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.

 

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 plant in SUBWAY sandwich restaurant

You may be able to find SUBWAY sandwich restaurant in your country too.

But, does the restaurant have a "vegetable plant" on site? 

 

Yes 

 

SUBWAY sandwich restaurant in Marunouchi Building Tokyo does grow green leaf vegetable in a plant located on the center of the firtst food chain restaurant. Tables and chairs are placed around the glass-wall plant case. The harvested leaf of lettuce is, of course like at normal SUBWAY unit, served there for your sandwich.

Like this

 

Enjoy your sandwich with very very fresh vegetable, while making sure where it is from on your own eyes

  

Marunouchi is a business district in very central Tokyo. The area is facing to JR Tokyo station, one of the largest terminal of Tokyo as well as holds headquater offices of major national banks and government ministries. It is also a place whose land price is one of the heighest in Japan.

So how much the value of lettuce leaf harvested in Marunouchi???  It must be more tasty if you eat it, while thinking of that

 

 

Restaurant name: SUBWAY Marunouchi Yasai Lobo

Address: B1 floor Marunouchi Building, 2-4-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 

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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

 

Food from a long-life village in China - Bama Lohas Cafe, Ginza

Japan is known as a country of longevity but today's post is about food from a long living village in China. Following my previous post about an interesting cafe FARO Slow_time in Ginza, Bama Lohas Cafe is also situated in Ginza, just a block away from Matsuzakaya (松坂屋) department store.

"Bama" is the name of city in south-west China. As per explantion on the cafe's official website, in Bama there are more than 80 centenarians out of 250,000 residents. It is said that the longest-living rate is the top rank of the world. One reason of the longevity in Bama is assumed that a food called "hima" seeds help ith keeping human's health for antioxidation. 

Well, let's go back to the cafe in Ginza, very central Tokyo. Bama Lohas cafe provides some dishes made with hima seeds as well as peaceful atomosphere like the longest-life village in China. 

From 9am, Chinese breakfast is available in the calm and relaxing space. 

Chinese congee with 3 kinds of ingredients selected from a list.

Small pieces of hima is also mixed in the bowl.

The small brown ball in center is it...what makes my life longer maybe.

 

The cafe also provides dim-sums and other Chinese dishes for lunch and dinner.

Our breakfast was ended with these sweet dumplings are also made with hima. 

I am very curious how long my life has been extended today....

 

Another important point to be noted for Bama Lohas Cafe is the excellent interior design work by Mr. Kengo Kuma. Morning is also the best time to enjoy his great work, during the lunch and dinner time it is busier and could be filled with diners.

 

Restaurant name: Bama Lohas Cafe

Address: 1st floor, 6-11-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 

Website: http://bama-cafe.com

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コートヤード・マリオット　銀座東武ホテル

パークホテル東京

メルキュールホテル銀座東京

ホテル西洋銀座

Summer 2011 is different and more relaxed in Japan

As many of you may know, in Japan, especially Kanto region (Tokyo and surrounding area) as well as Tohoku region, we are encouraged to save electric energy as much as possible during this summer, because the damage on nuclear power plants in Tohoku is followed by less supply level in electronic energy.

Japanese government urges industries to reduce energy consumption for their production and other business activities by 15% from last year. As a way to respond to this initiative, some major enterprises, such as auto car industry giants Toyota, Nissan and telecommunication NTT Docomo, have changed office close days from weekend (Saturday and Sunday) to two consecutive days on weekday (for example, Monday and Tuesday or Thurseday and Friday), so as to reduce energy consumption during weekday which is the peak in electricity usage. Other companies started voluntary summer time which means their business hour start and end earlier than usual by 1 or 1.5 hours.

These efforts by bussiness organizations in Japan also impacted on food service industry in the same area. If you travel to Tokyo during this summer, you could also take advantage of the changes as followings.

 

* Bar, Izakaya and restaurants start "Happy Hour" from 4 p. m.

Considering business people complete their work 1hour earlier than usual, some restaurants and bars are offering happy hour (discount price for alcohol or other selected products) mainly from 4 o'clock on late afternoon. That must be a big advantage for travlers too.

Enjoy and share chilly beer with Japanese business people from 4p.m.!

 

*Cafe open earlier for breakfast

As same with Happy Hour at bars, cafe, first-food and coffee shops, which provide breakfast in the morning, open earlier 1-2hours than usual for early-bird business people. Some of them also offer more selections of breakfast menu. It is also an advantage for travelers who have to depart in early morning for excursion or journey on air or train. 

 

*Restaurants open during weekend in business districts

In the business districts like Akasaka, where less potential clients exist during weekend normally, some restaurants decided serving on weekend as well during this summer so they can capture week-end workers in the area. Even you stay in such business district, you will also more choices of dining during weekend and you might not have to go out further from your accommodation. 

Such effort and cooperation by business organizations and people in Japan is so far successful in reducing electric energy since the beginning of July 2011.

Of course, Japanese people are happy to share this relaxed summer time with foreign travelers

 

 

 

Belgian bakery cafe - Le Pain Quotidien

Le Pain Quotidien has been one of my most favourite place in Belgium when I had been there for a few months. The bakery cafe provides simple traditional style breads with high quality ingredients including some organic ones as well as lunch and light meals. Its cafe space is a good option for a short break in a busy day anytime from morning to evening with organic breads and/or tarte cakes, sweets with Belian chocolate.  

Many who know Le Pain Quotidien in Europe have been looking forward to having it in Japan. It was finally arrived in Tokyo last year. The first unit in Japan is located just next to Zojoji temple, Shiba Park area, just a few hundreds meters distance from Tokyo Tower. The single-story pavillion-like building is surrounded by green trees on the site of Tokyo Prince Hotel. 

Let's go through the bakery area and you will find spacious cafe space behind tall shelves. The warm wooden taste furniture, black board with chef's suggestions in handwritting and symbolic  "Communal table" (very large dining space to be shared by more than several diners)...the atomosphere is nothing change from the original ones in Belgium. 

Rather could it be better environment in Tokyo than the ones in Brussels and Paris. As long as ones I visited before, there is no such spacious and high-ceiling space with large windows and natural scene of green over there.

 

 

 

It opens from 7:30am so we cannot miss the best time to enjoy the speciality breads with several selections of fine Le Pain Quotidien original jam. I believe that this is one of the best place to take breakfast in Tokyo, especially when it is sunny day in good season Spring to Summer or Autumn.

 

Not only the traditional style breads, other good breakfast menu are available.

It offers so wide selections for us to be hard to choose just a few of them... 

For lunch and dinner, some dishes mainly in Mediterranian flavour are available.

(description and photo added on August 2014)

 

If you would, Le Pain Quotidien brand seasoning and olive oil are also on sale at the bakery boutique.

 

 

When you would like to have quick lunch and unfortunately no time to be relaxed at the cafe, it is another choice to get pastries, sandwiches, or muffins at the bakery. 

 

Le Pain Quotidien is very close to Zojoji Temple and Tokyo Tower. It will be a good to visit here before or after the stroll in this area. (description and photo added on August 2014)

 

Restaurant name: Le Pain Quotidien

Address: 3-3-1 Shiba Koen, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Official website: http://www.lepainquotidien.jp 

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<Accommodation close to the site in this article>

セレスティンホテル

芝パークホテル

ザ・プリンス　パークタワー東京

Hello Kitty x Dominique Saibron baguette bag

OHHH, We could never imagine such a cute "baguette bag"

 

Following rusk in Hello Kitty package box, Japanese units of French high end baker, Le Boulanger Dominique Saibron offers a new product, "baguette bag" with Hello Kitty face as well as logo of "Tokyo".

 

The size is exactly for thier iconic product "Baguette Le Boulanger" (Yen 357).

On one side, an orange belt is attached so you can hold the bag easily.

On the other side, the logo Hello Kitty x Dominique Saibron appears.

 

It may be a good souvenir for people from France? so they can use on daily life it when they go back to their country. I am not sure how many times we have a chance to bring the French long-size bread, "baguette" in town of Tokyo or any other cities other than ones in France. Still I could not help but bringing a piece to a cash counter....

What do you want to put in the bag ? if it is not baguette.

 

Hello Kitty x Dominiuqe Saibron baguette bag costs each Yen525. The shop also offers a bag + "one piece of Baguette Le Bouranger" at special price Yen 735. The bread is also very nice, classic French style baquette.

It is available at units of Le Bouranger Dominique Saibron in Tokyo and their brand-new branch in Osaka. Nor is it available at the flagship boutique in Paris (77 avenue du general Leclerc 75014 Paris) nor is at Sanrio shop or Hello Kitty stores in Japan.

Several units of Le Boulanger Dominiuqe Saibron are in convenient location of central Tokyo such as...

Dominique Saibron Akasaka Main store 

Address: Akasaka Biz Tower, 5-3-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Nearest stations: Akasaka-Mitsuke, Akasaka, Tameike-Sanno

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Dominique Saibron Ginza Mitsukoshi

Address: Ginza Mitsukoshi Departmentstore, 4-6-16 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Nearest stations: Ginza

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Dominique Saibron Marche - Tokyo Station Keiyo Street 

Location: inside of JR Tokyo Station 1st floor "Keiyo Street"

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Dominique Saibron Marche et Cafe - Shinjuku LUMINE

Address: B2 floor Shinjuku LUMINE1, 1-1-5 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Nearest stations: Shinjuku

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Dominique Saibron Marche et Cafe - LUCUA Osaka

Address: LUCUA Osaka B1F, 3-1-3 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka

Nearest station: Osaka, Umeda 

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For other stores location, please visit Dominique Saibron official site. It is Japanese version but at least you can find google map with store name.

http://www.maxim-s.co.jp/akasaka/ds/shop.html

 

Takahashi in Tsukiji Market (高はし, 築地市場）

Takahashi (高はし) is the second restaurant we dined on our Tsukiji Market visit, following Sushi Dai (寿司大) as my previous post. This is also a popular restaurant in Tsukiji Market with guests who do not hesitate to make a queue line for have meal there. It is more a casual dining compared with Sushi Dai and it can be a typical restaurant for the market workers after their hard working from very early morning. As same with the Sushi restaurant, Takahashi also has a counter table to serve around 10 diners at a time. We had been again lucky on the day and were seated as soon as we arrived without waiting.  

The restaurant's speciality "Super Anago-don" (スーパー穴子丼, superior conger eel rice bowl) is often featured by mass-media. But it is too much for us who already had sushi course in the same morning even though we had one hour walking tour at Tsukiji Market whole-sale area...

We ordered some fish dishes to taste their fresh high quality specialities with Japanese sake.

Seasonal and assortment Sashimi plates selected by chef 

At Takahashi, it is a pitty if someone finishs his/her meal only with sashimi plate.

They also serve very good cooked and grilled fish dishes. 

Well-cooked conger eel is so soft and sweeeeeet.

Today's grilled fish, trout is so big enough to share by 4 people...

Complimentary small starter dish, also well-cooked vegerables,

a typical home-made food

 

Menu is changed day by day, season by season, depending on what they sourced from the fish market. All available dishes are on the information board at the restaurant, in Japanese language only though. At least what is sure...whatever you order, no dish will disappoint you at Takahashi. 

My post related:

Tsukiji Market

http://aboutfoodinjapan.weblogs.jp/blog/2011/04/tsukiji-market.html

RestaurSushi Dai, Tsukiji Market (寿司大 築地市場)

http://aboutfoodinjapan.weblogs.jp/blog/2011/05/sushi-dai-in-tsukiji-market.html

Related links: Tsukiji Market plan in Japanese

http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/youkoso/medemiru/medemiru.htm

*Buildings with light orange colour, where restaurants are mainly located

 

Restaurant name: Takahashi (高はし)

Address: the 8th building, Tsukiji Market, 5-2-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan 

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Sushi Dai in Tsukiji Market (寿司大 築地市場)

In addition to visit of Tsukiji Market (築地市場) wholesale area, we got a chance to dine at restaurants in the market site. In Tsukiji Market where the trades is mainly made for wholesale professionals, restaurants on site welcome not only market workers but also general visitors as their dining guests. That is why some restaurants have a long queue lines in front of them. 

Among restaurants stand in a row and those are located on the ground floor of 10 buildings close to a car parking, a few hundreds meters away from the main gate, we selected Sushi Dai, one of the most popular restaurants in Tsukiji Market. For the restaurant Sushi Dai, it has NOT been rare that diners have to wait for a few hours to get a seat in the 12-seat counter Sushi restaurant. However when we visited the restaurant on a weekday of the last week on April 2011, only 4 people were waiting before us!! Finally we were seated after about 20 minutes waiting. What lucky we are !! In other words, it means, after the big earthquake on March 2011, Tsukiji Market restaurants also got negative impact on their business because of decreased number of both international and domestic tourists. Anyway, at least we got an advantage of the situation and  we were happy financially to contribute to the restaurant's business.

The restaurant offer two sets menu; "Omakase course" (おまかせ, "trust chef" or chef's selections) and Jyou (上, literally meaning "Superior" but the restaurant humbly express in English as "Standard" course) On the entrance door, it hangs an information plate in English as well. 

 

To embrace the opportunity, of course, we ordered "Omakase couse" which includes 10 pieces of chef's selection "nigiri sushi" (握りずし, hand-shaped sushi with raw fish on top of rice)  plus one piece of sushi as your favourite, as well as, "maki sushi" (巻きずし, rolled sushi), rolled egg, abd miso soup. The chef are enough kind to consult and listen to what you want and you don't or can't eat  then adjust the menu for your request based on Omakase course, before the meal starts. So please feel ease and just look forward to what will have for next an hour at the sushi counter. 

Seating on one of the twelve high chairs at the Sushi restaurant, the scene is exactly for a typical Sushi restaurant; some fresh seafood in a refrigerated case is just in front of us and behind the case, chefs are making Sushi with the hands and serving them to clients with smile as soon as they are made. 

Several examples what we had there as seasonal Omakase course. (Just keep in mind that sushi items are changed by season and by fishery supplying situation.)

Hokkigai (ホッキ貝, surf clam),

it was "alive" when it served in front of me

Uni (ウニ, sea urchin)

Maguro (マグロ, tuna) duke (づけ, dipped in soy sauce)

Shiroebi (白海老, white shrimps)

Aji (鯵, horse mackerel)

Kohada (コハダ, spotted shad)

I have never seen one twisted like this

Kinmedai (金目鯛, alfonsino)

kobu-jime (昆布締め, fish stored and flavoured with kobu, dried kelp),

ordered as my favorite request

As an additional dish with supplement,

we had grilled Anago (穴子, conger eel),

one piece seasoned with salt and another with soy sauce 

Rolled egg is sweet and soft and

something that cannot be missed

Related links: 

My post related - Tsukiji Market

http://aboutfoodinjapan.weblogs.jp/blog/2011/04/tsukiji-market.html

Tsukiji Market plan in Japanese

http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/youkoso/medemiru/medemiru.htm

*Buildings with light orange colour, where restaurants are mainly located

Restaurant name: Sushi Dai (寿司大)

Address: the 6th building, Tsukiji Market, 5-2-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Website in Japanese: http://www.tsukijigourmet.or.jp/22_sushidai/index.htm#03

大きな地図で見る