Archive for October, 2008

I-Kousya （アイコウシャ）

Published
by
seat
on October 25, 08
in 04:Other Cuisines, 13:水道橋・後楽園 and Good Cheap Eats
. 6 Comments Tags: , .

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Blue cheese burger with fried onion(R), Y1522.

Very nice American eatery near Tokyo Dome. Both the burgers and the sandwiches are good but I think the burgers are better in terms of taste and value. I like the Blue cheese burger and the Mushroom Burger the most - they are also the most expensive.Try not to go at peak hours cos it is just the chef in the kitchen and the quality suffers when the restaurant is packed, especially on weekend lunchtime.
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Green salad, Y367. Onion rings(half), Y210.
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Potato Wedges, Y367. Grilled Marinated Mushroom Burger with Swiss Cheese(R), Y1417.
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Chili Burger(L), Y1260. Salsa Burger(L), Y1207.
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BBQ Burger(L), Y1207.
Bacon burger(R), Y997. You can tell the burger is quite burnt. I had this at peak lunch hour on a Saturday.
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Avocado Burger(L), Y1207. Cheese Burger(L), Y1207.
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American Club House(Grilled chicken, ham, bacon, lettuce, tomato, Tartar sauce), Y1522. Huge portion.
Reuben(Pastrami, Swiss cheese, Sauerkraut, mustard, Tartar sauce), Y1365. A bit too sour for me.
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Grilled Shrimp and Avocado, Y1207. Pastrami, Y1102.
The amount of main ingredients for the sandwiches isn’t always so generous(just filled up with lettuce) and sometimes there is too much sauce. But well I still like them.
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Corned Beef, Y945. Honey Sesame Chicken, Y1050.
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Colesaw, Y252. Fried Cajun Chicken, Y1050.
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Hot Dog, Y525. Chili and Potato Wedges, Y682.

Menu: 1, 2.

I-Kousya （アイコウシャ）
Add: 1-4-8 Misakicho, Chiyoda-Ku
Tel: 03-3291-4102

Topca (トプカ)

Published
by
seat
on October 18, 08
in 08:神田・神保町・秋葉原 and Good Cheap Eats
. 2 Comments Tags: , .

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ムルギカリー（チキン）、￥８５０。
Murugi(chicken) curry - Indian style. Comes with a free boiled egg if you order the “Today’s recommended curry”.

A really nice curry shop about 10 mins walk from Akihabara(nearest subway station is Awajicho). There are two types of curry - European and Indian - each with a variety of menu options. In general Indian curries are much spicier and in my opinion much nicer than the European ones. Though I have this thing about curry with deep-fried things as toppings…which they have many options to offer from the European curry menu so I ended up trying them all. The shop is opened everyday of the week; I often go on Sunday when the Japanese owner chef is in the kitchen, while in other days an Indian(?) chef will be in charge. Not every item on the menu is available on Sunday though. There is a branch in Ikebukuro which I had visited a long time ago(see tag).
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メンチカリー、￥９００。
Menchi curry - European. Cabbage salad.
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マトンカリー、￥９００。 欧風ポーク野菜カリー、￥９５０。
Mutton curry - Indian. I couldn’t eat the RAW onion on the rice…
Pork and vegetable curry - European.
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カツカリー、￥９５０。キマカリー、￥８５０。
Katsu(fried pork) curry - European.
Keema curry - Indian.
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ハヤシライス、￥８８０。コロッケカリー、￥８５０。
Hayashi rice. Croquette(potato) curry - European.
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白身魚のカリー、￥１０００。 牛すじ野菜カリー、￥９５０。
Fish curry - Indian. Hmm don’t like the fish so much.
Beef tendon and vegetable curry - European.
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チキンカツカリー、￥９５０。ポークカリー、￥８５０。
Chicken katsu curry - European. Pork curry - Indian.
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スパイシーバターチキン、￥９００。 ザ・ビーフ、￥１３００。
Spicy butter chicken. Beef curry. These two are new menu and are both very good.

Menu(J) here.

Topca (トプカ)
Add: 1-11 Sudacho, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-3255-0707

Chef’s Table R&D (シェフズターブル R＆D)

Published
by
seat
on October 11, 08
in 01:French, 08:神田・神保町・秋葉原 and Good Cheap Eats
. 6 Comments

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0706230015若鶏モモ肉のロースト、レモンと焦がしバター風味、ネギソース、￥１０００。
1000yen lunch includes a main dish, bread or rice, dessert and coffee. Salad(150yen) is an additional order. Today’s meat dish is roasted chicken thigh with lemon and burnt butter, onion sauce. Dessert is caramel pudding with cherries.

Very nice casual French cafe in Akihabara. A bit out of the way from the main shopping area, but it is only a few minutes walk from Akihabara station. Value for money is absolutely fantastic considering you only pay 1000~1500yen for pretty decent food in generous amount. Taste-wise there is still room for improvement but really, thinking of the price I have only praises for this place. It is just the chef cooking everything himself so delivery can be a bit slow, but no matter how busy the place is the food is always freshly prepared. Lunch is available on weekdays and also on Saturday - for some reason it is never crowded on Saturday.

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もち豚ロースステーキ、シャルキュティエールソース ＋ カサゴのポワレ　バルサミコソース。
若鶏ムネ肉のロースト、レモン風味マスタードソース + メカジキのムニエル　フレッシュトマトソース。
Left: Pork loin steak in Charcutiere Sauce + Kasago(rockfish) in Balsamic sauce.
Right: Roasted chicken breast with lemon, mustard sauce + Meuniere of Mekajiki(swordfish) in fresh tomato sauce.
The 1300yen lunch plate consists of fish and meat, both of which are so big that it is like having two main dishes. If you don’t say anything, bread(always reheated) will be served, but you can ask for rice which I prefer.
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0809040092ステーキランチ： 本日のスープ、牛サーロインステーキ、パンまたはライス、￥１５００。
Sirloin steak lunch. For 1500yen I didn’t really expect good quality beef but it turned out to be surprisingly tender and soft. This is regular menu.

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仔羊のハンバーグ　フレッシュトマトソース + スズキのポワレ　マスタード風味クリームソース。
1300yen lunch. Lamb hamburger in fresh tomato sauce + Suzuki in mustard cream sauce.
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アッシェパルマンティエ（挽肉とジャガイモの重ね焼き） + サーモンのポワレ　キノコ入りカレーソース。
Hachis　parmentier + Salmon in curry sauce with mushroom.
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もち豚のローストポーク、レモンと焦がしバターのソース + カラスガレイのムニエル、バジルソース。
Roasted pork with lemon and burnt butter sauce + Meuniere of Karasu-garei in basil sauce.
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カサゴのポワレ　バルサミコソース。
1000yen lunch. Kasgo in Balsamic sauce. Caramel pudding with blueberry.
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若鶏ムネ肉のロースト、アンチョビレモンバターソース + サーモンのポワレ　ラヴィゴットソース。
Roasted chicken breast in achovy lemon butter sauce + Salmon in ravigote sauce.
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サバのムニエル　フレッシュトマトソース + 特製ポークハヤシライス、温泉玉子添え。
1300yen lunch. Meuniere of Saba in fresh tomato sauce + Pork hayashi rice with hotspring egg. Banana and coconut chocolate cake
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ローストポーク、マスタードソース。
豚バラ肉のステーキ　マスタードソース + サーモンのポワレ　アンチョビ風味レモンバターソース。
Left: Roasted pork mustard sauce.
Right: Pork belly steak in mustard sauce + Salmon in anchovy lemon butter sauce.

Lunch menu(J): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Chef’s Table R&D
Add: 3-35-5 Sakumacho, Kanda.
Tel: 03-3863-4562

くいもんや す多ち/すだち (Kuimonya Sudachi)

Published
by
seat
on October 4, 08
in 03:Japanese, 05:銀座・新橋・日本橋 and Favourite Food Entries
. 4 Comments Tags: .

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A very small restaurant offering casual Kyoto food with only one table and about 12 counter seats. It is located on the third floor of a “multi-tenant building” near Shinbashi and Ginza. The Obanzai(Kyoto daily family dishes) lined up on the counter made me drool hungrily while waiting for my friends to arrive. Other customers all ordered from the a la carte but we decided to go for the 5000yen omakase(chef’s choice) dinner course and let the okami(madam chef who is from Kyoto apparently) decide for us.

Obanzai moriawase(assorted): (anti-clockwise from bottom left)Unohara, squid, shirataki and mentaiko, cha-mame beans, potato salad, turnip, Koyadoufu, and marinated sanma in the middle. The picture shows portion for 3 people.
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Clear soup with yuba(tofu skin) and matsutake mushroom.
Sashimi(for 3 people): Hirame(bottom left), himedaikon(little radish, eat with miso), octopus(eat with sudachi and salt), Aji coated in sesame seed(at the back).
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Wakasagi tempura and sweet corn kakiage(round fritter) in curry flavour. Grilled Onigiri(rice is flavoured) and Kenchinjiru(miso soup with root vegetables).
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This is a side order not included in the course. Deep-fried crab meat potato salad.
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0810030035Buri daikon(Buri and radish simmerered in sweet soy sauce) is a side order also. Dessert included in the course is fruit.

Everything is absolutely delicious. Kyoto food gives the impression of very mild and light taste but the food served here all had strong flavour, which I actually prefer. The ingredients used are of good quality and you can really tell the attention paid to the detail in making each dish. The obanzai is reheated before serving which is important for me to enjoy it fully. The madam chef behind the counter was working non-stop throughout the night but whenever she had a moment she would smile at us and ask if everything was alright, so even though we did have to wait quite a bit for each course, we didn’t really mind. The restaurant is not non-smoking which is really a shame though…must remember to book the table away from the counter seats next time. Including a drink, side order(which proved to be too much and we were all bursting-full at the end…), about 7000yen per person.

Menu(J): 1, 2.

くいもんや す多ち/すだち (Kuimonya Sudachi)
Add: 3F, 8-5-15, Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-5568-3321

割烹 とよだ (Kappo Toyoda)

Published
by
seat
on October 4, 08
in 05:銀座・新橋・日本橋
. 4 Comments

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(Oct 3, 2008)
Lunch set with matsutake mushroom rice and Sanma sashimi, Y1800. Portion is a bit small but great taste.
Lunch menu(J): 1, 2.

0701 003(July 1, 2004)
水無月定食。
Pork Shabu-shabu with sesame sauce, very nice!

割烹 とよだ (Kappo Toyoda)
Add: 1-12-4, Muromachi, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-3241-1025