Japanese beef is especially appreciated not only by local people but also by international travelers for the quality, taste and tenderness. We are sure that some of you plan to have good quality Japanese beef while you stay in Japan.
So here we introduce one of the best options to taste Japanese beef and also pork meat in Tokyo.
Yakiniku (焼き肉, grilled meat) or BBQ restaurant "Pure" (written in Japanese Hiragana as ぴゅあ) is operated by a professional meat distributor under the group of "JA" Japan Agricultural corporative association. At its 4 units in central Tokyo such as Shinagawa or Shimbashi, it offers high quality meat with traceability information at reasonable prices, making the most use of its network with livestock producers across Japan.
Of course, because of their meat dealer business in charge, the company knows the best ways to have Japanese beef and pork. They are the reasons we recommend BBQ restaurant Pure as a place to enjoy Japanese meat.
We visited Pure Shinagawa branch which is 5 minutes walk from JR Shinagawa station. The restaurant is situated on the second floor of modern Shinagawa Front Building.
Find it with the mark of "JA" at the entrance.
BBQ grill with smoke control system is equipped on each table.
That allows you to prepare meat at your favourite condition and at your own pace.
Will be nice to keep watching your meat cooked in front of you with yummy sound and aroma.
On each table, BBQ sauce, which is prepared with original recipe by each restaurant unit, and lemon juice are provided as dipping sauce for meat. If you are not sure which is good for a specific kind of meat, the restaurant staff will be happy to give you the best advices.
The restaurant offers a few types of assortment dishs
with selected popular and recommendable meat.
Although it has not been recognized widely yet out of Japan, Japanese pork meat is also recommendable to try in Japan.
Or If you are very curious about Japanese meat and wish to try something unique, why not try the assortment of "horumon(ホルモン, offal meat)".
The assortment plates includes beef heart, tripe and gut meat.
The unique parts of meat is chewy and no strong smell, because of selected high quality ingredient by the professional distributor.
After have enjoyed a great amount of nice Japanese beef and pork cooked on a grill, the restaurant offers other ways to enjoy these meat products.
Reimen (冷麺, cold noodle) and Gukbap(クッパ, soup with rice) in Korean BBQ style.
With both menu, we can also taste beef in soup with noodle or rice.
The restaurant group opened its unit in Hong Kong in early 2013. If you are based in the city or have a chance to travel there, try some good quality meat imported by JA group without traveling to Tokyo.
Restaurant name: Yakiniku Pure
Shinagawa branch
Address: 2nd floor, Shinagawa Front Building, 2-3-13 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo
English homepage: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g262202/lang/en/
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Shimbashi branch
Address: B1 floor, Yokoyama building, 3-16-12 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
English homepage: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g262200/lang/en/
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Otemachi branch
Address: B1 floor, South Tower 1-9-7 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
English homepage: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g262203/lang/en/
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Hong Kong branch
Address: 15F Henry House, 42 Yun Ping Road Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Openrice page: http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=125244®ion=0&s=3
View Larger MapAs mentioned on our first post of this series about Japanese related restaurants in Paris, now we can find a Japanese restaurant every 10 meters on a street in Paris. The chance of encounter may be higher than even in Japan. But not all of them in France are truely associated with Japanese. In addition to three restaurants, Aki, Nanashi and Toyo, already introduced on our monthly seriese of May 2013, Japanese related restaurants in Paris, at the last of the seriese, here we bring up a Sushi restaurant where we can feel real taste of Japan.
Tsukizi (築地), a Sushi restaurant based in Paris for over 30 years, is located in 6th district. The real Japanese restaurant is just off from Boulevard St. Germain on left bank which is known as an area filled with stylish and fasionable boutiques, cafe and bars.
The street, rue des Ciseaux where Tsukizi stands, is calm, although stretched to two major main streets in the area, Boulevard St. Germain and Rue de Rennes.
Please do not miss the sign and entrance of the restaurant. As we told, every 10 meters or less, you will find a Japanese restaurant. Please make sure the restaurant name "Tsukizi". It is right place you go.
After poping in, we found a counter table with two Jaapnese Sushi masters as well as flat showcase filled with pieces of raw fish!!!
Yes, this is exactly same with what we can find typical traditional Sushi restaurants in Japan.
Taking a seat close to some Japanese guests,
now our mind was in Japan, not in France any more.
For lunch, reasonable set menu with a sushi plate is offered at less than euro 20 or for dinner Izakaya style small dishes as well as sashimi may be good as starter with a glass of sake before feast of Sushi. Due to the long presence over decades in Paris, the chef and staff know well taste of locals. Please do not hesitate to ask them if you need recomendation or have a question about sushi and other food provided at Tsukizi. They will be pleased to help you.
A glass of Umeshi (Japanese plum wine) along with amuse bouche or tsukidashi in Japanese was a good start of the real Japanese dinner.
It was nice to look at two Sushi chef preparing tens of Sushi pieces, while waiting for our plates.
On Sunday evening, from the start of the restaurant's dinner serving time 19h00, both local French and Japanese guests have visited there one after another. The restaurant tables became almost full before 20h00. We saw how much the real Japanese restaurant is popular here in Paris. We recognized some repeating guests who chatted with the chef and ordered their favourite plates without checking the menu.
My SUSHI plate arrived !!
Again remind you, this is in Paris, not Japan.
No only the look, the taste is also surely
the work by Japanese chef with high quality seafood.
What an amazing experience is in Paris...
Restaurant name: Tsukizi (築地)
Address: 2bis Rue des Ciseaux, 75006 Paris
View Larger MapChopsticks placed with a pair of fork and knife. As this cutlery setting, we are not sure if we should consider TOYO as a Japanese restaurant or French.
Local French people may believe that it is a Japanese restaurant elaborated in French style, while for Japanese, TOYO's cuisine is perceived as French with some Japanese taste because of the chef's home country.
It is fusion of French and Japanese or Paris and Tokyo styles.
The unique flavor is strongly associated with the chef, Toyomitsu Nakayama's professional career.
He started his career from a French restaurant in Kobe, where it is known for high quality beef. after he worked for some years in France, he was hired by ISE, one of the best Japanese restaurants in Paris and challenged a way of Japanese cuisine that is different from French.
Before the chef opened TOYO as the owner-chef in 2009, he had worked for the most famous Japanese fasion designer, Mr. Kenzo Takada as the designer's private cook.
Now we understand it is no sense to think over the restaurant to be French or Japanese.
Let's see what are provided at TOYO. We visited the restaurant for lunch on mid-April.
Amuse Bouche - Bouillon soup with sea shells
The soup was served on the table
and includes Japanese taste, Umami.
My starter dish - squid, white asparagus
topped with Karasumi (dried mullet eggs, local specialty of Kyushu region)
Full of spring season.
Karasumi is rare to be found out of Japan!
Main dish for me - beef filet anchovy sauce
Thin sliced pieces of cauliflower are on top of beef.
The beef meat was finely cooked for "a point" or medium.
Main dish for a friend - Curry rice with gamba in TOYO style
It is close to a typical Japanese style curry rice
but the presentation is much more beautiful.
For dessert, all ladies ordered a same plate.
Green tea tiramis!!!
Again the presentation is fantastic!
We noticed some of ingredients especially fish and seafood as well as ways of cooking are in Japanese style at TOYO but plates beautifully presented look like French cuisine.
Whatever each of guest consider TOYO as either Japanese or French restaurant, it is a sophisticated choice and we will be able to enjoy plates for the taste and visual look.
Restaurant name: TOYO
Address: 17 rue Jules Chaplain, 75006 PARIS FRANCE
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We noticed that "Bento"(弁当, Japanese traditional box meal or lunch box) is a boom in France. So we tried a cafe called Nanashi "Bento Parisian" for lunch located on the 3rd district, north of Marais.
The cafe is produced by a Japanese lady who had been working as a cook at the bio-cafe, Rose Bakery widely known by foodies.
Let's see what Bento Paririan is like?
Nanashi is located in North Marais area where a Japanese tourist can rarely be found.
At the counter just after the entrance, it provides take-away service. Yes, surely Bento can be taken away as we do in Japan. Several people may be waiting for picking up his/her Bento during lunch time.
A side of wall is foot-to-ceiling height window bringing sunlight into the cafe tables .
We can also find some staff including a few of Japanese female baking or cooking at the cafe's kitchen space, which is easily visible from the corridor. We have made sure that the cafe has Japanese taste at least on the making process.
The space stretches away into the back with a plenty of tables. As we could imagine, while walking the district, almost all guests are local French maybe walking or living in the area. It's not a place filled with Japanese seeking for home food.
On another side of wall, a large black board for menu is hang on.
The bright, modern and casual atmosphere is relaxing and must be good even if you are not interested in Japanese food.
Well on the menu, we could find familier Japanese words or food names in alphabetical letters; Chirashi (cooked rice, a kind of sushi), miso soup, edamame (boild green soy beans in its shell), beef bowl etc. But what we want to try here is, of course,...
Bento!!! Nanashi style
Bento offered from chocices of meat/fish/vegetarian
accompanied with bio green salad.
The main menu changes on daily base.
My choice meat, today's menu is
pork roast with wild several kind of rice and cereal.
No Japanese taste is sensed for me but it is healty and tasty.
If you prefer to have more Japanese flavor, roasted sesami and bio soy sauce are available on your table.
Cafe name: Nanashi
Address: 57 Rue Charlot, 75003 Paris
Official website: http://nanashi.fr/
View Larger MapLast month, we had been in Paris, the capital of France for a week and tried some restaurants there. As monthly feature of May 2013, we will introduce Japanese related restaurants in Paris, which are truely recommendable for Japanese food lovers.
We found many Japanese restaurants in Paris every around the corner. Even if we say a Japanese restaurant can be found every 10 meters distance on streets, it won't be too exaggerated. Last time we visited Paris 5 years ago and the number of Japanese restaurants in Paris has surprisingly been increased for last several years.
But from our view, it is not so many cases that we found a restaurant providing "authentic" Japanese food there. So we would like to list up recommendations of Japanese restaurants in Paris based on our tasting and research.
The first one, Aki, is Okonomiyaki restaurant located on Rue Sainte Anne, Opera district central Paris. The Sainte Anne street is known among locals (including Japanese based in the city) as the area where a lot of Japanese restaurants and shops gather. Some of them run their business over decades there. We have the most chance to have real Japanese food in the area. Aki is one of them.
When we arrived at the restaurant a bit later than 14h on weekend afternoon, the Okomoniyaki restaurant was still almost full and we had to wait until a waiter cleared a table for us. Sometimes we had to make a queue to have lunch or dinner there. It is quite popular restaurant.
For those who don't know what is Okomiyaki, we place a link to our older post explaining the dish.
http://aboutfoodinjapan.weblogs.jp/blog/2008/11/okonomiyakichib.html
In short, it is salty pancake made with flour, shreded cabbage and main ingredient pork or shrimps etc. The casual plate is a local specialty of Osaka (大阪), the second largest city of Japan.
On the basement floor of Aki, over a counter table, we can find the restaurant's chef cooking Okonomiyaki or Yakisoba (Japanese fried noodle) another popular menu there.
This is it, Okonomiyaki Pork!! served by an iron plate.
When we just see this picture, we never imagine it is taken in Paris.
Pieces of Katsuobushi (dried bonite) topped on the pancake
are waved by steam from the heated plate.
Not only the look, the taste is also authentic Japanese. For Japanese living in Paris, the plate must be something cannot be missed and must remind them the home country, Japan.
We are also impressed with this green tea.
Guess it is made at the restaurant,
not ready-made canned or bottled drink.
It is also very good that the prices at Aki are quite reasonable a bit over euro10 for lunch and also dinner almost similar.
If you would, the restaurant also provides other casual but real Japanese food such as Japanese style curry, katsudon (deep fried pork with rice) and small Izakaya style dishes well matched with a glass of beer.
We also have to mention that just in front of the Okonomiyaki restaurant, the same owner runs a bakery where we can also find bread in Japanese flavor. Drop by it and get a few pieces for snack or breakfast next morning.
If you have a chance to visit Paris but not Japan, try the Okonomiyaki plate to feel a piece of Japan. Just be ready to go the restaurant out of peak time or to make a queue.
Restaurant name: Aki
Address: 11 bis, rue Sainte Anne, 75001 PARIS FRANCE
The S.Pellegrino World's 100 Best restaurant 2011 has been announced recently. I picked up awarded restaurants in Japan as well as Japanese restaurants out of the origin country.
The Top 50 Best Restaurants 1-50 | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
The World’s 51-100 Best Restaurants | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
The World’s 51-100 Best Restaurants | The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
It becomes cooler day by day in Tokyo. When chilly wind blows and it reminds us that the winter is just around the corner, we feel like having hot food more than a few weeks ago. Stuffed cabbage stew is one of such dishes.
Stuffed cabbage stew is not originally Japanese food but is from Europe. The one served at Acacia is unique and excellent homemade cooking. It is hard to identify from which country the cabbage stew is from.
It looks very simple only cabbage and soup.
The soup is thick and a bit creamy.
The flavour is rich, although I cannot imagine how it is made.
The blended flavour from different ingredients is complex.
It is the taste that I have never had before at any other restaurants.
Inside of the roll, minched meat with spices is fully stuffed.
At a look, the dish looked simple.
At the end, we found how much the taste is complex; cabbage, meat, consome soup, spices etc.
The set menu includes a rice bowl and two rolls of Stuffed cabbage stew.
Acacia oepned in 1963, almost a half century ago in Shinjuku. It keeps the homemade taste of stuffed cabbage until today. It is loved by people for that long time. Sometimes they makes a queue for waiting.
The restaurant's atomosphere is a good match with the food provided there. The retro-flavour interior decoration makes dinners feel romantic and nostalgia.
Restaurant name: Acacia (アカシア) Shinjuku main shop
Address: 3-22-10 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Website: http://www.restaurant-acacia.com
Acacia also have 3 branches including one in Germany! Both in Japan seem to be in convenient locations for travellers.
Haneda International Airport branch - on the 2nd floor Market Place, the 2nd terminal
JR Tokyo Staion - Gransta (inside of the station ticket gate) Basement 1st floor
Munster, Germany - Japanese restaurant "Tokyo Acacia"
Address: Friedrich-Ebert-Platz 2-48153 Munster
Map for the main branch location
Where is the popular restaurant by "Sushi King" located?
The answer is ... Hong Kong, not anywhere in Japan, to be surprising.
The restaurant owner Ricky Cheng, born in China and has working in restaurant business for years in Hong Kong, is known even in Japan as a person who has made the top bid for the highest quality Maguro (ton) at Tsukiji fish market several times. His company runs 15 sushi restaurants in Hong Kong, 1 in Macau and now 2 in Tokyo. This time I had a chance to visit one of them in Causeway bay, Hong Kong. A night during weekend, people had been waiting for their turn in front of the restaurant. After waiting for 15 minutes, we got our seats at the counter.
To be very honest, this is the FIRST time for me to have sushi at "sushi-go-round"(回転ずし) restaurant...
***Normally in Japan I only have sushi as dinner at upscale restaurants or order for home-delivery service. Personally for me, sushi is not an option for quick lunch or inexpensive experience. Just because of that, I have NEVER tried sushi-go-round in Japan. ***
What a existing experience to see sushi plates going round in front of me. I felt as if I were in Japan while looking at the plates, chef, tea cups. Ton, salmon, other fresh fish... typical menu do not look different from what we have in Japan. Taste as well. I found and liked some arranged version sushi with cheese, mayonnaise.
What I liked the most in the menu I had was actually very unique one that can never be found in Japan.
It is "smoked duck"!! and "raw pork ham" sushi.
Aren't they sushi? ...uh be relaxed and flexible!!
As for the price, it is less expensive than same quality sushi in Japan.
Next time I am sure that I try Itamae Sushi in Tokyo.
Restaurant name: Itamae Sushi 板前寿司 in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Website: http://itamae.com.hk
The American restaurant guide, Zagat Survey issued "America's Top Japanese Restaurant Guide". The guide was created with the partner, JRO(the Organization to Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad) and covers best Japanese restaurants in wide location of United States.
According to the press release, Japanese restaurants in many American cities scored high rates for overall food rating on its regular survey. Nowaday, not only sushi and sake but also more varieties of Japanese food are commonly known to American people; shabushabu(beef pot), shochu(traditional spirit alcohol), soba(noodle) etc.
The guide is not for retail sale but is available on the website, ZAGAT.com as a special promotion and at the winning restaurants upon request at free of charge.
Link:
ZAGAT.com - http://www.zagat.com
Zagat Survey press release - http://www.zagat.com/About/Index.aspx?menu=PR110
JRO(the Organization to Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad)
- http://jronet.org/eng_index.html