About food in Japan

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

Bento(弁当）- launched for G8 Summit celebration

Bento(弁当） represents "a box meal" in Japanese.
This type of food serving way has long history in Japan.  It has been our custom for over hundreds years to bring a box meal for traveling, watching entertainment programmes (for example Sumo wrestling, Kabuki play) or just enjoying fresh air of outside.
Nowaday,  Bento is still one of the most popular lunch time choices for Japanese business people. It would be their mother or wife who prepare a nice hand-made lunch box. Otherwise selections of Bento are available at convenience stores, supermarkets, department store food corners and small corners or stands specialized in Bento.

Today, a national round-the-clock convenience shop chain, Lawson launched a new Bento menu at their units in central districts of Tokyos for celebrating G8 Summit hosted by Japan next month.
According to the press release by the convenience shop giant, the company honors to be a cater for staff serving and guarding the important event.
The menu is almost same with what these staff have at or around the meeting venue.
Hokkaido region, where the global event will be taken place is the most north part of the country and is known for the vast land with rich nature and also for the harvest of high quality foods. Some of them, such as salmon, chicken, seaweed, are in the Bento as the feature of the product.

This is what I had as today's lunch, the Summit Bento by Lawson: salmon flake and sramble egg on top of rice, checken steak, fried chiken, potato salad, spaghetti with tomato source, pickels (all are typical Bento menu.)

A different type is on sale as the Summit Bento by Lawson.

It has a slice of grilled salmon, a piece of chicken, pan fried vegetable with seaweed and what can't be missed is a egg cake in the shape of "Hokkaido"!

How can we make this yellow cake so well

As you could recognize, it is not easy to put all food in a small square(or sometime round) box in a good presentation way. An excellent person in making Bento must consider the balance of nutrition as well as the combination of colors in box.

The more demanding work for Bento it is, will it make an eater the happier!

Note: Summit Bento is on sale at Lawson stores located within 23 central districts of Tokyo until 9th July 2008, the last date of Hokkaido Toyako Summit

Japanese food stall in Paris

Taeko, the Japanese food stall is located in Marche(market) des Enfants Rouges, the 3rd district, very central area in Paris.
The  stall  is run by a Japanese lady (the restaurant name comes from hers) and almost all staff working for it are Japanese.

There, not only typical Japanese menu widely known such as sushi, raw fish but also various home-cooking menu are available. It is popular among Japanese living in Paris. When I visited the bustling food market on afternoon Sunday, the tables were fully occupied by Japanese food lovers.

What I ordered was my favorit menu, frid chicken with a rice bowl and grilled tea. After over a week holiday abroad, it was of course home-away-home for me. Nothing is change or it is even better tast than what we have normally in Japan!

Restaurant name; Taeko
Address: Marche des Enfants Rouges, 39 rue de Bretagne, 75003 Paris

On holiday...

I am on holiday at this moment 
Sorry, I will be back around mid of June.

Zagat Survey issued America's Top Japanese Restaurant Guide

The American restaurant guide, Zagat Survey issued "America's Top Japanese Restaurant Guide". The guide was created with the partner, JRO(the Organization to Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad) and covers best Japanese restaurants in wide location of United States.

According to the press release, Japanese restaurants in many American cities scored high rates for overall food rating on its regular survey. Nowaday, not only sushi and sake but also more varieties of Japanese food are commonly known to American people; shabushabu(beef pot), shochu(traditional spirit alcohol), soba(noodle) etc.

The guide is not for retail sale but is available on the website, ZAGAT.com as a special promotion and at the winning restaurants upon request at free of charge.

Link:

ZAGAT.com - http://www.zagat.com

Zagat Survey press release - http://www.zagat.com/About/Index.aspx?menu=PR110

JRO(the Organization to Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad)
- http://jronet.org/eng_index.html

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

Mame(豆）- Mamegen

Mame(豆）= beans.
Japanese not only cook beans as meals but also eat as salty snack or sweets for tea time.
Mamegen introduce you a lot of ways to have beans.

The traditional beans shop was established in 1865, Edo era. For over a century, its products have been attracting many people in central Tokyo.

Here are examples of beans products;
Salty snack - peanuts with shrimps flavor, broad beans with black pepper, peanuts cheese, soja with wasabi flavor, peanuts with sour plum
Sweet snack - peanuts or soja sugar frosted, almond with honey, peanuts with cocoa powder etc etc...

Photo 1: Cheese nuts(peanuts cheese)

Cheese is not Japanese traditional ingredient of course. But it is a good and modern combination.

Photo 2: Ume-lakka (peanuts with sour plum)

It looks like real "Umeboshi"(traditional sour plum pickles) but it is made of peanuts and coated with wheat sour plum flavor.

Photo 3: Hanamame (fried broad beans)

This is a traditional salty flavor and good match with beer.

Mamegen offers other Japanese traditional snacks and sweets.
All are packed in small size and sold at small price. Then they are good as a sourvenir or  small gift from Japan.

Shop name: Mamegen
Shop address: 1-8-12 Azabu-juban, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Website: http://www.mamegen.com

STARBUCKS new style shop opened

STARBUCKS Japan opened a new style unit in Tokyo.

Majority of total 27 seats are cozy sofa or arm chairs. The concept image is a relaxing space like a lounge in hotels or airports.
The shop is located next to the taxi hall of Roppongi Hills, a newly developped complex building. Unlike other commercial area of the building, the floor is very quiet and not so many people are walking around. Without asking a staff on the floor, I could not have found the store.

It is a hideaway in Roppongi Hills! (To be honest, I did not want to tell to anybody...)

The uniqueness of the new STARBUCKS is not only the seating.
The shop can offer coffee by a pressing pot.
As per STARBUCKS, the serving way extracts full flavor of coffee beans.
Coffee by a pressing pot is available at  some of other STARBUCKS units.
But time available and beans for the serving way are limited.
Here you can choose one from a wide selection list at any time.

After several minutes from my order at the counter, my coffee was brought to my seat by a pressing pot with a cream pot, sugar pot and a sand clock on a tray.  It requires four minutes to wait after a boild water is poured in the pot.
The sand clock tells us when the coffee is ready.
The smaller cup with the logo mark is another offer from the shop. A sample menu dripped in normal STARBUCKS way. Then I could compare how different these two coffee tasts were.
The longer I had to wait to get a cup of coffee but the better one I could get.

Cafe name: STARBUCKS Roppongi Hills WEST WALK Lounge

Address: 1st floor, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

58% of food service companies plan price raise in 2008

Nikkei, a Japanese major financial newspaper conducted a survey on food-service companies. According to replies from 328 companies, 58% of them are planning to raise their price for whole menu (13%) or for a part of them (45%) in 2008. Those who are considering price increase are mainly fast-food or table service upscale restaurants, while the ratio of companies planning price raise is minority among family restaurant chains, go-around sushi(kaiten sushi) chains.

In 2007, 53% of food service companies had increased their price and two major reasons of their advance were increase in food cost and labor cost.

The newspaper pointed out that the difference in corporate actions by food service category reflects different pricing strategy but both in order to attract more customers.

The survey was fully reported on Nikkei MJ, dated on 14th May 2008.

From mothers all over the world - newsDELI

NewsDELI is a casual restaurant providing variety of international foods in deli-style.
On October 2007, it launched a seriese of deli food called "Present from mothers all over the world" and it is introducing home cooking meals from various countries.

For example, what I had this time are...; Mousaka from Greece, Cuscus salad from Tunisia etc

It offers more than ten of deli selection in the showcase as well as drinks such as international brand beer.

Restaurant name: NewsDELI Yurakucho 
Address: 3-6-11 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Website: http://www.news-deli.com/