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ruprecht25

  • Member since 2008
  • Total posts 2
  • Total comments 103
r
ruprecht25 commented 3 years ago

Coincidentally I had lunch at L'Eau today. At 5,000 yen per person, the lunch is a tremendous value, with all of the dishes tasty, creative, and well-executed. The ambience and service are stellar as well. The restaurant has only been open since October of last year, but their reputation is growing quickly. The restaurant was completely full for today's Saturday lunch (we were the first guests and therefore the restaurant was empty when the interior photo was taken).

r
ruprecht25 commented 3 years ago

I went to Hashiya for lunch today, and I am pleased to report that their tarako, uni, and ika spaghetti is legit. Reasonably fast and friendly service, too. By the way, Hashiya is on the B2 floor, not B1. It's worth a visit if you are in the neighborhood.

 
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r
ruprecht25 commented 3 years ago

I may be going out on a limb, but perhaps the confusion is at least partially due to the reading of "kome" (rice) and other "k" words when it becomes the second part of a compound word. As bootzilla points out, 米酢 is read as komezu since "kome" is at the beginning of the word. However, when "kome" is preceded by another kanji, it becomes "gome". もち米 (glutinous rice) is pronounced "mochigome" instead of "mochikome". Similarly,

生 (nama / fresh) + 牡蠣 (kaki / oyster) = namagaki (not namakaki)
かき氷 = kakigoori (not kakikoori)
振り仮名 = furigana (not furikana)
etc.

I may be going out on a limb, but perhaps the confusion is at least partially due to the reading of "kome" (rice) and other "k" words when it becomes the second part of a compound word. As bootzilla points out, 米酢 is read as komezu since "kome" is at the beginning of the word. However, when "kome...

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 4 years ago

I checked both the Pocket Concierge and Sushi Satake websites and learned a few relevant factoids.

- Until January 2018, the lunch courses were 2,800 yen and 4,800 yen (Sushi Satake website)
- From January 2018, the lunch course prices were increased to 4,800 yen and 12,000 yen (Sushi Satake website)
- The Pocket Concierge site in English offers a 10 piece lunch course (otsumami + nigiri) w/ a drink for 12,420 yen
- The Pocket Concierge site in Japanese offers a 10 piece lunch course (otsumami + nigiri) w/ a drink for 10,800 yen
- It is common for prices on the English version of Pocket Concierge to be higher than those on the Japanese site
- It doesn't say if the lunch set offered by Pocket Concierge is the same as those on the Sushi Satake website

Here are the relevant links:

https://sushi-satake.com/menu/
https://pocket-concierge.jp/restauran...
https://pocket-concierge.jp/restauran...

I checked both the Pocket Concierge and Sushi Satake websites and learned a few relevant factoids.

- Until January 2018, the lunch courses were 2,800 yen and 4,800 yen (Sushi Satake website)
- From January 2018, the lunch course prices were increased to 4,800 yen and 12,000 yen (Sushi Satake...

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 4 years ago

The dish at Kushiwakamaru is indeed green pepper stuffed with cheese. It is most likely wrapped with bacon and not chicken skin, though. On the menu, the dish is written as チーズピー in Japanese.

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 4 years ago

One small issue with this idea is that nobody in Japan eats ramen or soba noodles with a fork. Pasta yes, but Japanese and Chinese noodles, no. And, pasta is not slurped when eaten.

r
ruprecht25 commented 4 years ago

If you don't mind a 10 minute stroll, Lauderdale and eggcellent, both in the Roppongi Hills area, offer western-style breakfasts. I have not been to either of them, but some of my friends are fans.

http://www.lauderdale.co.jp/
http://www.eggcellent.co.jp/roppongi

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 4 years ago

I don't know the answer to your lunch question, but I'd like to point out that you can save some money if you are able to use Pocket Concierge's Japanese interface. Using the Japanese version of Pocket Concierge, the two lunch options at Arai are 22,500 and 28,000 yen, instead of 24,500 and 31,000.

https://pocket-concierge.jp/restauran...

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 4 years ago

According to the Baikal website, this dish is called chahohbili, which is also spelled as chakhokhbili. Chahohbili is a Georgian stew made with herbs and tomatoes.

https://eatwithpleasure.com/2013/10/0...

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 4 years ago

According to their net shop, Shinanoya sells Hibiki 17 year old whiskey for 11,800 yen plus tax (12,744 yen total). They have retail stores throughout Tokyo, including Ginza and Shimbashi.

net shop (in Japanese)
http://www.shinanoya-tokyo.jp/shop/sh...

shop locations (in Japanese)
http://www.shinanoya.co.jp/shop/shop....

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 5 years ago

You can read several more reviews of high-end tempura restaurants at Andy Hayler's and Luxeat's websites. I have not been to any of the restaurants listed below, but perhaps the reviews and photos can give you an idea of the experience.

By the way, Mikawa Zezankyo accepts reservations via Open Table and there are some reservations available on a few Sundays in April.

Andy Hayler's tempura reviews

Uchitsu (closed Sunday except the Sunday before a Monday holiday)
https://www.andyhayler.com/restaurant...

7chome Kyoboshi (open Sundays)
https://www.andyhayler.com/restaurant...

Mikawa Zezankyo (open Sundays, closed Wednesdays)
https://www.andyhayler.com/restaurant...

Hatanaka (open Sundays, closed Wednesdays)
https://www.andyhayler.com/restaurant...

Yotaro (closed Sundays)
https://www.andyhayler.com/restaurant...

Mikawa (open Sundays, closed Wednesdays)
https://www.andyhayler.com/restaurant...

Kondo (closed Sundays)
https://www.andyhayler.com/restaurant...

Fukamachi (open Sundays, closed 1st and 3rd Monday)
https://www.andyhayler.com/restaurant...

Ten Ichi (open Sundays)
https://www.andyhayler.com/restaurant...

Luxeat's tempura reviews

7chome Kyoboshi (open Sundays)
http://www.luxeat.com/blog/7-chome-ky...
http://www.luxeat.com/blog/7-chome-ky...

Mikawa Zezankyo (open Sundays, closed Wednesdays)
http://www.luxeat.com/blog/photo-repo...

Kondo (closed Sundays)
http://www.luxeat.com/blog/kondo-high...

You can read several more reviews of high-end tempura restaurants at Andy Hayler's and Luxeat's websites. I have not been to any of the restaurants listed below, but perhaps the reviews and photos can give you an idea of the experience.

By the way, Mikawa Zezankyo accepts reservations via Open...

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 5 years ago

I think there was a typo and jazida meant to link to www.tableall.com.

Other online services to consider that are free include:

www.opentable.jp
www.tablecheck.com/

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 5 years ago

>Also, do you have any recommendations on where to start and end up site seeing with a restaurant in mind at the end?

If you enjoy hiking and gardens, you should consider a trip to Mt. Takao. From Tokyo station, you can take the Chuo Rapid line and it will take you about one hour. Once there, you have the option to either hike, take a cable car, or take a ropeway ride to ascend the mountain. In April, the temperature should be nice, though there is always a chance of rain. The scenery on Mt. Takao is really beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful scenery, I would recommend having your post-hike lunch at Ukai Toriyama. The food at Ukai Toriyama is quite good. You will be served a few traditional Japanese dishes, followed by a main course of chicken or beef that you cook by yourself over a charcoal grill. However, for me, the main attraction is the gardens that surround the restaurant and cover over 200,000 square feet. The entire experience is pretty amazing. If you are interested, please Google both Mt. Takao and Ukai Toriyama to see if this type of trip appeals to you.

>Also, do you have any recommendations on where to start and end up site seeing with a restaurant in mind at the end?

If you enjoy hiking and gardens, you should consider a trip to Mt. Takao. From Tokyo station, you can take the Chuo Rapid line and it will take you about one hour. Once there, ...

r
ruprecht25 commented 5 years ago

Generally speaking, restaurants that allow corkage are quite rare in Japan. There have been a couple of threads on this topics in the past, though the most recent was a few years ago.

http://www.chowhound.com/post/good-by...
http://www.chowhound.com/post/byob-to...

If you can read Japanese, there is a website called the "BYO Club" that lists restaurants that allow corkage and provides various updates.

http://byoclub.net/

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 5 years ago

Just for the record, the price for the course + wine pairing is less if you don't reserve via Pocket Concierge. On the erba da nakahigashi website, the most expensive course is 16,000 yen and the wine pairing is 8,000 yen. There is also a 13,000 yen course.

I hope this is not too off-topic, but I would like to warn everyone about one particular point regarding Pocket Concierge's service. In some cases, and possibly in all, the cost for making reservations in English is higher than in Japanese. One example is Sublime in Shimbashi. Go to their reservation page:

http://www.sublime.tokyo/reservation

If you choose to make the reservation in Japanese via Pocket Concierge, the charge for the chef omakase course is 11,880 yen. If you reserve in English, the charge for the same course is 14,000. The price listed on the Sublime website is 10,000 yen.

I appreciate the Pocket Concierge service and don't begrudge them for their business model. However, if given the choice, customers should try to reserve in Japanese since it will likely be cheaper.

Just for the record, the price for the course + wine pairing is less if you don't reserve via Pocket Concierge. On the erba da nakahigashi website, the most expensive course is 16,000 yen and the wine pairing is 8,000 yen. There is also a 13,000 yen course.

I hope this is not too off-topic, bu...

r
ruprecht25 commented 5 years ago

My apologies if this is off-topic, but there will be a sumo tournament in Osaka next year from March 12 - 26. You can see the full sumo schedule here:

http://www.sumo.or.jp/EnTicket/year_s...

OBfood: Osaka is most famous for its takoyaki and okonomiyaki

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 5 years ago

For cafe and coffee shop recommendations in Tokyo, please take a look at the Tokyo Eats blog. There are dozens of reviews of cafes and casual restaurants that are suitable for solo diners, and they were all written by a woman.

http://www.tokyoeats.jp/

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 6 years ago

Out of curiosity, who specifically is this "they" of whom you speak? I am fortunate that I do not suffer from any food allergies, but this information (if true) could be useful in the future.

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 6 years ago

You can read reviews of dozens of Japanese curry shops from Robb Satterwhite's excellent Bento.com site:

http://www.bento.com/r-curry.html

 
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r
ruprecht25 commented 6 years ago

Unfortunately, lunch at Narisawa is now much more expensive than it used to be. Several months ago they raised the price and lunch is now 20,000 yen and dinner is 25,000 yen.

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 6 years ago

Apparently Kurogi has space for up to 4 people in a private room tomorrow (Feb. 5) night.

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 6 years ago

>7. Any other fall/November dishes/ingredients that I should watch out for?

A couple of years ago, Yukari Sakamoto wrote a blog post that listed the seafood that is in season in November. Here is the link:

http://foodsaketokyo.com/2013/11/14/n...

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 6 years ago

Though Fuku is located in Shibuya-ku, the closest station is Yoyogi Uehara on the Chiyoda and Odakyu lines. Here is their Tabelog page:

http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1318/A13181...

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 6 years ago

It's not traditional Japanese kakigori, but a branch of the famous Ice Monster from Taiwan opened in Jingumae recently. Here is their website.

http://ice-monster.co.jp/

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 7 years ago

Shinanoya has a large selection of Japanese whiskies and they have several shops throughout Tokyo, including Shinjuku, Ginza, Meguro, and Shinbashi.

www.shinanoya.co.jp

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 7 years ago

Count me among the group who has been to Arossa multiple times, but not in the past several years.

For another place with an expansive Australian wine list, there is Dance, located across the street from Yoyogi Park. They offer well over 100 different Australian wines, some of them from fairly old vintages. It's strange, though. Dance has such a vast wine list, but their food is very casual and pedestrian. They have verticals of Grange and Hill of Grace, yet only pizzas and pastas to enjoy them with. I was there just last Friday night, and we were the only guests in the restaurant.

http://www.wine-cafe-dance.co.jp/cafe...

Count me among the group who has been to Arossa multiple times, but not in the past several years.

For another place with an expansive Australian wine list, there is Dance, located across the street from Yoyogi Park. They offer well over 100 different Australian wines, some of them from fairl...

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 7 years ago

I believe Uncle Yabai is referring to the main branch of Inakaya in Roppongi.

I just checked the home pages of both branches, and the prices at the Roppongi location are consistently higher, twice as expensive for some dishes.

http://www.roppongiinakaya.jp/en/menu...
http://www.ginzainakaya.com/menu01.html

 
r
ruprecht25 commented 7 years ago

One of the nice looking places for seafood near Fuku is Fresh Seafood Bistro SARU. This is the more seafood-centric sister restaurant to the excellent SARU in Shirokane. The smoked dishes at the Yoyogi Uehara branch are all delicious. Their wines by the glass are well-chosen, too.

http://seasaru-yoyogi.root-ltd.jp/