Ryugin , Roppongi

Was expecting my last michelin dinner to be quite molecular, since i heard much about Seiji Yamamoto..2 stars michelin for this place. Service is ok.

Overall, all the dishes were very good.. no bad or normal dishes.. but all were more towards the traditional cooking side..  I will describe some dishes..

- Amuse bouche, Karasumi + Daikon &  Ankimo + Potato (1st pic) ( Best amuse in tokyo )

- Uni chawanmushi ( Best chawanmushi ever tasted)

- Sashimi Course ( Quite good, most of the sauces matches quite well with the sushi, also i think the squid was better than the rest i had at both sushi mizutani and saito.. )

- Wasanbon Icecream with some ancient curlded milk + matcha dusting. ( very good, im not really a fan of icecreams.. but this was good, tasted better than Henri LeRoux caramel icecream & Quintessense Salt water meringue ice cream.. )

- Sakura Ebi Gohan (  Comfort food and satisfying )

- Fish course ( Toasted rice on top of fish with silkscreened fish picture which is actually a sauce( abit weak in flavour) , Quintessense fish was better..

- Roasted Pigeon, overall was good, had apple and a pigeon hamburg.. , but didnt like the black truffle with mashed soybeans remainant..( taste abit like toilet leh)

 

Tokyo Eats : Firehouse Burger (Hongo Sanchome), Usagiya Ueno , Ponta Honke

Started my day by visiting akihabara to get to some IDORU event..Hehehe.. those kinda events that danny choo attends..

Walked to Hongo Sanchome to Firehouse to taste their Apple Burger..

geeky not bad looking waitress in the background serving the orders..

The apple burger is not bad, but the beef still lacks the really beefy taste.. but overall a good burger, american style.. clean and fresh!

Then proceeded to Ueno by foot, passing by University of Tokyo while walking there.. Hunted my next target which was Usagiya.. Asked for 1 dorayaki, shop attendant was suprised that i only asked for one..

I was a little bit underwhelmed on the first bite, but soon i discovered the subtleties in this dorayaki when i started to think abt other dorayaki i had before.. This dorayaki was indeed different, the filling(tsubu-an, non filtered red bean paste) and the cake(kasutera) binds together like one entity, a complete being instead of 2 seperate entities which is common in non artisanal dorayakis… So to say i began to like this very much and went back to the shop 5mins later if they had any more to offer.  Realised all the dorayakis were sold out! %#@! ..

So i got the Monaka..

Very good too… crisp light soft wafer with koshian(filtered red bean paste) ..I duno why japanese red bean tastes so nice, i dont really like those chinese red bean soup or dau sar pia… I think its because japanese use much more sugar than the chinese…

Had dinner at Ponta Honke, quite a famous tonkatsu restaurant. They fry their tonkatsu in pork lard in low temperatures.

Overall, quite a decent but not a life changing tonkatsu to me..Also quite expensive for tonkatsu (3000+ yen), their korokke is quite good thou.. very soft potatoes…

 

Sushi Saito , Tokyo Tameike Sannon

Sushi Saito, very well known sushi restaurant among foodies in japan.  This year they also rose up to 2 michelin stars. People come here because the chef is very friendly and the sushi is also very good. Located at Tameike-sanno infront of the American Embassay. It is inside another building so u have to look hard for it.

The chef uses akazu(red vinegar) in his sushi rice and his dinner omakase(20k yen) is abit more expensive than Mizutani.

The fishes are all quite good i would say, the aji(the aoba combo dressing complemented it very well, not overkilling it but subtly enhancing the fish) and the kuruma ebi was i think better than mizutani’s, saito’s prawn had the prawn cake attached . The rice is more to the traditional type but firm nonetheless.  The otsumami are also very nice, the ankimo and the octopus tentacles(nikiri, thick soy sauce and sweet) .  Also i think i missed out a picture or 2, i was served 2 Uni instead of just one, it was another type of Uni, the one above is the murasaki uni, the other was a bahun uni(resembles the uni nigiri from nogawa, the square and dainty nigiri) . The uni was very good, but a touch less firm than mizutani.. The tamagoyaki was a letdown actually, it was already chilled and didnt quite make it for me. Mizutani’s tamagoyaki is the best i’ve eaten.

I would say the experience would be very good, since it was very relaxed and the place is very small, around 6 seats just directly infront of the counter no corners or anything.
Saito san also speaks a little english, disciple of Kanesaka(Ex Kyubei) when both were at Kyubei. Saito san actually says Kyubei now has no nice fish since it overexpanded, he says one shop is the best.

It might be a better value for lunch, I think omakase might be around 10k+ yen for lunch..

 

Menya Shinchan, Sinjiro Ramen

I guess the owner must really be a ramen fanatic.. read the reviews on sinjiro and saw the pictures.. 1st reaction was that, the ramen looks like the one from RAMEN JIRO!

Ramen Jiro is a cult ramen stall in tokyo with many branches.. They are famous for their huge servings and the shoyu , garlic, tonkotsu broth and the standard toppings include cabbage, beansprouts and chashuu.. so the Sinjiro Ramen($13) is actually a Jiro style ramen.

They have a Madame Jiro for those who want a lesser portion.. hahaha.. this really is Ramen Jiro portion… will head back to try their other ramen.. They also have some spicy sauce and extra garlic on the table.. I actually had the Sinjiro with extra bonito flakes topping..

Located at Roberston Quay beside Ryoriya Sangokushi.

 

Tokyo Part 4, Hirugao Ramen + Salon Du Chocolat

Lunch at Hirugao. Popular ramen place serving famous for its shio ramen.

Aburi Chashu Shio Ramen 950 yen+ extra order of aji tama

Salon du chocolat Tokyo

 

Tokyo Part 3, Tempura Kondo

Early morning breakfast at Sushi Zanmai, i think it was alright..no pictures thou..

Then headed to Tempura Kondo ( てんぷら　近藤) 2 michelin stars for lunch.. had the Sumire option ( around 6k + yen) with an additional satsuma imo( sweet potato) order. Some pics here but not mine..

Very good tempura, Tenshin( Regent Hotel ) does the same style of tempura as them.. but they lose on the ingredients part.  The prawn heads were very nice and cruncy, a very nice start, then i had around 2 prawns , 3 fishes, 4 vegetables. The vegetables are superb.. the thing about these kinda places is that they source their vegetables from some very good farmers in other parts of japan.. I also noticed that my onion was sliced into 2, instead of the usual sticking toothpicks into it.  Tempura was prepared by one of the younger chefs instead of Chef Kondo himself..

Then i had the satsuma imo, the last pic on the right. A portion is like 2 or 3 of those on the pic. So u can imagine big it was. Be warned, try to share this with a at least 1 more person. I couldnt finish it all by myself..  The sweet potatoes are of course very good, super sweet. I was too stuffed to have the rice after that. Had a miso soup, and some fruits to finish.

They have an english menu as well, and the waitress (a madam) was very polite, even asking me if everything was alright when i got out of the restaurant. The place seems to be fully occupied, and i can see people waiting outside when i left.  I just made a reservation  few days before my visit here.
Had some cakes from Hidemi Sugino again.

 

Hidemi Sugino, Toraya , Mizutani , Continued Part 2

Then headed to Hidemi Sugino for cakes. Again, u could go all the way there in the early morning to queue to get ur fix, but i went in the afternoon like 2 plus or 3, and they were still replenishing cakes. I saw the famed ambrosie that day but didnt get that coz im not a really big fan of chocolate, so i got this since im a sucker for strawberries, and framboise based patisserie..600+ yen for each cake.

Mervee

Upon tasting, u are transported to an astral plane, his cakes are something that you have never tasted before..They are not like the usual french gateaux or cakes which are mostly flour based, instead Hidemi Sugino cakes are mousse based and they are god damn light mousses with very sublime yet intense strawberry flavour(if i nv remember wrongly, this is a strawberry based mousse cake, with framboises and blueberries on top)! I suspect there might be a huge amount of gelatin in his mousses since they seemed to wobble and had a light bouncy effect, i may be wrong thou.. his cakes do stay in shape despite of the wobby and light structure..

Photography is also not allowed in there, so i secretly took pictures and thats how u get his cakes pictures floating around the net..

http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1302/A130202/13002285/

Also had some seasonal namagashi and matcha at Toraya that day.. Around 1000 yen for the set.

霜紅梅, made with 求肥, 白飴(dont know what is it), some kind of pasty sweet filling inside.. very nice, the namagashi is also made perfectly.. u cant compare this with minamoto kitchoan( takashimya branch, some chains in other parts of the world). As the name suggests, this namagashi is molded in the likeness of snow falling on a japanese red apricot(紅梅).  Japanese sweets are much more sweeter than your usual ang ku kueh and chinese snacks which kinda dispels the fact(at least for me) that wagashi are usually very bland in tasting..

Dinner was Sushi Mizutani.. service was stern,  thou i did not really enjoy the whole dining environment( might be because of the beer and the very stress sort of feeling, since i was alone) . But that aside, i felt it was the technically the best sushi one could have..

His rice is something very different, u can feel each grain of rice in ur mouth with his sushi, he sort of also specialises in shellfishes( alot of shellfish sushi), but im not a shellfish expert to remember what each one tastes like, might be due to the beer or unwellness on my part..

His tamagoyaki is also the best, very moist, something between a custard and a cake( the exterior is very much like the exterior of a kueh lapis).. The fish are also very good, no hint of sinews in his ootoro, his uni very firm and buttery(best among all i had in my life) his anago tasting very much different from others(had a hint of unagi like taste and absolutely boneless), his prawn very sweet, thou i will add they are not Extremly extremly better or different from those u have from those top end sushi restaurants in singapore(nogawa, shiraishi, tatsuya etc)(maybe my tongue is not that subtle)  ..

i would say the top end singapore sushi shops might be 3 – 4 notches down.. they lose out on the rice( singapore sushi rice is too loose and not firm),  anago has soft bones in it, the white fishes(esp the sayori), the shellfishes maybe, the tuna may not be as good as those in japan( but i think this takes a real expert to tell),  and the tamagoyaki being the atsuyaki tamagoyaki type.. and the kuruma ebi( i dont think anyone in singapore is serving this, but im not really a big fan of prawn)

Damage 18k yen for dinner.. if i were to return i will go at lunch, maybe my tongue is better in picking up more subtle flavours at that time and i can have an excuse to skip the beer at lunch time, since Mizutani does not compromise on his quality of his fishes whether its lunch or dinner..

 

How to eat the best in tokyo part 1

what did i eat during my solo trip to tokyo?? what are the things that one should prepare?? how much to spend and what to eat there.. this is most probably the writeup that covers mostly everything about food in tokyo.

alright, the first dinner i had was at　尾花（obana) at minami senju, walkable distance from minami senju station inside a small alley.  This was the only place that i had eat seated on the floor and i did get abit clumsy..also this place requires u to leave ur shoes outside.

So for a start i will start on the etiqutte. I guess there is much etiquette in japanese dining culture which for some i still do not quite fully grasp, but i will point out what i know.. When going to ur seat, i guess it is probably correct to enter from the right side of the table if u are going to seat on the inner side, i entered from the left side, so i might have looked silly..also i guess there is sort of a certain way of bending down and getting to ur seat, i guess as usual, the left knee has to be down first before the right,  the japanese way( adapted from etiquette in japanese martial arts).

there will be oshinbori(hand towel) and packed paper towels on the table. The oshinbori is to clean ur hands before eating, do not use it on other parts of ur body. The packed paper towels are to be used while eating, i am still not very sure about this one(this is wad saito san told me), but  not for cleaning up after u eat, just to be safe do not use it on other parts of your body other than your hands.  Place both ur hands above the table when u eat, just to be safe, adpated from the european dining manners.  I know some of you including myself have this habit to place our hands on our laps while we eat…there will be no spoons in japanese restaurants  so please adapt yourself to it..

Ok ordered the unaju(うな重）(the smallest one), and an appetizer Umaki(うまき）, they do have shiroyaki as well but i didnt ordered that, maybe if you would like to try some unagi that is just plainly grilled without sauce u can try it.

Umaki & Unajyuu

The service is very friendly thou, but i guess no english is spoken here..the umaki is sort of a minced unagi with sauce  rolled into dashimaki or atsuyaki tamagoyaki…the unajyuu is well unagi on rice in a lacquer box.  Comes with some pickles(very nice pickles i think cabbage and takuan). Total bill was around 4000~ yen. Pay ur bill outside of the dining area. Apparently those very traditional japanese places pay their bill on their way out.  Will i recommend anyone to make a special trip down to minami senju to try their unagi, maybe not. I think it is decent unagi, but i guess u can have it at any decent japanese restaurants.

What i had for lunch the day after. Framboise cake from jean paul hevin at his counter upstairs at the salon du chocolat event. Not a die hard fan of chocolate, so this is just basically a chocolate cake with some framboise sauce on top. Shld have gotten their degustation .. 3 types of cake.. sigh.. This is around 600+ yen?

Basically amazed at the supermarket in isetan. The mind boogling supermarket ranging from japanese food stuff(miso, condiments, dried food stuff) wagashi to jamon iberico hams to artisanal cheese to bread to french patisseries to whatever u can name it there! so i spent a whole afternoon there..

Ended up at toraya for my tea time?  this branch do not have the full list of items, so be forewarned.  Had the 葛切り（kuzu kiri) with 煎茶sencha,(around 1000 or so yen) basically kuzu noodles, with some type of sugar syrup or honey.. again some silly stuff happened due to my inadequate understing of japanese.. did not really figure out how to fix the tea(sencha).. so the waitress came over and helped me with it..

the texture of the cut kuzu is very smooth and bouncy.. very nice,  basically i just pick the “noodles” and dip it into the honey and eat it.. i guess u couldnt possibly pour the honey into ur bowl of “noodles” right. On the tea, basically pour the hot water(from the black pot) into the white pot(has tea leaves inside), and pour ur tea into ur cup..so simple yet so dumb of me… Pay the bill as u exit. They have some other very nice wagashi, so please try them..Recommended, u can only get excellent wagashi in japan, i had other wagashi in other famous shops and i can tell u it makes minamoto kitchaon(in takashimaya) wagashi look like crap.. Maybe head down to the tokyo midtown branch, cause u can sample other goodies there like sadaharu aoki, toshi yoroizuka and napule pizza..

Also had a matcha eclair from sada and some random sakura mochi( didnt like that, i think it had umeboshi in it..i dont like preserved sour stuffs..)

Next entry will be the first michelin dinner, Aroma Fresca(italian) 1 star..

 

Ramen Santouka & Laurent Bernard

Using my friend’s nokia 8800 arte carbon to take pics, the pics are crappy..

らーめん山頭火

Kara Miso Toroniku Ramen (Small ) $18++

The taste is very rich for a tonkotsu broth, but with the spicy taste of miso. I think normal miso would be a better match. Comes with toroniku(pork cheeks), menma(bamboo shoots) , dried chilli?, some cabbage? The toroniku is very soft and the taste is just right. But not a life changing bowl of ramen for me.

Tsukemen

The noodles are slightly more thicker and chewier than the noodles than the toroniku ramen. Dipping sauce comes with aji tama(boiled egg), kakuni?, menma.. etc.. the aji tama is done nicely, with the egg yolk being still molten and soft.

The kakuni in the dipping sauce is a tad tough, not your melt in your mouth kakuni. I guess there arent much fats in the kakuni.

Pleasure at Laurent Bernard $9.80++

Mr Bernard was not there at night, which explains why i could take this picture..A tad expensive for a dessert, but nonetheless quite good.

RATING FOR RAMEN SANTOUKA

6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#02-76 The Central

RATING FOR LAURENT BERNARD

80 Mohamed Sultan Road
#01-11 The Pier @ Robertson

 

Sushi Nogawa

Lunch at Sushi Nogawa Le Meridien(Concorde Hotel)

Special Sushi Set $30 & Unajyu Set

Awakening my tastes buds for my upcoming Tokyo trip..

Appetizers – french beans(green beans?) with miso ( Nothing to shout about )  The sushi is just alright, the rice is firm and holds itself.

(Not in the pics) 1 kohada + 1 uni .. not very memorable.. the yuzu seasoning sort of overwhelmed the tastes of the kohada abit, the flesh is very tender. The uni nigiri , buttery, abit watery, couldnt taste the uni from the wasabi..

Chawanmushi – Soft and Eggy , good, with chicken bits inside. Miso Soup – Normal , with some tofu.

Didnt taste the unajyu set, so cannot comment.. hehe.. I prefer Shiraishi @ Ritz Carlton

RATING :

Tel: 6732 2911
100 Orchard Road
#03-25 Le Meridien
Singapore