Chilly Winter Trip
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A short 1.5 week trip to Japan in late January just for Connie and me (Dale). Mainly to eat. Geez, what a surprise. I'm going to have just one post this time, organized, not chronologically, but by "genre." You'll see...
We flew Zipair, a relatively newish airline. A low cost carrier, but we got lie-flat seats, which was a game changer. I ordered an (Y)ebisu beer. Hadn't had one for over a year! Then slept most of the flight! Hopefully, this airline sticks around; best flight ever.
We based in Tokyo, with a couple-day trip to Yamanouchi in the Japan Alps in the middle. It was winter, but the weather was perfect; chilly. We stayed at the Tokyo Station Hotel, my new favorite. It is close to Connie's new favorite hotel too. Here's the view out our window toward the Marunouchi area & the Imperial Palace in the distance. That building is the Shin-Maru building.
A dog walker in Omotesando
Year of the Dragon!
A small canal in Nakameguro. It would be so pretty in the spring or fall.
We were able to go to our favorite restaurant of all time, Den. Just like home! Noriko is so nice to us! Contact me if you want the description of any of the items we were served! Of course, I got the beverage pairing, but I told Noriko that I'm now a lightweight with alcohol now. I had to drive to get back to the TSH.
Notice that our two salads were different?
Chef Hasegawa enjoys life! He enjoys food and good company!
We also went to a collabo between Den and Florilege, Den Kushi Flori. Much easier to get resy's here, it is much more than a decent meal. You can tell that they put a lot of work into the food. A very very young chef! Notice where the Chardonnay came from?
OK, our only true sushi meal this trip was at Taichi. In a small alley in Ginza, it was superb. Connie thought there was too much food... The Otsumami was enough to fill her. They merely whetted my appetite. Sorry but the pictures aren't in chronological order. Just an FYI, Chef Ishikawa is very friendly, but doesn't want non Japanese speakers in his restaurant.
OK, on to some lighter fare. When I was roaming around Ginza, while Connie was getting her facial at Shiseido, I wanted to find where Taichi was located. I was told by our concierge that it was difficult to find Taichi. I found it easily, but I also spied a long queue at Taichi. I knew that Taichi was dinner only, so I wondered what was going on. Then I realized that the line was for Kagari. It is one of the highest rated ramen-ya in Tokyo. Never heard of it. How it flew under my radar, I have no idea. We made plans to go there later on one of our free lunch days.
Anyway, it is more of an assari broth. Actually, they have a Tori Paitan ramen, which is quite creamy, as well as a seafood ramen, which Connie had. This ranks up there among the best we've had.
While we're on the subject of noodles, I'll post pictures of the three other noodle shops we went to. Of course, Rokurinsha, the best tsukemen on Earth! Here is the breakfast special.
Another breakfast place, Komoro soba, a chain in Tokyo, serving quick soba meals to the worker bees. I always find it challenging to order, because the vending machine is only in Japanese without English, and it seems that every time we are there, one of the cooks has to come out to help us since there are 18 people behind us waiting to order as well... Highly recommended!
OK, one of my favorite meals of the trip, and user friendly. The chef is super friendly. We had no reservations, and we arrived there about 45 minutes prior to opening. The chef noticed us looking at the entrance and immediately came out and greeted us. He told me they would open soon; would we like to make reservations? Yes, of course. We arranged to come back about 5 minutes before opening, so we were able to walk around the neighborhood. You don't experience that a lot, even in Japan.
So, if you google this place you will find a lot of info on it. I say just go there. Take my word for it. The best tonkatsu! My favorite. All the other places, we've been to have some flaws. Like Narikura. The crust falls off, though the pork is fabulous. Or Katsukura, where the crust is perfect but the pork is only very very good. Here, everything works.
Oh, so good. You'll notice a large hunk of fat. Just shut up and eat.
We went to a Yakitori joint in Shibuya, very close to the station. Called Matsumoto, it has Showa era written all over it.. And it's been there since the early Showa era. They have one English menu printed for the entire restaurant. So, it gets passed around. I wouldn't call this place foreigner friendly, but they're all really nice there, and patient with the few tourists we saw there. If you're in the mood, go for it. There will be a line, and you're not expected to sit around there when you're done. Pay, get out, and let the folks in line eat. It quite good!
We did eat some lighter foods too. First, Atelier Matcha, a small place we stopped at between Tsukiji and Ginza. Connie ordered Sudachi Somen with a Matcha drink.
Centre Bakery has neat breakfasts with ultra fluffy bread. Connie got a sandwich where they cut the crusts and serve them in case you want them!
I wanted to replenish my "good" home tea supply. Ippodo in Marunouchi is where I like to go. They also have a small cafe there. Connie got a fancy "tea ceremony" matcha along with wagashi. It was a bit of a challenge to drink this, but again, user error.
Suzukien in Asakusa has the richest Matcha ice cream in the world. You take a number, usually, in the summer, and come back in about an hour when they can serve you. We were served pretty quick, because, you remember, it's January.
Kagetsudo Meron-pan, in Asakusa, just west of Nakamise dori.
OK, I mentioned a trip to Yamanouchi. We always like to take a trip to an Onsen Ryokan. We also like Shinkansen rides. Yamanouchi is close to Nagano.
We usually get a JR Pass, but pricing policies have changed, and this was a short trip, so we just got simple tickets. We rode on Gran Class, one step above Green seats! Very luxurious! We usually get food at the station before our trip.
Hot lemon drink from a vending machine.
Nagano specialites that I learned about on a cool Japan Drama called Izakaya Shinkansen.
We stayed at a place called Aburaya Tousen. Pretty large place. No one spoke English, but it was fine. And the food was just fine (an understatement)! Again, ask me if you have any questions! I might not have the answers, but you can still ask.
Below was this special hoshigaki with a hunk of butter in the middle. One of my favorite bites all trip! It's called Ichidagaki (a special Nagano persimmon).
Here are some views of our room and outside our window. We had a very large picture window looking out at this.
We took a day to go to Jigokudani, where the snow monkeys hang out, and then soak in hot springs! What a life.
We found a small, crowded place to eat lunch in town. It was really nice, home style food!
Even the signs here apologize for making you go out of your way.
Good bye until next trip!
