About food in Japan

Illy cafe with Ukiyoe (浮世絵), Nihombashi Tokyo

Many of you, especially those in Europe, may know Italian espresso brand "espresamente illy". The coffee brand operates several coffee shops in Tokyo and some other major cities of Japan.

As same with other units of espressamente illy, it provides authentic Italian espresso and other various coffee drinks and some Italian food like panini sandwiches and dolce(italian dessert). All the units are in modern design in red tone from the brand logo.

One thing, espressamente illy Nihombashi, Tokyo is different from other illy coffee shops is a big wall is decorated with art graphic panel of UKIYOE (浮世絵), Japanese traditional art.

 

 

While you have a cup of Italian coffee, you can also enjoy viewing the Japanese traditional art works... like this.

 

Three Ukiyoe art work graphics are successfully replicated by a Japanese major print-technology company from collections of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A.

 

* Under the Wave off Kanagawa, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

    by Katsushika Hokusai (「富獄三十六景」神奈川沖浪裏　葛飾北斎)

* Nihonbashi: Morning Scene, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô Road

    by Ando Hiroshige  (「東海道五十三次」日本橋朝之景 安藤広重)

* Reflective Love, from the series Anthology of Poems: The Love Section

    by Kitagawa Utamaro (「歌撰恋之部」物思恋 喜多川歌麿)

 

All these works are major iconic works by these Ukiyoe masters in the Edo period. It is also interesting to know a scene of Nihombashi, where the cafe is located, in early 19th century or 200 years ago from the work by Ando Hiroshige.

 

Cafe name: espressament illy Nihombashi

Address: Nihombashi Fuji bld. 1st floor, 2-5-13 Nihombashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Website in Japanese: http://espressamenteilly.jp

 

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The MONOCLE cafe, Yurakucho, Tokyo

Some of you may know an English magazine published from London, MONOCLE. In Ginza, Tokyo, we can find the first cafe in the world produced by the chef editor of MONOCLE.  

THE MONOCLE CAFE is on the underground floor of Hankyu Men's Tokyo, which is a department complex focusing on upper scale brands of male fashion. In one of the busies shopping areas of Japan, situated a few minutes walk from Yurakucho station, the cafe is a stylish and peaceful place to take a rest or to read a book, of course for all including ladies.

The cafe is thoughtfully created by the chef editor of MONOCLE magazine, payed attentions to detail in design and the concept, as exactly same with the magazine. The interior decoration is simple but warm with natural touch. Seat style varies from sofa for a small group of around 3 to 5 to desk-hight counter suit for nomad workers.

  

The lamps hung from ceiling there are same model with what is used in the MONOCLE's office in UK. Snow (not cotton!!) is decorated on top of lamp shades for Winter season.

Bookshelf and posters on the wall create the unique stylish and intellectual atmosphere.

The food on the menu list is known as favorites of the MONOCLE chef editor who has a lot of traveling experiences around the world. 

For example, MONOCLE curry (as below photo) and Pork cutlet sandwich are the chef editor's favorite Japanese menu. 

    

Coffee is also one of the exclusive selections, from OMOTESANDO KOFFEE, a small but high quality independent coffee stand by skilled baristas.

The cube shape sweet is also produced by the highly-reputated coffee shop, aiming at the best match with their coffee. It will surely give us a peaceful coffee break time. 

   

Not only above, various choices from the list of sandwich, sweets, deli-snacks and alcohol drinks are available from noon to early evening.

 

Cafe name: THE MONOCLE CAFE

Address: 2-5-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (in Yurakucho Marion マリオン)

Official website of Hankyu Men's Tokyo: http://www.hankyu-dept.co.jp/mens-tokyo/

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Sake Bar, glass of sake at Yen500! Japan All In event at Marunouchi

Annual meeting of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank Group will be held in Tokyo during next week from 9th October.

At Marunouchi (丸の内) business district adjacent to the meeting venue, some promotion and events are offred to welcome guests coming for the meetings. Some of them are not exclusive for the meeting attendees but open to all people and tourists.

One of these promotions called "Sake Bar" is Sake tasting opportunity at "Cafe ease" in Marunouchi Building. At the cafe, during the promotion event between 9th to 14th October 2012, Sake selections from all 47 prefectures of Japan are listed and offered each at Yen 500 by a glass. They include established brands such as Ichinokura from Miyagi,  Suehiro Gensai from Fukushima, Kusudama from Gifu prefectures. Some Japanese dishes in Izakaya style will be also ready to be enjoyed together with the Sake collection again each at Yen 500. 

Especially on Saturday 13th October, live music performance of "shamisen" (Japanese stringed instrument) will be provided twice a day, from 16h00 and 20h00. 

If you stay in Tokyo during the event, don't miss the chance to taste fine Sake collection at such a reasonable price in modern cafe. Marunouchi Building is just in front of JR Tokyo station and is not far from Ginza and Imperial Palce.

 

Promotion details:

Japan All In Sake Bar At Marunouchi Cafe "ease"

Address: 1st (Ground) floor Marunouchi Building, 2-4-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Date: 8th to 14th October 2012

Time: 16h00 - 24h00

Official site (Japanese) : http://www.marunouchi.com/common/JP/shop/detail.cgi?SH_MSH_code=1046

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Robecks Juice from West Coast America

Hot and humid Summer is arrived in Tokyo. Today's post is about an oasis providing fresh fruits juice. 

If you are based in US, probably you already know about the juice-focused shop born in L.A., Robecks Juice.

The West Coast style juice shop arrived in Tokyo last year and the second unit also opened recently in Harajuku.

Robecks Juice's main products are premium smoothies made with fresh and healthy ingredients, which will be made after it is ordered. It offers more than 10 selections of smoothies with fresh fruits strawberry, banana, orange, pineapple etc. In addition, if you prefer something more watery, fresh juice carrot or orange, hot juice, fruits tea are also available. Yuzu (Japanese citrus) honey tea, Mango & Leomon hot juice etc...they are also attractive options.

These drinks are of course the best suit for breakfast time. So Robeck Juice opens from morning 7h30 a.m and offers food also suitable for breakfast such as muffin, croissant, cinamon roll and sandwiches.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first unit of Robecks Juice in Jiyugaoka residential area of Tokyo has two floors with ample seating space. In some parts, it has a large table with electrical outlets for "nomad-workers." That makes your work-life healthier? The bringht and pop atomosphere reminds us the brand coming from L.A.

   

 

Another thing to be noted about Robecks Juice units based in Japan, they use high quality "Tsujirihei-Honten" (辻利兵衛本店) branded green tea from Kyoto for their green tea related products.   

Your accompanying person would not like to take fruits juice? Don't worry it also provides coffee like an ordinary cafe. 

Cafe name: Robecks Juice

Official site: http://www.robeks.co.jp

<Harajuku branch>

Address: 4-31-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

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<Jiyugaoka branch>

Address: 2-11-13 Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku, Tokyo

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Japanese Tea Salon - Higashiya, Ginza Tokyo

At Ginza, the best known luxury shopping district in Japan, it is not easy even for locals to find a cozy place for tea break during exciting shopping hours.

Higashiya, locating on the north part or 1-chome of Ginza, is one of such options, very sophisticated oasis. The "Japanese Tea Salon", as it calls itself, is on the second floor of POLA Ginza building, a property by the established Japanese cosmetic company.

Like the cosmetic brand on the ground floor, the space of Higashiya tea salon looks both peaceful and beautiful with arts placed on the wall, modern lighting and warm wooden tables and chairs. It is also quiet and people enjoy their own "tea ceremony" without any kind of noisy disturbance.

 

It offers fantastic selection of Japanese tea in term of the number of options and quality of listed products as well as Japanese traditional sweets. Otherwise choose the tea set at just over Yen 1000. Then you will have small pieces of seasonal Japanese sweets and again seasonal recommendable tea.

 

 

Don't forget bringing a book or someting to read instead of your moile phone to talk with someone. That is what is the best way to spend time and fully to enjoy at Higashiya, Japanese Tea Salon, we believe.

     

 

Lastly, we also recommend that you "pay a visit to the toilet" without fail.

It is the best and the most comfortable toilet that I have ever seen in Japan and in the world. I visited ladies' room only of course. Sorry for gentlemen, as we do not know how it is for you. 

We would not tell you how it is great so you can enjoy finding it.

Cafe name: Higashiya Ginza

Address: 2nd floor POLA Ginza, 1-7-7 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Website: http://www.higashiya.com 

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47 Prefectures' local specialities in Shibuya Hikarie, Tokyo

Newest shopping complex in Shibuya, "Hikarie" opened in April, has caught local's attention so much that it had to ask visitors to wait and make a queue to go in the building during Golden Week holiday season on May this year, just after it opened. Some of shops and restaurants in Hikarie are new to Tokyoiets and they attract a lot of locals who love to try new things. 

Restaurant are on two floors, 6th and 7th. They are well appointed as a whole with the relaxing and modern concept as well as varieties of interesting dining choices from Kaiten-Sushi to Hawaiian tables. They are often full with guests and busy even on weekday lunch.

What we recommend in Hikarie, Shibuya is on the 8th floor. The space including art gallery, museum, shop and studios is uniquelly produced under "creation" concept. "d47 shokudo" (d47 食堂, dining) is a part of the space.

The number 47 of the cosy cafe's name represents the total number of all prefectures in Japan, from Tokyo, Hokkaido in the northest, Osaka to Okinawa in south. d47 shokudo offers local specialities from each of 47 prefectures.  

For example for lunch, it has several teishoku (定食, Japanese style set meal at reasonable price) style courses and each of courses is tied with a certain prefecture;

No.001 Hokkaido - dried Hokke fish from Kushiro and salmon rolled by kobu kelp

No.020 Shizuoka - fried chicken of Fuji-Asahi local branded and black fish cake

No. 046 Kagoshima - Pork ginger sautee and simmered potato  

and the photo right  is

No. 043 Nagasaki - deep fried horse mackerel wih tartar sauce and jelly of shrimp and vegetables

As it is very likely to be traditional "teishoku" (定食) style, these main dishes are served with a bowl of rice, miso soup and pickles. That is very close to Japanese locals' "ordinary" meal even not so gorgeous like sushi or sukiyaki.

The cafe also offers very interesting drink tasting set; 3 kinds of either Sake, shochu (distilled sake), made-in-Japan red / white wine, orange juice or grape juice Actually in some parts of Japan, very good citrus concentrated juice is produced. If you would, you can try 3 different branded juices each from different prefectures.

My case, I ordered a single kind of orange juice from Ehime prefecture, one of the best-known origin of "mikan" Japanese orange. It is really fresh and rich in taste.

It is worth to try even though it costs more by a few hundreds yen

than a cup of coffee (the coffee is also special local product though). 

 

Another point to be noted about d47 shokudo is its view of Shibuya town. Through the large window on the 8th floor, a town of Shibuya with hundreds of ad-signs, random sized and shaped buildings, cars on a highway, people on streets .. all are visible and will surely make you feel being in Japan.

Lastly some of ingredients and drinks provided at the cafe are able to be purchased at the cafe and d47 design travel store on the same floor.

 

Restaurant name: d47 shokudo

Address: 2-21-1 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Official website: http://www.hikarie8.com/d47shokudo/

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Grilled tea (ほうじ茶) parfait at Morinoen, Ningyocho (人形町)

Ningyocho (人形町), literally meaning "dolls town", is an interesting district for a stroll in east Tokyo. The name reportedly comes from the history of the town where a few of Japanese traditional puppet theaters had been there or where a lot of puppeteers lived there in Edo period. Nowaday one of major theaters for Kabuki and other plays, Meijiza (明治座), stands on the town. 

Apart from Meijiza, many small shops, bars, restaurants and studio of Japanese traditional craftwork can be found in the district. Many of them have been loved and supported by local clients for long years. In the heart of Tokyo, Ningyocho reminds us a good old day of Japan, while walking and shopping around at the town. It exist in a town of 10 minutes drive from Tokyo station where tens of Shinkansen bullet trains run in and out. 

Morinoen (森乃園) is one of such small but great shops. The tea shop with a century long history is specialized in Hojicha (焙じ茶), Japanese grilled tea. If you walk down the main street of Ningyocho on weekday afternoon, you may sense the roasting tea aroma. The scent comes from the second floor of Morinoen making grilled tea. The brown tea has excellent flavor and joy different from fresh green tea. It gives you a calm peaceful moment.

It will be a good idea to get a pack of Hojicha, Japanese grilled tea at Morinoen for souvenir. What can't miss at Morinoen is not only the tea leaf.

On the second floor, the tea shop offers a cozy tea salon, next to the studio making tea grilled. The small space is filled by local guests and staff are running around to serve them.

The list of attractive Japanese sweets from ice cream parfait, anmitsu (beans paste and syrup), sweet bean soup to dumplings, will make you be in trouble to select just one or two from them. So let's take the one very unique to the tea store.

This is it, Hojicha ice cream parfait

Ice cream, jelly and cream, all of Hojicha flavor

as well as small pieces of cake, dumplings

fill a tall glass.

 

That is another way to enjoy the grilled tea introduced by the tea shop master.

Why not try it?

 

Tea store and cafe name: Morinoen 森乃園

Official website: http://morinoen.jp/

Address: 2-4-9 NIhonbashi-Ningyocho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 

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My top 3 recommendation from FOODEX JAPAN 2012

This week FOODEX JAPAN, one of the biggest food and beverage trade shows in Japan, was taken place at Makuhari Messe. There we found and tasted many food and beverage products come from across Japan. Some are new ideas and others are traditional ones. Here we selected three products that we can recommend the most among many we found there.

 

Haccho Miso Curry (八丁味噌カレー) from Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture

The curry sauce is produced by a small "Ryori-Ryokan" (料理旅館, Japanese traditional inn featuring its local cuisine especially). Normally Ryokans do not serve curry-rice to guests, as it is rather daily home-cooking food. The product actually originated from meal provided on the ryokan's staff during their break time. The unique point is that the curry sauce is made with the city's local product Haccho Miso paste. The miso adds sweet flavour into the spicy hot curry and it makes the sauce tender and leaves distant Japanese taste.  Needless to say, it is the most popular souvenir gift at the accommodation. 

 

 

Satsuma Sparkling Yuzudon (薩摩スパークリング　ゆずどん) from Kagoshima, Kyushu region

It is sparkling wine made by mixing Kyushu region's distilled sake, shochu, and fresh natural Yuzu citrus. Even before taking the wine into the mouth, fine scent of Yuzu from the glass must strike your mind. We have many flavoured sparkling wine around the world but it is rare to find such real fresh, non-artificial, and strong (but never be too much) citrus fruit flavour. 

 

 

Apple jelly from Aomori

The last one has not been in the market yet. We tasted its sample product at the trade show. The jelly contains a lot of grated apple pulp. It is simple as product maybe but the pure and rich taste of apple is impressive. Hope it will be in the market soon. 

Sorry, we will disclose the name and image of the product when it is officially available.

 

These food and drink are availale at limited places within their origin regions and major department stores sometimes, apart from online shops.

Don't miss a chance to get them if you visit their regions

FOODEX JAPAN 2012 (6th to 9th March) official site: http://www3.jma.or.jp

*The trade show is exclusive for professionals related food and beverage production and distributions.

Toraya Cafe, Roppongi (トラヤカフェ, 六本木)

Toraya (虎屋) is an established sweets maker born in Kyoto over five hundreds years ago. The Japanese traditional sweets producer, mostly known for their high quality Yokan (羊羹, red beans cake), offers their modern Western style products in different way from their Yokan.

Toraya Cafe at Roppongi Hills, highend shopping complex in Roppongi, looks ordinary modern cafe from outside along Keyakizaka street. Its dessert menu is not what we can find at ordinary Western style cafe, for example cheese cake, chocolate tarte etc.

Fresh sweets at Toraya Cafe are created with the knowledge and skills by the established Japanese traditional sweets producer. Japanese ingredients such "an" (餡, sweet red beans paste) and matcha (抹茶, green tea) are mainly used. We can also recognize their new challenges to generate good harmony with non-Japanese ingredients like cacao. They look like Western style dessert but the flavour remains Japanese taste. 

Another point, what can't be missed is, unlike ordinary modern cafe, Toraya Cafe provides Japanese tea on the menu list, which must be also good combination with Toraya sweets.

Try the interesting fusion between East and West and also between tradition and modern.

Cafe name: Toraya Cafe at Roppongi Hills

Address: Roppongi Hills, Roppongi-Keyakizaka street, 6-12-2 Roppongi, MInato-ku, Tokyo

Website: http://www.toraya-cafe.co.jp/

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Genka Bar (原価バー), Gotanda(五反田) Tokyo

Genka (原価) is a business term and it means "original cost price". 

The bar, called Genka bar (cost price bar), offers an interesting system.

First at the entrance, guest is required to pay Yen 1500 for entrance. After that, all drinks and food menu are served at cost price.

Yes, that is true Let's us list up some of their menu with price.

 

Beer Asahi Super Dry regular pint - Yen 180 

Cocktail Gin Tonic single size - Yen 90

Cocktail Martini single size - Yen 120

Whisky I.W.Harper - Yen 90

Scotch Whisky Lagavulin 16years - Yen 300

Potato chips - Yen 90

Salami and olives - Yen 150

Cheese platter - Yen 300

Sausage platter - Yen 300

Fois gras terrine　- Yen 420

Surprising prices

 

The quality of food plates provided is as good as or even better than ones at other casual bars which charge much more.  As long as you are ready to drink a few glasses, it is a wortwhile option.

Of course the more you take drinks and food, the more you get better total value.

Please be careful not to drink too much

 

The bar is only one minute walk from JR Gotanda station which is on JR Yamanote line. It is 3 stops from Shibuya and 2 stops from Shinagawa stations.

 

Bar name: Genka Bar (原価BAR)

Address: 2-5-8 Nishi-Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo

Website: http://www.genkabar.jp

 

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