About food in Japan

beer & cafe BERG, Shinjuku (新宿) the last small shop at Shinjuku Station

I do not know any other restaurant like Berg, nor how I can explain the type of the restaurant.

The small cafe is only 30 seconds from East exsit of JR Shinjuku station or on B1 (underground) floor of Lumine Est shopping complex.

Beer & cafe Berg opens from morning, serving breakfast. For lunch time, It offers Japanese style curry set, German plate (ham, salami and bread on a plate), with option of a glass of beer or wine. On evening, it looks like a cozy bar.

For a half of the floor standing bar counter occupies, while small chairs and tables each for two people stay close each other in the small restaurant. Japanese business men in gray suites, students in jeans, a lady reading a book hang on the counter, enjoyeing their meal with beer or wine on evening.

 

At least what we know about Berg,

it is an indipendent (non-chain affiliate) cafe

aiming at "cafe culture" mix of German, French and British style

leving from profit-first management way.

At the small restaurant,

morning coffee is prepared by the coffee master,

authentic German style sausages, the best feature of Berg, is done by the sausage master

bread with wild yeast is baked by the baker master everyday.

Although many of single menu at Berg cost less than 500 yen, quality of food & drink is very important for the owner and its clients, of course. 

 

The menu board is organized with photos of each plate and the staff are very friendly.

SO don't hesitate to jump in the crowd of beer & cafe Berg just for a glass of beer with sausage, breakfast or Japanese style curry lunch.

The blog title "The last small shop at Shinjuku Station" is taken from a book with the same name in Japanese and telling about the unique management style of Berg. Exactly as the book's title, it is the last small shop at the vital and very busy Shinjuku station. 

 

Restaurant name: beer & cafe Berg

Address: 3-38-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Website: http://www.berg.jp

 This is the message from beer & cafe Berg that we can find on the paper sheet, to understand more (or less?) about the cafe.

 

Shari The Tokyo Sushi Bar, Ginza (銀座)

Do you know what "shari" means in Japanese?

"Shari"(シャリ) is cooked and vinegared rice which is used for Sushi. It is said that superior skill of Sushi cook masters appears as good quality of shari that supports main actors, seafood on top of it. Good shari is made by delicate adjustment of heating and cooking rice, mixing a certain amount of vineger with rice etc. The work is too skilled and delicate to be ignored when you have sushi at nice and traditional sushi restaurants.    

So Shari The Tokyo Sushi Bar, the modern Japanese restaurant featuring colorful sushi rolls took its name from one of the most important parts of Sushi cooking, implying something new through the logo spelled in alphabet as "Shari" not in Japanese characters. 

The space on the 8th floor of a modern building in Ginza, just a block away from both Printemps Ginza department store and Ginza 1-chome subway station. It might not be looked as sushi restaurant from the chic interior with dark brown wooden tables, open-kitchen counter and yellow-green back chairs on gray carpet floor. Waiters of sophisticated appearance may be better matched with a posh French or Italian restaurant.

Yes, the sushi served at Shari The Tokyo Sushi Bar is also never what we expect for an ordinary sushi restaurant. It is modern and polished Sushi. Their rolled sushi plates delight diners more by the colorful looks and variety of ingredients unusual for traditional sushi; avocado, mango fruit, squid ink, fried shrimp etc. 

The lunch rolled-sushi set includes several different kinds (and colors) of sushi rolls as well as a choice of "side dish" such as fried chicken (tatsutaage 竜田揚げ), tempura, fried tuna (kajiki maguro fry, カジキ鮪フライ) or grilled fish (yaki-zakana 焼き魚). The price, a bit over Yen 1000, has very good value. 

 

Restaurant name: Shari The Tokyo Sushi Bar

Address: Albore Ginza, 2-4-18 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Website:  http://www.shari-ginza.com

Information in English: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a727903/lang/en/

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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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Brasserie by Grand Chef at National Art Center Tokyo

If you are interested in French cuisine, maybe you know the name of Paul Bocuse, the French "Grand chef" based in Lyon. In Japan, he produces 2 upscale restaurants (in Tokyo and in Kanazawa) and several brasserie style casual restaurants.

Among the brasseries across Japan, the one in Roppongi has unique location as it is named Brasserie Paul Bocuse "Le Musee" ("the museum" in French). The casual French restaurant is accommodated in a modern wave-shape building or The National Art Center Tokyo opened in 2007. The museum often hold special art exhibitions of Western or modern art, for example Impressionism theme. After watching works by great masters of arts, at the same place, you can enjoy another type of art called "cooking" by the French grand master. Great isn't it?

 
The restaurant is on the 3rd floor, while on the ground (1st in Japanese) floor it has exhibition rooms, information center and casual cafe like other museums.

 The restaurant floor is "half-floating" on the top of a conical shape stage in the museum's  3-floor height welcome space surrounded by waving glass wall. 

 

Some people might feel it expensive as meal provided at a national museum, while the offer especially on evening time is very reasonable as French course dinner at Paul Bocuse brand restaurant. In addition for dinner time, if you have a ticket for the museum's exhibition, you will get 10% discount from your check (even if it is already used of course) . So we rather recommend visit the restaurant for dinner than for lunch time when it is busy by many visitors.

For dinner course, it has choices for main dish, fish or meat, and 3 choices for desserts. Depending on exhibitions taken place at the time, it also offers special course inspired from the art exhibition. Not plenty of choices are available like ordinary restaurants but of course the quality and finess of meals are assured by Paul Bocuse brand. 

   
For example, the dinner course I had

Starter - mousse of green pea

Main dish - quenelle (fish dumpling, specialty of Lyon) and gambas shrimp

Dessert - Gateau chocolate and sherbet  

Wine is also provided at reasonable prices from Yen 500 for a glass It's very kind to provide wine by smaller than a full bottle (1/3 and 2/3 carafe) sizes on the list. So we don't have to be drank in the museum...

The restaurant's last order time is later than the museum's exhibition close. So enjoy an exhibition fully until the closing time then move to the restaurant on the upper floor.

It was also interesting to be at the museum after it was closed and visitors left. At the exit of the museum, we were seen off by the museum guard who also showed us the way to Roppongi station. That reminds me the film "Night Museum". This last moment along with the dinner may be also an experience rarely encountered. 

 

 

At the end, just remind you that the restaurant is accessible without the museum's entrance ticket. It is a good dining choice at reasonable price in Roppongi even for those who are not interested in visiting the museum.

 

Related post, about another Brasserie Paul Bocuse unit: 

French - Brasserie Paul Bocuse Daimaru Tokyo (大丸東京)

 

Restaurant name: Brasserie Paul Bocuse Le Musee

Address: 7-22-2 3rd floor National Art Center Tokyo, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

The restaurant's official site (English) http://www.paulbocuse.jp/eng/musee/

The National Art Center Tokyo official site   http://www.nact.jp  

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Cafe MUJI - simple but good quality like its products

You may know Japanese varaiery store "MUJI". The shops offers huge range of selections from funiture, stationary, fashion items to grocary foods etc, almost everything you need for your daily life. We believe that the store concept "simple" attract people across borders and regardless culture, language or gender. That is same in Japan, the origin country. MUJI might be a part of life for many people.

In addition to the retail outlets, in Japan, MUJI runs cafe in some places and a few of them are located in central Tokyo, such as Shinjuku, Aoyama or Yurakucho.

Cafe MUJI, which we introduce here, is in Hibiya or close to the Imperial Palace. The cafe is not attached to the brand's retail store but is accommodated in a hotel called "remm Hibiya". We can say it is on a prime location location surrounded by the Imperial Hotel, Hibiya Park and JR Yurakucho station. But the cafe on the secound floor is quite peaceful with wooden chairs and tables, and sunlight from large windows.

Well about the food offered at Cafe MUJI.

 As same with MUJI products, food & drink at Cafe MUJI are never be gorgeous but are sought for the quality and rustic. For example, on the website, it introduces ingredients carefully selected by them and how they are good in term of quality and nutrition; rice of rich-mineral, 100% cane sugar, preservative-free lemons etc. 

The cafe offers the food in delicatessen style. You can select main and side dishes from the counter showcase. Many include more than a few kinds of fresh seasonal vegetables and they are appetizing colorful It is really hard to select just a few plates for a meal.

The lunch set includes "rice with 10 grains" (十穀米) that helps you with taking mineral, fiber and vitamin. You cannot be unhealthy at this cafe.

 

After meal or during tea time, it provides interesting selections of soft drinks from fair trade coffee, Rainforest Alliance Certified orange juice, to fresh ginger ale.

 

It looks gorgeous with a chandelier

No no, can you recognize that it is made with simple glass bottles  

Cafe name: Cafe MUJI

Address: 2nd floor, 1-2-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Official site (Japanese): http://www.muji.net/shop/cafemeal.html   

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Vegetable dishes for everyone - Marche de VinShu (Nihombashi, Tokyo)

What kind of food do you image for "vegetable dishes"? something for vegans? 

Marche de VinShu could change your impression on "vegetable dishes". The unique restaurant features vegetable cuisines that are not only for vegetarians but for everyone. It means the restaurant offers various dishes for which vegetables are used as main ingredients and which give pleasure to non-vegetarian diners. Their ingredients are not necessarily vegetable only. For most dishes, it places stress on good taste of vegetables.

One of the most significant examples is "daikon steak with miso paste" (大根の味噌焼きステーキ). Daikon is Japanese radish which is often used for Japanese traditional home cuisines like Oden. When it is cooked with low heat for long time, daikon appears with sweetness and very soft texture. Grill with miso paste could be the best way to enjoy the radish.

Sweet, tender and browned edge gives savory flavour

Usually we don't take such big portion of daikon at a time.

But this way of cooking makes us enjoy the dish and finish it.

Surely it can be a main dish as alternative to meat or fish.

 

For non-Japanese people, Marche de VinShu also gives a chance to try Japanese unique vegetable speices; daikon (大根) as above, yamaimo (山芋, yam potato), okura (オクラ, gombo), kyo-yasai (京野菜, vegetables from Kyoto).

At the same time, the restaurant provides plates that must be familiar for you. That might be another reason to visit the restaurant when you would like to take a break between times to discover Japanese cuisine.

For example...

     
Ratatouille and German potato,

both are good match with wine and other alcohol drinks.

The German potato is the restaurant's own style.

Well cooked potato brings sweet flavor. 

 

Some of French speaker may notice the name includes "vin" (=wine in French language). Wine is the restaurant's second feature after vegetable dishes. In same way with food menu, Marche de VinShu put worldwide selections for wine from France, Italy to South Americas. Particularly we suggest that you try Japanese wine from different regions. The restaurant has selected good quality of Japanese wine based on their visit of wineries and tasting by own. 

 

Marche de VinShu is located in Nishimbashi (Nihonbashi, 日本橋) and is very close to Mitsukoshi Department flagship store and Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It also less than 10 minutes drive from JR Tokyo station.

 

Restaurant name: Mache de VinShu

Address: B1 (underground) floor, 3-4-4 Nihonbashimuromachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Official site (Japanese) : http://sake-dining.com/marche

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