About food in Japan

Goku Tea House (悟空茶荘), oasis in Yokohama China Town (横浜中華街)

Chinese New Year celebrating weeks is almost ended for 2011. But the one of the biggest China Towns in Japan can never be a quite place. Whether it is Summer or Winter, weekend or weekdays Yokohama China Town is always filled with tourists and local diners. 

Goku Tea House is peaceful oasis amid the busy streets of Yokohama China Town. It is just a stone throw from one of the most popular tourist spots, Kantei (Guan Di) byo (関帝廟). The tea house has two floors; tea making tools and leaf shop on the ground floor and the cozy tea salon on the upper floor. Goku Tea House is far away from bustle of the exitotic town and is filled with Chinese folk arts and objects. 

 

Needless to say, the Chinese tea house offers really wide selections of every kinds of Chinese tea, categorized by color, blue (example: popular oolong), green, red (like Engish tea), flower tea etc. It is fun to choose one from the list but it can never be done within a short time...

 

Finally I took Longjing tea in a glass cup and speciality "parfait" called "Tonkou" (敦煌, Dunhuang), named after the major city on the Silk Road in China. 

Tonkou Parfait: Tapioca pearls, Chinese herb jelly and a piece of cherry wrapped by litchee on top of ice cream.  

Boild water is available from an electric kettle on table. That makes us stay in Goku Tea House for long time. Enjoy having Chinese dessert, chatting or reading as your peaceful tea time with cups of tea in the Asian atmosphere, as long as you can or want...

 

During lunch time, it also offers lunch set such as Chinese noodle, pork rice bowl at reasonable price.

Of course the cozy tea house attracts many of local people and it might be fully occupied for a while of mid-day. Goku Tea House has two more units in Yokohama China Town; one Tea tools boutique and another Tea Salon.

 

Cafe name: Goku Tea House (悟空茶荘) 

Address: 130 Yamashitacho, Naka-Ku, Yokohama-city

Website (Japanese) : http://www.goku-teahouse.com/index.php?page=shop02

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Cowbell Gyuniku Shokudo (カウベル 牛肉食堂 Beef Dining), Shibuya (渋谷)

I had never known the restraunt category, Gyuniku Shokudo (牛肉食堂). It is "Beef dining room", if I translate the name into English. I guess that no restaurant might be called so, apart from Cowbell (カウベル) in Shibuya. 

It is a casual French restaurant but specialized in beef (牛肉) dishes, located close to Shibuya Mark City, a major shopping complex adjucent to Shibuya station which is globally known for the busiest diagonal crossing.

The restaurant proposes beef plates in different styles, with various parts of beef, from tartar steak, grilled steak, liver mousse etc. They know how to cook beef for the best taste. Not all the beef is Japanese but all are high quality ones such as Australian or Mexican.  

Lunch sets are reasonable prices from Yen1000 to Yen 1500 with soup, bread, coffee and a small piece of cake. 

Miched steak mustart sauce with creamy mushed potato

All are on a clasic silver plate

 

The small restaurant had been full for the weekend lunch.

From the counter table, you can enjoy watching the chef preparing your plate just in front of you. I was not bothered while I was waiting for my lunch plate.

Looking at the menu list, that reminded me bistro style restaurants in France. They are casual, not expensive, nor sophisticated French restaurant but cozy warm atomosphere where people go in their daily life.

 

Restaurant name: Cowbell

Address: 1st floor, 1-5-9 Dogenzaka, Shibuya, Tokyo

 

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