

<Ekiben (box meal on train)>

Seafood lunch box that I got at Hachinohe (八戸) station, Aomori prefecture.

Sea urchin (雲丹, uni) and salmon roe (イクラ, ikura), both from the port of Hachinohe, are on top of rice. 

 

<Noodle>

Yokote Yakisoba (横手焼きそば, Yokote fried noodle) is recognized as one of the greatest local fried noodle of Japan and also as "the king of B-grade gourmet (Ｂ級グルメ) ". Fried egg on top of noodle is a unique point of Yokote Yakisoba. Luckly I had it at an event held in Tokyo, while it is normally available only in the origin city, Yokote, Akita prefecture. 

 

 "Amattarenna! Udon"(甘ったれんな！うどん)

The self-making udon noodle set has very unusual name "Don't be spoiled! udon".

Takano Honten(高野本店), the noodle producer based in Iwate prefecture, expressed so from the hot-chilli and sasame sauce in which noodle is to be dipped, partly takig also phonetic equivalent of sweet sauce (amai tare). 

<Sake (Japanese rice wine)>

Tohoku is one of major origin of Japanese alcohol "sake" (日本酒) breweries. 

Asabiraki (あさ開) from Morioka (盛岡), Iwate prefecture with overe a century history of sake brewering is getting high reputations and awards from many expert  or commercial organizations for its fine and high quality Sake. Especially this version "Nama Genshu" (生原酒, raw, non-heated and original liqud only, not blended with water) is limited number production and very delicate. Of course it was very nice with fresh and fruity flavour.

It's a pitty we could not bring the scent to you... 

 

<Sweet and snack>

Hagino Tsuki (萩の月, "The Moon in Hagi", custurd cake) is one of the most popular specialty sweet in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture. The full-moon shaped cake is named after the beautiful scenery in the city, Japanese bush clover (Hagi) and the full moon in the sky. The cake is less oil and its filling is rich in egg york. That is the reason many Japanese appreciate it!

 

Nanbu Senbei (南部せんべい) is salty cracker made in Hachinohe (八戸), Aomori prefecture. Unlike typical Japanese cracker, made from rice, Nanbu Senbei's main ingredient is wheat. The most common ones are baked with black sesame seeds or peanuts. 

My interesting finding is a bit different version of Nanbu senbei. It is arranged with butter and as the result, it is more like Western style cookie. But the taste is still plain and healther than cookie.

Tohoku including Fukushima is still and will be Japan's beautiful countrside with deep green woods on mountains, rice paddies and fine local specialities from both mountains and ocean.

 

In Tokyo, we can get some food products from Tohoku at these stores, for examples.

Fukushima Tokyo Yaesu tourism and exchange house (福島八重洲観光交流会館)

*Five minutes walk from JR Tokyo Station

Address: 2-6-21 Yaesu, Chuo-ku, Tokto

大きな地図で見る

 

Iwate Ginga Plaza (いわて銀河プラザ)

*Ten minutes walk from Ginza crossing towards Tsukiji direction

Address: 5-15-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

大きな地図で見る

 

Miyagi Hometown Plaza (宮城ふるさとプラザ)

A few minutes walk from Ikebukuro station. It has information in English. Download from here.

Address: 1-2-2 Higashi Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo

大きな地図で見る

 

Aomori Tokusanhin Center (青森特産品センター)

Five minutes walk from Hacchobori or 15 minutes walk from Ginza

Address: 1-3-9 Shintomi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

大きな地図で見る

French style kushiyaki (串焼き) at La Gargote, Azabujuban (麻布十番)

La Garagote French grill & wine bar is an interesting restaurant located in Azabujuban, where it is not far from Roppongi Hills. The restaurant's French owner aims to be "an authentic alternative to an izakaya (居酒屋, Japanese style dining bar) in French culinary."  It is not an ordinaly French restaurant, while the grill which can be seen from the counter table makes us remind a typical Izakaya. 

The menu is also not like the ones offered at typical French restaurant where we are likely to have course meal with knife and fork. La Gargote rather provides, like Izakaya, a wide selections of plates on the list from starters, pasta, speciality seafood, duck confi, fois-gras. These plates with French style ingredients are arranged in Gargot's original style and can be shared as we do at Izakaya. Of course the French Kushiyaki (串焼き, skewered foods) is their speciality that cannot be missed. Kushiyaki and char-grill will be prepared by French chef at the grill on the ground floor.

Kushiyaki, the taste arranged with spice and hearbs also brings savory scent to your table.

 

By the way, the name "La Gargote" represents "hashery", chep and casual dining hall in English. It is a kind of joke by the French owner. The restaurant never be a such type of restaurants!

The restaurant's icon, owl also welcomes you...   

 

********* Update 24 March 2013 ***********

   The restaurant has been closed.

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Restaurant name: La Gargote

Address: 1-3-13 Azabujuban, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Website: http://www.la-gargote.com

 

大きな地図で見る

Ekiben (駅弁, Box lunch on board) at Tokyo Station

The month of August is summer holiday season for Japanese people, like many others in the Northern Hemisphere. This summer, many plan to travel especially to Tohoku region (東北地方) to support the economy of the region damaged by the earthquake and tsunami. 

Before taking on Shinkansen trains at JR Tokyo station, let's drop by Gransta Dining, a new shopping zone opened at the end of 2010 just a minute away from Tohoku Shinkansen ticket gates. There you will find nice lunch packs suitable to take on board. Ekiben (駅弁), meal in square box(s) specially arranged for meal on-board and exclusively sold at station (eki, 駅) is appreciated by locals. It is  for Japanese a piece of "entertainment" on the road (or rail).  

Here we can introduce two interesting choices as lunch box on board and are available at Gransta Dining in JR Tokyo Station.

Shop name: Komezanmai (米米米)

As the name represents "triple" rice (米, kome), it focus on rice but not in traditional way. The products look like rice-ball but not exactly. The rice, rather we can call, "pate" is too soft to hold it with fingers and they are interestingly arrangement with ingredients on top of it. You can select flavors as you like from colorful options in the showcase.

They are what I chose...

From left to right, bottom: Duck and leek (traditional well-matched pair of Japanese food), Salmon roe (イクラ, ikura), Pork dice stew (豚の角煮, buta no kakuni) and Italian ham with cheese and pumpkin. All are unfamiliar as rice ball ingredient but still attractive selections. 

 

Shop name: Nippon no Ekiben (ニッポンの駅弁, Japanese Ekiben)

Nippon no Ekiben store is faceing to Komezanmai just introduced above. The small store, specialized in Ekiben (box meal for on board) is could be full with Japanese travellers who look for own most favourite lunch among many attractive offers. Here it could be hard to choose just one.  

 My selection is "Sanpi Ryoron Bento" (賛否両論弁当). It  is produced by the young master of a popular Japanese  restaurant in same name, Sanpi Ryoron in Ebisu,  Tokyo. 16 different delicacies are there in each small  portions, such as fried scallop, eel,  salmon with miso  sauce, chicken and shrimp dumplings, cooked  vegetables, two kinds of cooked rice etc. All are carefully prepared and well-arranged for lunch box. It cost more than ordinary lunch box (at Yen 1500) but it worths trying. It was really fun lunch time

These two stores open from 6:30am in the morning so even those of early departure and of tight schedule will be satisfied with nice Ekiben. 

Gransta Dining, where we can get these box meal, is located within JR Tokyo Station.  It is in "North Court" on the first floor, close to North and Marunouchi Central Exit as well as Tohoku, Nagano, Jyoetsu Shinkansen gate.

Gransta Dining official site: http://gransta.jp/dining/ 

 

Related post: Ekiben (駅弁 Station lunch box)

http://aboutfoodinjapan.weblogs.jp/blog/2009/02/ekibenstation-l.html