About food in Japan

Teppan-yaki (鉄板焼き) - Teppanya

Teppan-yaki(鉄板焼き) literally means "roast on a hot iron plate" and is often used as a category of Japanese menu, a group of dishes roasted on a hot plate.

Surprisingly Teppan-yaki became famous in New York for the first time then it has been back to the origin country. Normally at a teppan-yaki restaurant, fresh foods such as beef, seafoods, vegetables, are cooked on a big iron plate by chef just in front of diners' counter table, not in kitchen. The cooking is like entertainment show there. Everyone must be reveted by the chef's hands moving around quickly and food cooked on the plate. The "aroma" come from food roasted strongly hits diners' appetite. Of course the food cooked on a plate is served in a few seconds to the diners, no time-loss of cooling.

A teppan-yaki restaurant "Teppanya" is located in Kagurazaka, where still we can see some histric buildings and restaurants, Ryotei are scattered on  slop ground in very central location of Tokyo. The restaurant building is also renovated from an old house.

There you will be able to enjoy typical Teppan-yaki foods at resonable cost. Do not forget requesting setas aside "the teppan-yaki counter" upon reservation.

The teppan-yaki course maybe the easiest choice and it includes...
Sazae(snail shell)

 

The most typical and the best one is diced pieces of Japanese beef...

Okonomi-yaki (Japanese pancake)

*Related story - Okonomiyaki（お好焼き）

Restaurant name: Teppanya
Address: 3-1-4 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0825
Website: http://www.teppanya.jp

EATALY - Italian food and wine center in Japan

EATALY is a coined word from "eat" and "Italy" in English. The Italian food and wine center was opened last year to introduce high quality Italian food culture in Daikanyama, which is a prestigious residential area as well as a edgy fasion town, .

Not only as an Italian food supermarket does it work, but also does as a food court and a wine and cooking school. We are able to enjoy several aspects of Italian food culture in the two floors complex with a couryard in a distance of a few minutes walk from Daikanyama station. 

At the eat-in casual restaurant, traditional pizza and fresh pasta are cooked by Italian chefs and they are served with local Italian wine. If you take the counter seats, you will be able to watch pizza or pasta prepared behind the counter.
Pizza and pasta menu are changed by day but always are cooked with local high quality product from Italy. They offer some choices in shape of pasta and sauce that are all traditional ones fron different regions of Italy. After the meal, several choices of Italian gelato are also available at another corner in the building.

Like ones I had, the dishes are rather simple but surely felt that it is a real Italian food!
Photo: Pizza Margherita and fettucine with basil sauce

 

Restaurant name: Eataly
Address: 20-23 Daikanyama-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0034
Website: http://www.eataly.co.jp

Soba (そば、蕎麦、Japanese buckwheat noodle)

It must be the 31st of December when the biggest number of Soba bowls is consumed in Japan. It has been a long tradition in Japan since Edo period to have a bowl of Soba at the end of a year, hoping our healthy long life, like the noodle shape.
Even apart from the wishes at the end of year, soba is a popular menu among us as healthy meal through the year.

Yabusoba in Kanda is one of the best known Soba restaurant in Tokyo with over a hundred year history from 1880. On the 31st of December, a long que of people for having the tradition would not be ended during the restaurant's opening hours.

The fine old building and the garden must be also another attraction along with the simple but  high quality noodle.

The most popular and typical menu is a combination of Seiro soba(soba on square shape steamer plate) and Tentane(pan fried dumbling with shrimps).

Restaurant name: Yabusoba
Address: 2-10 Kanda Awaji-cho, Chiyoda-ku,
Website: http://www.yabusoba.net

 

*********** UPDATE 22 February 2013 *********

On 19th Feb 2013, fire was broken out from Yabusoba restaurant and almost a third of the building was burned. Obviously the restaurant is close now and no information for re-opening is published so far.

We wish the historical restaurant restored and back to operation near future!!

 

Link for news about the fire "130-year-old noodle restaurant in Tokyo catches fire"

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130220p2a00m0na011000c.html

 

Alternative restaurant, traditional soba noodle shop near Yabusoba

http://aboutfoodinjapan.weblogs.jp/blog/2011/12/soba-noodle-at-kanda-matsuya.html

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French - Lugdunum

Christmas day is coming soon. What we will do in Japan?
We are likely to spend time by a couple or with friends more than with family.
In Japan, Christmas is not a national holiday of course but we still feel that we want to organize a party or something at this year end fantastic season.
The gathering is called either "Christmas party" or "Bonenkai(忘年会　year-end party)" depending on how much the event is traditional Japanese style or Western style.

Western style, not only French or Italien, restaurants tend to offer special Christmas course during this season. This restaurant will be one of them.
Lugdunum in Kagurazaka is Lyon style French restaurant. The restaurant refers itsself as "bouchon"(traditional but casual Lyon style restauran). But it is much more sophisticated than the local typical ones.

We are able to taste traditional Lyonnaise dishes. Some of them, such as black sausages and tripe, are not familier for Japanese people. But they are truely Lyon local ones cooked by the chef born in the French gourmet city.

They are some of examples, although they are not on the Christmas special menu...

Cream soup of homard

Boudin noir(black sausage) with apple

Andouillette(Lyon style sausage)

Restaurant name: Lugdunum Bouchon Lyonnaise

Address: 1st floor Ebiya building, 4-3-7 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Website: http://www.eatpia.com/lugdunum/

Japanese tea cafe(日本茶cafe) - Suruga

Japanese tea(日本茶) is one of the most popular drink in Japan. We often make it at home with a tea pot and leaf or have it through a pet bottle at office and outside. But it is not so many cafes feature Japanese tea at their shops.

The Japanese cafe Suruga is run by a Japanese green tea producer "Surugaen" in Tokyo. So they are specialists of Japanese tea. At the small cafe in Daikanyama, a popular fasion town where small boutiques stand around, some selections of Japanese tea and Japanese traditional sweets are available.

My order, a Japanese tea is served by cup with leaf dipped in hot water. A sand clock tells me how long I have to wait for the hot drink.

Of course, some pieces of sweets, rice cakes in my case, cannot be missed along with the fresh tea.

 

Cafe name: Suruga

Address: Daikanyama Plaza 2E 24-7, Sarugakucho, Shibuya, Tokyo

Bakery cafe in Tokyo station - Burdigala Express

Burdigala runs several bakery stores and restaurants in Tokyo and Osaka. It opened a cefe inside of the Tokyo Station last year.

From seven o'clock in the morning, a nice pair of cafe au lait and French pastry or sandwiches are available at the station. The cafe is crowded in the morning by travellers with big suites cases and guide books. How nice it is as a departure point of a journey to have breakfast there while we are waiting for a train or friends.

Today's my breakfast is "croque monsieur", ham and cheese hot sand. All menu can be taken away for having on a train or in office, if you do not have enough time to sit on a seat at the cafe.

Cafe: Burdigala Express
Location: B1 floor JR Tokyo station

Okonomiyaki(お好み焼き) －Chibo(千房)

Okonomiyaki(お好み焼き) is pancake Japanese style. It is main dish or side dish of lunch or dinner rather than sweet or breakfast. The typical one includes pork or seafood, sliced cabbages and other vegetables as well as paste made of flour and water. Special sauce, mayonnaise and laver cut into pieces are on top of the cake.

It is local speciality of Osaka and Hiroshima, both major cities in West of Japan. In each city, it is arranged into its local style. In general, the Hiroshima style includes noodles in the cake. Everywhere each restaurant has its own recipe and offers different versions of Okonomiyaki, by different ingredients. The name literally means "fried as you like". Some casual Okonomiyaki restaurants provide a bowl of ordered ingredients to dinners and they are required to cook it on a hot plate by themseleves. It is another entertainment of Okonomiyaki eating. Fry and mix vegetables, pork as you like and put sauce, mayonnaise as much as you like... It is surely your original taste and must be delicious even though it looks like anything.

Chibo is an Okonomiyaki restaurant chain originated from Osaka. The unit located on the 38th floor of Ebisu Garden Place provides typical Osaka style Okonomiyaki with a scenic view of Tokyo. Today I found even Mt. Fuji over the window, while I was tasting the delicacy from West.

Restaurant name: Chibo Ebisu Garden Place
Address: 38th floor, Ebisu Garden Place Tower, 4-20-3 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Website: http://www.chibo.com

Michelin Guide awarded more stars to restaurants in Tokyo

Michelin made clear today the restaurants on the list of Michelin Gude Tokyo 2009 and the number of stars awarded to each one, followed by publishing the book on this friday 21st November 2008.

According to its press release,
- The company expanded its research area to 13 central districts of Tokyo from only 9 districts in 2008.
- One three-star, 14 two-star and 35 three-star are newly added on the list or awarded more stars from 2008.
- Total 227 stars are awarded to restaurants in Tokyo. The number of star given to a city is still the biggest in the world.
-  60% of the restaurants on the list are Japanese ones.
- Two new symbol marks are implemented for retaurants with "interesting sake list" and ones "where guests are required to shoe off".

I found that more restaurants elected are not familier for me and that many of them are Japanese ones. It means that there is still huge extra space for me to discover restaurants in Tokyo!                     

                                                                                           

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

Tsukemono(漬物, Japanese pickles)

Japanese pickles is called "Tsukemono(つけもの、漬物)". In the old days, it was a way to keep vegetables available during winter, when no any other way of storage such as fridge, freezer exists.

Across Japan, various kinds of vegetables, whether it is leaf or radish, can be found as tsukemono. In many cases, they are pickled with salt, vineger or soya sauce. Some of them are considered as one of the local specialieis. Eveywhere, they are a good match with a bowl of rice as well as a cup of sake.

Kintame is a traditional tsukemono house originated from Kyoto.
We can taste the traditional specialities at the casual restaurant located in a major department store, very close to Tokyo station.

I ordered a special menu which includes seven kinds of tsukemono and other house made products. With a plenty of rice, we can try these preservative food. It is really healthy meal with variety in vegetables and low calorie.

Restaurant name: Kintame
Website: http://www.kintame.co.jp/
Location: 12th floor of Daimaru department store, Tokyo (just in front of Tokyo station)