Lost In Translation

Tokyo Achikoko

My friend Gary brought me to his friend's Okinawa/fusion restaurant, Tokyo Achikoko, in Jimbocho the other day. It's a cozy little spot with lots of inventive food like blue cheese gyoza, There's also traditional Okinawin food like goya champuru and Okinawan pork salad. Then there's more international fare like hummus and homemade guacamole, salsa, and chips. Plenty of awamori choices as well.

Tokyo Achikoko

1-38 Kanda Jimbocho

Chiyoda-ku Tokyo

101-0051

Tel/Fax: 03-6382-9654

Open 17:00-23:30 M-SAT

Hainan Chi-Fan

Hainan chicken rice is the unofficial food of Singapore, and it is rare to see Singaporean restaurants in Tokyo, but there's one, Hainan Chi-Fan, near Nihon University in Suidobashi and I had lunch there the other day. tasty, but a little on the expensive side for lunch. Also, I recently saw an episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain, where he was taken to task for not having had this Singaporean staple prior to an appearance there a few years back.

Food Hut

The Food Hut is a little lunch spot that I just happened upon near Shnyurigaoka station, where my gym is. They specialize in lunch take away with tacos and hotdogs. It is run by an American and his Japanese wife. They plan to open a full-scale restaurant nearby in a couple of months. The tacos are pretty good sine its really difficult to find Mexican food, let alone well-made "tex mex."

Yoshimura

On Tuesday I was invited to a farewell party by the Daito Bunka University English department, that was mainly for two tenured professors retiring, but they were big enough to include me and another staff member who were leaving after only a year. Yoshiwara (located in Itatabashi ward near Hasune Mita line subway station-I regret forgetting to pick up a business card) is a stylish traditional-informed fusion washoku restaurant. The staff were clad in kimonos and the decor and plate ware were artistically rendered-as was most of the unusual food.

I also regret not taking the menu card home with me, because I had some of the most interesting traditional-fusion fare I have ever tasted. This soup dumpling has little fish stuck into it. There seems to be a premium on presentation here as you will see in the following pictures.

This dish had sashimi draped on an orange complimented with a sauce. There was also some other types of sashimi wrapped in a daikon (Japanese radish) shaving.

This next dish has a baby octopus and garnish along side a green tea-flavored mochi (pounded rice) ball with scallops inside.

Three servings of this course came on a single plate, I'm not even sure how to describe this course. That's what I love about this country I have been here more than 10 years and i can still be surprised and encounter something I've never encountered before.

Made (Better) In Japan

GQ's food critic Alan Richman looks at the high quality food being created in Japan in this month's issue:

When it comes to eating in Tokyo, you might think only of impossibly fresh sushi, bowls of ramen, and melt-in-your-mouth Wagyu steaks. But over the past few years, Japanese chefs have branched out, mastering Italian cuisine and creating French food that would fascinate a Frenchman. Most amazingly, they're reinventing Chinese. Alan Richman gets lost in the pleasures of Tokyo, a place where nothing is good enough unless it is perfect.

FIVE DISHES NOT TO MISS

Uniin cold consommé with cauliflower cream
KITAJIMATEI
Faultless sea urchin, as you’d expect in Japan, in a cold, clear chicken broth garnished with a cream so light I barely knew it was there. So elegant, so exquisitely Japanese-French.

Chicken-liver crostini
RISTORANTE TERAUCHI
It’s more than just liver on toast; it’s the fundamental start to every Tuscan meal. This version tasted as though the chef had slipped in another kind of liver—foie gras. Chicken liver never tasted so good in Italy.

Sweet-and-sour pork
MOMO-NO-KI
During the first third of my life, syrupy, goopy American-style sweet-and-sour pork was my favorite restaurant dish. Momo-No-Ki’s vastly superior version is caramelized rather than sugarcoated and more tart (from black vinegar) than sweet. If you like braised meats, you’ll love this.

Fillet of smoked salmon topped with frizzled potatoes
KINOSHITA
How can a slab of fish so thick and so smoky vanish in the mouth as though it were nothing but air? Crisp on the outside, juicy within, and resting in a lemon-cream sauce.

Fatty Tuna
SUSHI DAI, TSUKIJI FISH MARKET
I didn’t go to Tokyo to eat Japanese food, but isn’t sushi really considered California cuisine these days? There’s always a line and sometimes a wait of a few hours, but you can’t beat the quality or the price (thirteen pieces plus miso soup for $35).

Herb Curry

This tiny curry house is literally under some stairs at Shin Yurigaoka station. It seats only 6 people inside, but they make some delicious home style curry. The picture above is the vegetarian Herb Curry. It is a very friendly place with generous portions. It's a little pricey, but it makes up for it in size and quality.

New Year's Food

Here's some of the New Year's food that Michi prepared. On the left nimono (simmered vegetables) and the right some symbolic osechi:

Kamaboko (蒲鉾), broiled fish paste. Traditionally, slices of red and white kamaboko are alternated in rows or arranged in a pattern. The color and shape are reminiscent of the rising sun, and have a celebratory, festive meaning.

Kazunoko (数の子), herring roe. Kazu means "number" and ko means "child". It symbolizes a wish to be gifted with numerous children in the New Year.

Tazukuri (田作り), dried sardines cooked in soy sauce. The literal meaning of the kanji in tazukuri is "rice paddy maker", as the fish were used historically to fertilize rice fields. The symbolism is of an abundant harvest.

This is ozoni, a New Year's soup made with mochi (rich cakes).

Chinese Cafe 8

Chinese Cafe 8, which is located behind Roppongi Hills is known for its fertile decor and tasty Peking Duck. I've been there a few times for gatherings. My friend Sakurako organized a bonenkai ("forget the year party") with some friends earlier this month.

From left to right Lorenzo, me, and Tony.

A Night in Shimokitazawa

My Aussie friends Jeleesan and Edward (above left to right) last week so we had a night out with Ritsu and Tomo (next to Jeleesan and Edward in the picture), and Tony (not pictured). We started out iwth a drink at Heaven's Door across from one of my favorite restaurants in Tokyo-Shirubee, which has a great service, an eclectic fusion menu, and a lively atmosphere as well as reasonable prices that won't break the bank. Then we went to Ushi-Tora, which was mentioed in an article about craft beers in Japan by the NY Times here.

Here's some of the excellent fusion fare at Shirubee. Suigyoza or steamed dumplings and on the left and garlic and chili pepper edo mamae (hot salted soybeans marinated in garlic and chili pepper served hot-delicious).

Here we have Dragonballz (named after the cartoon series)sushi-with ikura (fish eggs), avocado, and shrimp on vinegar rice. To the right is a jalepeno tomato pizza as well.

Oden is a fairly common cold weather dish in Japan, but the presentation is all Shirubee-phallic daikon (Japanese radish).

Nakamoto Ramen

Ikebukuro has a lot of famous ramen shops, and this one, Nakamoto Ramen, on the West side near Rikkyo University always has a line up. It is famous for having "spicy" ramen. Since I am a devotee of all things spicy I felt obliged to try it out. I went early during lunchtime and still had to line up for a few minutes before getting a counter seat (maybe there are 15 seats total). There were a number of menu options ranging in spiciness from two to five stars. Of course I choose to go with a five star selection, Hokkyoku ramen (literally “Artic”) ramen. I asked my students about this, they had heard of the shop and suggested that the name wasn’t ironic rather what you would eat if you were in a freezing area like the Artic. As I was eating the noodles the outside of my mouth was burning and I had the feeling that I probably shouldn’t drink the soup, but when I ran out of noodles I thought I would give it a try.

I have never experienced anything like what happened next. My esophagus contracted and swelled up and I couldn't breathe for seconds (5? 8?) and I almost lost all of my lunch. I recovered in time to clean up the mess stagger outside to recover from the traumatic experience. I have never tasted anything as spicy as the soup broth. The only possible experience that comes close was the time I ate a hot chili pepper from a private garden at a house party in Seattle, where the dotcommer rich kid living there grew his own chilies. And I had to down like three beers to extinguish the fire in my mouth. Needles to say I won’t be going back anytime soon.