TOKYO 2011: Sushi Say, Sushi Zanmai & Shouro Tamagoyaki @ Tsukiji Fish Market

Almost everyone who goes to Tokyo will make it a point to have early breakfast and brunch at Tsukiji Fish Market 築地市場. But actually, many of their sashimi and sushi shops are opened well into the later afternoons and some even operate 24 hours, so there is actually no need to wake up at 5am to experience Tsukiji. For this post, we shall recommend some of the food shops we ate in Tsukiji outer market for lunch at around 12 noon.



We saw some beautiful fresh wasabi roots in Tsukiji.

This is not only a place for seafood, but for other vegetables and fruits too. Tsukiji started off as a Uogashi (riverside fish market) in the Edo period near the Nihonbashi Bridge. After many years, the Tokyo Government modernised the market and Tsukiji was born in 1935. It has an area of about 220,000 square metres.



Everyday, about 4,000 tons of fish and vegetables are traded here in Tsukiji.



Many people will make a dash for "Sushi Dai" when the come to Tsukiji. It's the Tsukiji's most famous sushi restaurant within the inner market. But when we went there, the queue is amazingly long. As time is limited, we already had a backup sushi restaurant which also received rave reviews. It's Sushi Say, located in the outer market.



There is no queue here. And they have 2 shops in Tsukiji, one is their original shop, and the other is their newer outlet. Both are along the same row and occupies the opposite end. We visited the original shop, which looks very new to me. We ordered using their English menu, and within seconds the chef was busily moulding our sushi infront of us.



We ordered a lot of sushi: Japanese Shrimp (530 yen each), Giant Clam (530 yen each), Boiled Snow Crab (420 yen each), Squid (270 yen each)



Plus this amazing Sardine Sushi (210 yen each). Everything was very fresh, sweet and if I may say, very affordable. We did order a few more sushi, but I guess the chef must have forgotten. The next time I am in Japan, I will visit their other branches as they have a few shops all over Tokyo and Japan. Everything is just perfect.



The next sushi shop we visited was Sushi Zanmai. Again, this is a chain sushi restaurant. In fact, they have even more branches than Sushi Say. You can recognise the shop in Tsukiji by their very innovative signboard.



When we flipped the menu, what struck us was this Crab Miso Soup (500 yen). Unfortunately, the taste was just so so. And the flesh in the crab was really little and dry. This is a letdown.



Fortunately, the sashimi fared better. We ordered the Assorted Sashimi Set 河岸盛 (2980 yen for 2 person) with Salmon Roe, Fatty Tuna. Prawns, Sardines, etc. Top marks for the salmon roe and prawns, but the rest were not as good as those in Sushi Say.



We also had more sushi. From right to left: Broiled Fatty Tuna sushi (398 yen each), Sea Urchin Roe sushi (398 yen each), Herring Roe on Kepl sushi (248 yen each), Surf Clam sushi (198 yen each), Scallop sushi (128 yen each)

Again, although it was good, but Sushi Say's sushi were of better quality. Next time, we will stick to Sushi Say.



Before we left, we were recommended to try this Tamagoyaki shop located opposite of Sushi Say's original shop. There were so many kinds of Tamagoyaki on sale here, and for people like us who just want to taste a bit, you can get their small piece which is vacuum sealed for freshness.



We had the original Shouro Tamagoyaki (240 yen for small). Wow, this is the best Tamagoyaki I have ever tasted. The texture is both firm and creamy. Would recommend visitors here to have this as their dessert. A must try in Tsukiji.


Sushi Say 寿司清
東京都中央区築地 4-13-9
Tsukiji 4-13-9
(Located at Tsukiji outer market)
http://www.tsukijisushisay.co.jp/

Sushi Zanmai すしざんまい
東京都中央区築地 4-10-2
Tsukiji 4-10-2
(Located at Tsukiji outer market)
http://www.kiyomura.co.jp/

Shouro Tamagoyaki 松露玉子焼
東京都中央区築地 4-13-13
Tsukiji 4-13-13
(Located at Tsukiji outer market)
http://www.shouro.co.jp/

TOKYO 2011: Manchinro Honten @ Yokohama

During our visit to Tokyo, we made a 1 hour train ride to Yokohama, one of Japan's famous port town. The train had a few "touristy" stops in Yokohama, and we alighted at the last station, which was Chinatown in Yokohama.

The Chinatown in Yokohama is one of the largest and the best in Japan, selling the famous Yokohama Chinatown Pork Buns (there are many shops selling this here), and also Chinese restaurants along the streets.



We selected Manchinro Honten, which is the grandest looking Chinese restaurant here in Chinatown at Yokohama. There are just too many Chinese restaurants here, so do take a stroll along the main street to find out which one suits your budget and taste.



Manchinro at Yokohama was started in 1893, and its main restaurant was burned down in a big fire. The rebuilt restaurant opened in 2002 and the restaurant poured in millions of dollars to rebuild it into an "imperial palace" environment.



Staffs here speaks Japanese, but they have a few Chinese staff here too. As it was lunch time, there were some set lunches available. We ordered the 2,500 yen per person set lunch, which turned out to be a good choice.



Quite a selection of sauces were provided on each table. Their most popular sauce was the Fragrant Spicy Crispy chilli which was similar to our Crystal Jade chilli sauce. It is so popular that they actually sell bottles of them at their shop next door.



The first dish was this Ootori Appetizer. It reminds us of this Chinese cold dish of pork with jelly.



The Beef thick soup with tomato was pretty good. Athough it's not the usual clear double boiled soup we are more familar, but this works well.



The Japanese loves their shrimps and prawns. So it is no surprise that the Wok-fried shrimps was nicely done with fresh shrimps which is both sweet and crunchy.



Instead of ordering seperate dim sums, Manchinro Honten offers 2 of their most popular dim sum in their lunch sets: Colourful Dim Sum (Pork Siew Mai and Leek Har Gow). The Siew Mai and Har Kow are not the usual Cantonese style ones, and more like our Singapore style of Siew Mai which are much bigger.



I think this Stewed chicken with pumpkin is a good comfort dish. The Japanese pumpkin is very sweet and not too mushy. And matches well with the boneless chicken chunks.



The night before, I was watching a Japanese TV program and they were showing stir fried prawns with spicy Sichuan sauce. So here is Manchinro's version of the Stir Fried Prawns with Sichuan spicy sauce (3,200 yen for 6 prawns). I was quite surprise to find that the Sichuan spicy sauce was actually very similar to our Chilli crab sauce. Almost 95% similar.



The lunch ended with the Fried Rice topped with pork and ducks sauce. I am not sure what the duck sauce was, but their chunks of roasted pork was good.



Dessert was this cute Almond Bean Curd with bayberry sauce. It is basically almond tofu with a slightly sour berry sauce.



I would also recommend their inhouse Special Manchinro Oolong Tea. I am no tea expert, but I believe their tea leaves were of an excellent grade.



On a separate note, we saw this restaurant at Yokohama of this very famous chef. Fans of Iron Chef Japan should know who this chef is.


Manchinro Honten
153, Yamashita-cho,
Naka-ku,
Yokohama-shi,
Kanagawa-ken,
231-0023
http://english.manchinro.com/

TOKYO 2011: L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon @ Roppongi Hills

L'Atelier is such a well known restaurant that people from US to Europe and Asia has heard about this casual bar table dining restaurant. The concept is so well received by many people, that it can be replicated at almost all major urban cities in the world.



We arrived at their outlet in Roppongi Hills outlet slightly before 7pm. It was still quite empty at that time, but soon the restaurant was full.

The service staff serving us told us he had actually worked at Keppel Bay previously, before returning to Japan. So I guess there is some kind of "Singapore" connection between us.



The bar counter dining setting is all too familiar to us, and if you have been to the Singapore's one, you will find the layout very familiar. In fact, it's the same in all the L'Atelier around the world.



So both of us ordered the Menu B (Amuse, Appetizer, Soup, Dish, Dessert, Coffee or Tea served with Petit Four) at 8,800 yen.



First came this bread basket. Sad to say the breads here were not as good as those found in Singapore. Then I remembered that the former Japanese bread pastry chef was being transferred to Singapore. Perhaps that was the reason?



Our Amuse Bouche.



Our dinner began with one of their signature appetizer: Espuma of a green asparagus and chanterelle royal style, with jelly of iberico ham. We were delighted with the green asparagus cream which was refreshing and had a base of diced chanterelle mushrooms and iberico ham jelly.



The Baked Hokkaido scallops was really sweet and juicy. Not much flavourings was added, hence we could taste the sweet Hokkaido scallops. As it was an off-menu item, it's best to ask the service staff what other off-menu appetizers they offer for the day.



I thought that the Lettuce cream soup served on hot onion custard flavoured with nutmeg would be something of a mild flavoured soup, but I was wrong. The restaurant managed to extract all the intense flavours of the lettuce into the soup, and added onio custard and a little bit of nutmeg to enhance the flavours.



The Chilled tomato gaspacho with extra virgin olive oil and basil was altogether another different style of soup. Served chilled and slightly tangy, it was great during the warm summer.



Ordered the local mineral water - Fuji Mineral Water (800 yen). We thought it came from Mt Fuji, but was told the water was "near" Mr Fuji.



Japan is known for their fresh seafood. Their seafood mains did not disappoint. The Savory sauteed Golden threadfin-bream served with crustacean sauce was what we had expected - Fresh and sweet fish with a layer of crisp skin and a delicious seafood stock beneath it.



We were equally delighted with the other mains we had - Preserved cheek of beef with grilled vegetables and condiment of cucumber and the mustard of Orleans. The beef was incredibly tender and had this slight Japanese hint of flavour inside. The presentation was visually pleasing too.



Dessert is something we enjoy very much at L'Atelier. The first dessert served was this Dark Chocolate Ganache served with cocoa sherbet and Oreo biscuit powder. The reason why we ordered this was we wanted something down to earth and not too fanciful. Hence the familiar chocolate dessert with the reassuring Oreo bits. No complaints about the chocolate because it's top grade chocolate and cocoa sherbet.



The next one was something more fanciful - Campari marinated fig and sherbet served with a cream cheese delicate mousse. Campari is pretty bitter, but was balanced out by the sweet fig and sherbet. The sweetness was further enhanced through the cheese mousse.



Ended our yummy dinner with Coffee and tea plus the now-familiar Petit Four.

So although there is a L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon located right in our Lion City, I would recommend our readers to pay them a visit the next time you are in Tokyo. It's a familiar yet different experience when you dine at a L'Atelier in another city.


L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon
Roppongi 6-10-2,
Roppongi Hills
Hillside 220

TOKYO 2011: Izuei Honten @ Ueno

It's not easy to find Izuei Honten. But we are determined to find it. After all, it's not everyday that you read so much about one particular Unagi restaurant in blogs and travel guides and how good the unagi is and what a long history it has.



There are enough instructions and history on internet about Izuei Honten, but a quick summary is that it has been around since the mid-Edo period and that makes it about 150 years old, if not older. They have a few branch but the main one is at Ueno, and their flagship shop here is only 10 minutes walk from the Ueno JR station.



I have read so much about having to queue up and ask for table and wait for 20 minutes. But the weird thing is when I arrived, we were whisked away into the restaurant's own private lift to upstairs (probably 3rd or 4th floor) into their private room. The aunty waitress will speak lot's of Japanese. If you don't know, don't worry. Just tell her you want an "English menu", and she will bring you one.



Everything on the menu has unagi on it, and it depends on how much unagi you want. For diners who want variety, I suggest you order this Shinobazu Bento.



As you can see, the Shinobazu Bento (4,200 yen) comes with 1.5 pieces of fatty unagi and rice below, plus sashimi and some little bento items. Everything was delicious. More on the unagi later.



For those who wants nothing but the real deal, and you want an "up-sized" version, please order the Prince Box.



This, is the real deal. The Prince Box (4,725) is actually a double portion bento. But first, the unagi here is absolutely wonderful. The flesh is sweet, smooth and very tasty with the charred taste. Rice is fluffy and even the small bones in the unagi is a joy to eat.



The Prince Box actually has layers. So you get 4 huge pieces of unagi, plus 2 layers of Japanese rice. Please be warned that you should be very hungry before ordering this. Even for big eaters like me, it took a lot of skills to finish the entire double layer bento.


Izuei Honten
2-12-22 Ueno,
Taito-ku,
Tokyo,
Japan

TOKYO 2011: Bvlgari il Cafe @ Gyre

After shopping in Harajuku, Shibuya and then Omotesando. our legs were really tired and we were in need of drinks and snacks.



Starring right above us is the Bvlgari il Cafe in the glitzy Omotesando which has become the new Ginza in Tokyo. The Bvlgari il Cafe is located just above their flagship shop here.



There are 2 sections, one sells chocolates and the other is a full cafe.



Ice water is provided free of charge to all customers, and it is refilled promptly.



This cafe is always crowded with people who stays here for at least one hour or more, so waiting is necessary. But it's worth the wait just to experience the Bvlgari experience if you have not tried any of their resorts or hotels.



The breads are presented in special Bvlgari boxes which looks like jewellery boxes.



This was our Soup of the Day - Pumpkin Soup (800 yen)



The staff was attentive and asked if we wanted to share our mains. They then helped us to split the mains into 2 portions. Excelent service even without us asking. Our first main was then Spaghettini with tomato sauce, goat cheese and orange peel (1,600 yen). The combination is a bit weird, but works well.



The other was this Homemade Tagliatelle pasta with zucchini puree and squid (1,700 yen). Seafood was fresh and no complaints.



More bread was brought out throughout our meal.



Dessert was the main attraction here at Bvlgari iL Cafe. We ordered the BVLGARI chocolate sundae (1,500 yen), which had a beautiful Bvlgari chocolate ribbon and chocolate ice cream. Very refreshing on a warm summer evening.



The Peach carpaccio with basil and peach sherbet (1,300 yen) which is available in the summer, is equally refreshing.



To top it off, we also had a Bvlgari cocktail BLV (2,000 yen)



What came as a rest pitstop became our light dinner.



It's quite an experience to enjoy the Bvlgari experience here in its cafe at Tokyo, and we will recommend you to visit this cafe the next time you travel to Tokyo. And BTW, they have 2 Bvlgari cafes in Japan, the other located in their Bvlgari building in Ginza.


Bvlgari il Cafe Omotesando
Gyre 2F
5-10-1
Jingumae,
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo