fatmanfoo

I went to Sushi Mizutani with a friend of mine last month (this post has been a long time coming). It was my first ever 3 Michelin star experience, and as it is rated as one of the best restaurants in the world (and perhaps the 2nd best Sushi place), I arrived at the restaurant full of anticipation for the meal to come. The short story is, it was the best Sushi I have ever had... for the long....long... story, read on.  I'll warn you now, it is a pretty long post.

It's been a while since my last post... have been busy with many things so I haven't had time to sit down and write.  For today, I will just cover Nobu Tokyo, which is one of my more recent culinary adventures. Nobu Tokyo ( http://www.nobutokyo.com/ ) I'd first heard about Nobu about maybe 7 or 8 years ago, when I was working part time as a 'sushi-chef'.  The quotes are there because, well, while I certainly made nigiri-sushi and an assortment of sushi-rolls, I felt (and still do) that I didn't have enough skills to be deserving of that name.  Anyhow, one of the first culinary books I'd ever picked up and read seriously was his book "Nobu The Cookbook" ( http://www.amazon.com/Nobu-The-Cookbook-Nobuyuki-Matsuhisa/dp/156836489X ), which in addition to including recipes from his restaurant menu, details the journey and hardships he underwent in the struggle to become a successful restaurateur. At that time, I never even imagined that I would have...

It's been a little while since my last post... I've both been a bit busy, and have not really been eating out during this time.  However, a couple of weeks back, I did visit the Yebisu Beer Tasting Salon in the Yebisu Beer Museum, located in Ebisu station's Garden Place.  Garden Place is a nice, upscale shopping complex with restaurants, cafes, hotels, a movie theatre and more.  There is a stage in the middle of the plaza where they hold events, and in the summer there is a temporary outdoor  "beer garden". I heard that the station itself is named after the brewery. "Yebisu" or "Ebisu", is part of Sapporo Breweries, and is one of the more "premium" of the 4 main beers sold in Japan. By premium, I mean that they cost several tens of yen more when you buy them at the shop. To me, at least, Yebisu tastes a lot better than Sapporo Ichiban.  You can find their website, with English, here ( http://www.sapporoholdings.jp/english/guide/yebi...

Trying a different sort of blog post... instead of a restaurant review, I'm gonna recommend one single item that I feel stands out in a specific category, whether it be a drink, snack, main dish, or whatever... so here we go. I'll call them Jerome's Picks. Today's choice is : Aburi Engawa あぶりエンガワ Aburi Engawa from 活寿司 Katsu Sushi in Ikebukuro Seibu This is the torched fin portion of white fish such as hirame or karei  (flounder). It's not always on the menu everywhere you go, but if you do see it, try it.  If you don't see it, ask for it-  there is always a chance that they have it. Why am I recommending it?

A little while ago, a friend of mine brought me to this interesting coffee shop tucked away in the backstreets of the trendy Omotesando shopping area. Apparently, it was recommended to her by her hairdresser. http://ooo-koffee.com/menu/ http://ooo-koffee.com/about/ As you may garner from the interesting and somewhat minimalist website design, it is kind of a unique spot and you can tell that a lot of effort as been put into designing the details. The place itself is not a traditional coffee shop. One might call it a coffee bar, but then there is the fact that it seems to be in someone's living room.  And that living room is a Japanese-style tatami mat room, complete with a counter equipped with an espresso machine. As a result, there is no real place to sit- there are a couple of stools outside in the garden but a lot of customers drink standing or do take out orders. This is what it looks like: I wish my living room had one of these. And this is what the coffee lo...

It is perhaps not a well-known fact that burgers are quite popular in Japan. Now, I am not talking about the big fast food chains (Mcdonald's, Mos burger, Freshness burger, etc.), which are popular in their own right, but 'gourmet burgers'. These burgers can unfortunately run on the expensive side (around and upwards of 1000yen), but this is a function of the ingredients used to make them, such as buns made in house, self-smoked bacon, and organic vegetables. I've visited a number of these gourmet burger joints, but one that I frequent more often than others is FIRE HOUSE ( http://www.firehouse.co.jp/the_burger.html ). I must admit, this is mostly because of its proximity to my workplace, but they do have seriously good burgers. They have a nice selection of burgers and sandwiches for when you need your 'fix'. Their plates come with a choice of fries or chips (and a gherkin) and their menu also includes soup and salad items. The restaurant itself is on t...

Sometimes you need something quick, tasty and filling.  Yesterday's dinner was one of those occasions for me. Japanese 洋食, or "western-food" is something that I usually associate with that. Some examples of youshoku include ハンバーグ, or hamburger patty, various type of breaded and deep fried cutlets and croquettes, omelettes, omrice(egg-wrapped fried rice ), and other kinds of flavorful, filling dishes. One of my favourites is omrice, prepared just so (not the same restaurant): Doesn't it look so good (I hope to review that restaurant one day... it is in Kyoto, watch other videos on the dude's youtube channel for more 洋食 videos)!! Anyways, Japanese curry, mayonnaise, demi-glace, mustard and sauce "ソース"(a sweet and sour almost Worcestershire sauce style condiment) are just a few of the flavours that often make an appearance. Usually these meals can be found as teishoku(定食), or meal sets, and come with a miso soup, some kind of salad or veg, ...

Continued from my earlier post about Bon-chan, The yakitori itself was also good, as expected. It might not have been the best that I have ever had, but it was well-seasoned and each skewer was skillfully grilled and beautifully plated. We started off with the negima (ねぎま), chicken thigh meat with Japanese long onion between the pieces of meat, and proceeded to have liver, neck meat, heart, gizzard, ginko nuts, cartilage, cartilage and meat meatballs (tsukune, つくね). We also had bacon-wrapped cherry tomatoes, and shishitou(ししとう), a small type of green pepper. When you order at a yakitori place, you generally have the option to get each skewer seasoned with salt(shio, 塩) or with a sweet sauce (tare, タレ), although some places offer more flavours. Often you can also find additional seasonings in a small tray on your table, usually some kind of spicy seasoning, some soy sauce and other kinds of spices which you can dip your yakitori in.  Personally, I like to go with salt ...

If you are reading this blog, you probably already have an idea of what yakitori is.  If not, the title gives you a brief explanation. Chicken on a stick. One of the oldest ways of cooking meat known to man. Most cultures have their own variation of this- satay, souvlaki, kebab, churrasco- and Japan is no exception. One of the things which sets Japanese yakitori apart from the others, is the sheer variety of things on the menu and the parts of chicken used. From shiitake mushrooms, bacon wrapped asparagus, quail eggs and ginko nuts to skewers with grilled chicken skin, gizzard, heart, liver or cartilage .. the list goes on. The good places grill it front of you and it arrives hot on your plate. Also available are a selection of non-grilled dishes, including appetizers, salads, soups and rice dishes. Recently, a friend of mine visited me in Tokyo and asked me to take her and her family for some yakitori.  Of course, I was happy to do so, and searching on the int...