Menya Rikyū is a ramen shop in our neighborhood. It has been on television as a recommended ramen shop. There is sometimes a line, but not always. A few friends in the area also recommended it. The ramen is very good here. While it’s known for its tsuke-men we tried the shio (salt) ramen. The noodles are…
Month: June 2013
Blue Moon in Tokyo
A new craft beer, Blue Moon, has arrived to Tokyo. Blue Moon is something we drank from time to time when we lived in New York City. It’s refreshing, citrusy, and light on the palate. I can imagine that it will be very popular in Japan. Craft beers in Japan are very hot with many…
CLOSED – Shinjuku Gontran Cherrier
Sadly, this Shinjuku branch of Gontran Cherrier has closed. We are so spoiled in Tokyo with amazing bakeries transplanted from France. While living in Singapore one of the popular bakeries was Gontran Cherrier’s Tiong Bahru Bakery. Local Singaporeans as well as Japanese expat wives filled the seats of the shop in the afternoon. One…
Tamahide in Ningyocho
Tamahide in Nihonbashi Ningyocho has a perpetual line out its front door, regardless if it is a weekday or holiday. Its signature dish, oyakodon, literally mother and child, is bite-size pieces of chicken mixed with scrambled eggs and a sweet sauce. The chicken is cooked and then added to the eggs which is then just…
Nihonbashi Yukari Summer Lunch
Nihonbashi Yukari is one of my favorite restaurants in Tokyo for a kaiseki meal. Chef Kimio Nonaga is the 2002 Iron Chef champion from the original series. I’ve included many Yukari Gozen lunches on this blog and it’s a beautiful way to taste seasonal ingredients exquisitely presented. This lunch in early June starts with a chilled chawanmushi topped with…
Martiniburger in Kagurazaka
Once while private cheffing for a Japanese executive, my client asked me to make him a “hamba-gu”. I heard “hamba-ga-” an American-style hamburger. I went to Whole Foods and picked up some ground beef and buns. Later that evening when I presented the hamburger he laughed, in a good way. He said (in Japanese), “Yukari-san,…
June Seasonal Japanese Seafood
The waters are warming up around Japan and many of the fish coming to market now are lean like katsuo. Here is a sashimi platter at our home, Izakaya Sakamoto. The big fish in the back is Tokyo Bay aji, iwashi, lean katsuo, kisu, and shiriyake-ika. This tsubugai sashimi was served at a izakaya specializing in shōchū, Bettako. One…
Food Sake Tokyo 