About food in Japan

Peruvian - Miraflores

We do not know so much about the country, Peru. But when we are advised that some food familier for us are originated from the country, we feel that it is not psycologically far away. These food are potato, tomato and red pepper. Needless to say about these ingredients, Peruvian dishes often include rice, seafood and vegetables. The food culture has been influenced by some other countries and region　such as Spain, Italy, Africa, China etc, reflecting its long historic background. That makes Peruvian food excellent.

The Peruvian restaurant, Miraflores is located in Shibuya, just behind the Cerulian Hotel. The name comes from the area in the country's capital city, Lima, where the chef has been living. The restaurant interior and outside terrace are fully decorated with Peruvian motif, drawing and pictres implies the South American country. The background music also helps with making us feeling as if we were on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

The lunch started with a glass of Pisco sour, local distilled alcohol with soda. Others are a few of what we had.
From left to right - Pisco sour, Seviche and Choritos ala Chalaca(seafood mix and mussel Chalaca style), papa a la Huancaina(potato chili cheese sauce), Arroz con poll(chicken rice).

Restaurant name: Miraflores
Address: 28-3 Sakuragaoka, Shibuya, Tokyo

China Town in Yokohama

Like other cosmopolitan cities, China Town exists in surrounding of Tokyo.
Yokohama is less than a half hour of train ride from central Tokyo. The big port town is an intersting place to walk around and to feel the international atmosphere in old and new eras.

Under the clear sky, the main street of the China Town is packed with tourists. Along the street, stands for steamed buns, roasted chestnuts all are in a row on both sides and attract these tourists. I felt this time that so many restaurants offer "eat as much as you want"(食べ放題) system. Tourists does not have to worry about how much they have to pay at the end.
The restaurant I booked for today's lunch is also providing such system. But we dare not to take the way, because we know that the price would not be so different finally.

Daichinrou serves dimsum, seafood and country food by experienced chef from Hong Kong. It is a popular restaurant which is often featured by media. It is also known for a dining for chefs in China Town. It means that the food is enough good to satisfy even professional Chinese cooks. The tables are occupied fully from noon thorugh to afternoon. Even on late lunch time after 14 o'clock, guests are asked to wait for a while until a table is cleared.

What we had today...
dimsum is one of must.

and a seasonal pot, duck and chestnuts stew. Food cooked in a pot is rate to find at a Chinese restaurant in Japan.

Restaurant name: Daichinrou main building  大珍楼 本館
Address: 202 Yamashitacho, Naka-ku, Yokohama-city
Website: http://www.daichin.co.jp

Hawaiian - Kula

Hawaii has been the closest paradise or the most popular international resort destination among Japanese for decades. The popuratity of the resort island culture is seemed to be retained with increasing attention on the local dance "Hula" as exercise.

The Hawaiian restaurant Kula is located just in front of Odaiba artificial beach in Tokyo.
By taking a train for 15 minutes from the city centre, we are able to enjoy being in a seaside resort feeling AND watching skyscrapers view there at the same time.
The restaurant concept is really a good match with its location. It enhances the beach resort atmosphere.

Well, Hawaii historically accepted a number of immigrants from Japan and the island has rich food resources from the Pacific ocean. Then the local cooking is also very attractive for Japanese people.

Loco Moco is the most well-known and popular Hawaiian food. A humburg steak with gravy sauce is on rice and a fried-egg is always on top of it.
Nothing in the bowl is unfamilier for us.
Another top popular menu is Poke, Hawaiian style "sashimi" and glasses of cocktails with tropical fresh fruites also cannot be missed here.

This is a perfect choice easily to feel a sunny beach resort by having only a short time journey from Tokyo.

Restaurant name: Hawaiian restaurant Kula
Address: Marine House 2nd floor, 1-4-1 Daiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Website: http://www.hawaiiankula.com/

Laduree, the French patisserie finally arrived in Tokyo

The prestigious patisserie in Paris opened its branch in Tokyo finally.
Laduree was considered among famous patisseries in Paris as the last one that has not been arrived yet in Tokyo. Pierre Herme, Jean-Paul Hevin, Dalloyau, Fauchon; they are names we can find in Tokyo.

There had been rumors for last few years about with which company the icon of Paris patisserie would work in Tokyo.

Laduree's first cafe and boutique in Tokyo is located on the second floor of Mitsukoshi department store in Ginza. The estabilished retailer is not a surprise for Japanese as a partner of Laduree. At the corner of Ginza 4-chome crossing, where two luxury brand shopping streets meet each other, it is the best location to be the most prestigious tea salon in this country.

I had been waiting for a chance to visit the tea salon since it opened two month ago.
Just after the opening, people had been making a long que for long hours!
It depends on time and day whether the salon seats are full or not.
But at least a long long que(around one hour or longer) is still daily event for the boutique to buy macarons and other Laduree sweets.

The price difference between Paris and Tokyo is tiny.
The flavour is almost same even though it is less selections in Tokyo.
It is not a bad idea to enjoy taste of Paris in Tokyo.

Cafe and boutique name: Laduree
Address: Ginza Mitsukoshi 4-6-16 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Tunisian restaurant Illissa

The Tunisian restaurant, Illissa is in residential area of Tokyo, called Musashi-Koyama.
It is situated on a narrow street just behind the vigorous shopping arcade of Musashi-Koyama.

The sliding door entrance and couter seats that we face just after stepping in the small dining remind us that the place was a former noodle shop.

It is very casual space where the friendly owner chef works around, solely and hard.
We foud a brochure produced by Tunisian Tourism Board on the table so guets, even who do not know well about the country, can learn some ideas about it.
On the menu, only couscous is relatively familier for Japanese and other plates are the unknown world for us.

Here a part of what we had today, to understand what Tunisian foods are like.

*Salad Horia (carrott, olive, sardines and eggs)

*Bread and Harissa(hot chili paste)

 

*Brique(potate and egg pie)
This is what we cannot miss here... A half-boild egg is in triangle shaped pie.
It matches well with Japanese taste.

*Tajin(potate omlette with vegetables)
Egg cake and vegetable stew... I would not have been surprised if I were told that this is Japanese menu. It looks like grandmum's cooking.

*HirgmaBakri (tomato stew with beef shin)
It contains a lot of "collagen"that makes beauty-conscious Japanese girls happy.
In addition the dish made us get warm. It must be good to have in the winter particularly.

The Islamic restaurant serves only non-alcohol drinks.
We enjoyed fruit juice and Tunisian mint tea at the end as well.

Restaurant name: Illissa
Address: 3-19-5 Koyama, Shinagawa, Tokyo
Website: http://illissa.jp/

Chinese - Momonoki (Michelin *)

Momonoki is a small Chinese restaurant, located in Mita or Tamachi area. It is not far from Keio University Mita campus and Hungary Embassy.
The food is mainly Shanghai or Sicuan style Chinese, cooked with selected fresh and high quality ingredients. I visited on a day of summer holiday season weekend. So several items were not available.

Some of them are familier for Japanese such as dim sum, soured pork and noodles.
Others are ones that we cannot imagine the taste and that we see for the first time.
As the characteristic of the food from the regions, Shanghai and Sicuan, many of them are spicy or hot and are good match with beer or any other alcohol drinks.
It was hard time for us to make a decision for what we would take.
It means that all on the menu are equally very attractinve. 

Finally we had several dishes;

Dim sum

Pork saute with black sour - yes, it is really black!

Mapo-tofu (麻婆豆腐）Momonoki style

The taste is surely worth to awarding Michelin 1 star.
What makes us happy is that many plates of noodles and fried rice are available at much less than YEN 2000. We can try the taste at very reasonable cost even by alone only if a seat is available.  The restaurant has  a small number of tables including  a counter and  it is so popular that all seats are reserved or occupied.

Definitly we will come back here in order to try ones that we cannot have today.

Restaurant name: Momonoki
Address: Aurora Mita build 105, 2-17-29 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0073

Italien cafe - Sol Levante

Sol Levante is a cafe featuring Italian sweets.
It is located in Omodatesando, just a block behind the busy 246 street. In spite of that, the residential area is very calm.

The cafe offers a sweets boutique at the entrance, where we can find various but all traditional Italian sweets such as biscott and Polentina.

Today my purpose to visit here is behind the boutique counter.
The cafe space has ample seats, looking at the pastry kitchen through the glass wall, to taste these Italian sweets on site with Italian style cofee prepared by "barista".

Its special dessrt for summer is a set of three kinds of jelly, which I had.

                           
Left: Jelly of Spumante with berries
Right: Jelly of mango and passion fruites

Right: Jelly of espresso

What is common across three is the richness of taste.
They are not simply jelly of coffee flavor, sparkling wine, fruites but rather they are coffee  itself of loose solid form, pure of fruites or Spumante as well.
These glasses will promise the feeling of satisfaction.

Restaurant name: Sol Levante
Address: 3-10-14 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0061
Website: http://sollevante.jp

French café – AUX BACCHANALES

AUX BACCHANALES is a real French style café in Tokyo.

We can enjoy only café au lait or French cuisine lunch, dinner, a grass of Perrier, French style sandwiches, whatever with a fresh breeze at the open-air terrace seats. It opens from morning to late evening without a break. So it will be ideal place for late lunch time after shopping or early dinner before going to theaters.

My favorite menu there is “Steak tartare”(raw beef steak) with fried potato. Japanese people are familiar with raw fish but not with raw meat. Because of that, the menu is hardly found at other restaurants in Japan, even if they are called French café, restaurant or brasseries. So the café staff always ask the client who orders Steak Tartare “Raw meat of beef will be served. Is that ok for you?” Then I reply “Yes, of course!”

I can never miss the good combination between soft fresh meat and spices mixed with French fries.

 

AUX BACCANALES is located in Ginza and other major spots in Tokyo; Shinagawa, Akasaka.

Restaurant name: AUX BACCHANALES (Ginza)

Address: Gallery Center build. 1F 6-3-2 Ginza, Chu--ku, Tokyo

Website: http://www.auxbacchanales.com

 

West African - Calabash

This is the time that I really feel that everything is available in Tokyo. West Africa is over ten thousands away from Japan and is unfamiliar place to Japanese people.

Mali, Senegal...uh which part of the world they are situated? How they are like? What kind of language they speak? Those questions would be come up in mind, when a Japanese hears the name of these West African countries. But we can still taste of their food in Tokyo.

Calabash, African restaurant is located in office district near to Hamamatsucho and is not far from a landmark of this city, Tokyo Tower. It mainly offers local food from Mali, Senegal and Ivory Coast in the space decorated with African folk objects.

As for the food, some ingredients; chicken, fish, rice are familiar to Japanese and others, panda bean, banana, peanuts crocodile are not known as ones for main dishes for us.

I enjoyed lunch there with Japanese friends. What was surprising for us was that we recognized a few of similarities in those African tastes with Japanese traditional ones. Particularly all of us agreed that "Egushi" soup (soup with mashed sheeds of vegetable called "Egushi" and dried fish) reminds us Japanese“grand mum’s taste”! That could not have been imagined, when we showed up at the restaurant.

Starter: Araka (croquette of panda bean) with spicy tomato sauce and Aloko (fritter of plantation banana)

 

 

From: upper left, Chicken Yassa(Checken stew with mustard sauce), Mafe(beef stew peanuts sauce), Egushi soup with Fufu(dumpling made of local species potato) and steamed rice.

The restaurant also serves selections of alcohol produced across Africa; liquor from Tunisia, Kenya, beer from Nigeria, wine from South Africa… We can taste them at its bar counter.

Restaurant name: Calabash

Address: Hamamatsucho build. B1F, 2-10-1 Hamamatsucho, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Website: http://www.calabash.co.jp

Korean - Sosonje

A Korean Restaurant, Sosonje(素饍齋) opened in Tokyo a few months ago.
It is a branch of a famouse upscale restauran in Seul.

The menu is not something like typical Korean food that we know.
The owner offers much more homey, mother's food of Korea.
Vegetables are the main ingredient here and that make us feel having very healthy food. The majority of dinners are ladies who pay much attention and treat as their important issues on their health and beauty...

I went to the restaurant on lunch time.
On the third floor of a small building,  it is bright with sunlight and warm cozy space with, antique objects natual wood and eath colors furnitures.

With pepper, spicy food, defenitely you will become more energetic, when you leave this restaurant!

Restaurant name: Sosonje (素饍齋)
Address: Wester Azabujuban 3rd floor, 1-8-12 Azabujuban, Minato-ku, Tokyo