Monthly Archive: February 2007 [14]
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February 28, 2007
池袋 三原堂
粟ぜんざい（くずきり付き）。
Awa-zenzai: millet and red bean paste. Served hot. It is quite good.
Kuzukiri: strips made from Kudzu starch, served with ponzu and wasabi. Very sour and cold~~
池袋 三原堂
Comments(4) [ japanese sweets | 池袋 ]
生粋
上生粋正油、９５０円。
Soup is made from sanma(saury) and soy sauce. Served lukewarm. Noodles are a bit too soft. Egg and charshu are quite good.
生粋
Comments(0) [ 池袋 ]
中南海
四川風スペアリブ（家常排骨）、１２３９円。
At dinner. Szechuan style sparerib, 1239yen. Rice is 200yen. Hmm, the sparerib is very dry. A bit expensive for the quality.
中南海
Comments(2) [ 池袋 ]
February 26, 2007
Cote d'Or（コートドール）
赤ピーマンのムース。
冷製 季節の野菜の蒸し煮 コリアンダーの香りをつけて（野菜のエチュベ）。
Red bell pepper mousse, with tomato sauce.
Steamed vegetables with coriander.
黒トリュフのかき卵 ワインソース。
牛のしっぽの煮込み 赤ワインソース。
Scrambled egg with truffle, red wine sauce.
Braised ox tail in red wine sauce, pumpkin paste.
北海道白糠産仔羊のロースト ポテトのグラタン。
Roasted lamb with potato gratin.
桑の実シャーベット。
青森産赤いリンゴのタルト ダイスケ風。
Mulberry seed sorbet. Apple tart.
小田原ミカンのスフレ。
Mandarin orange souffle.
The chef's 10 famous dishes are:
01 赤ピーマンのムース (Red bell pepper mousse)
02 えいとキャベツ (Ray fish with cabbage)
03 季節の野菜のエチュベ (Steamed vegetables with coriander)
04 トリュフのかき卵 (Scrambled egg with black truffle)
05 牛尾の赤ワイン煮 (Braised ox tail in red wine sauce)
06 仔羊のロースト (Roasted lamb)
07 しそのスープ (Shiso soup)
08 おこぜのポワレ (Pan-fried Stonefish)
09 ソーモンのタルタルモンブラン (Salmon Tartare Mont Blanc )
10 根セロリとリ・ド・ヴォーの煮込み (Celery root and Lamb sweetbreads)
Book here.
I have tried 1 and 2 during my first lunch visit(entry here). Came back again with a few friends and tried 3, 4, 5, 6. We basically picked from the a la carte menu, and have them arranged into a lunch course. Not cheap to order from the a la carte, but gosh the "scrambled egg with truffle" is worth everything....you can smell it miles away! So much truffle in it! Every spoon is truffle truffle truffle~~~absolutely heaven! The server said to eat it quick, at the most 5-6 minutes, otherwise the egg will harden. But it was just too mind-blowingly delicious that I was reluctant to finish the last mouthful. ^^;; Everything else is so good. You won't go wrong in this restaurant. Though as personal preferences, I do like the Ox tail more than the lamb(pictures for the meat courses show half portion only), and I like the souffle included in the lunch course(which is the same as my last visit) more than the apple tart(which we shared) from the al la carte. In terms of value, the 4500yen lunch course is probably better, but exquisite experience comes with a price....my friend said later that she couldn't help thinking how much each spoon of that truffle was while eating it...^^;;
A la carte menu(J): 1, 2.
Cote d'Or
Comments(4) [ my favourites | french food | 白金・三田 ]
February 25, 2007
HIDEMI SUGINO (イデミ スギノ＠京橋)
Fromage blanc and mascarpone mousse, thin cookie as base, whole apricot and lemon peel inside. Very light and not too sweet but with strong alcohol taste. Very nice!
Apparently this cake shop was introduced in some widely-watched TV show and became super famous. Cakes get sold out by noon cos people start queuing in the morning, even on weekdays. There is a cafe space and if you want to eat there, you also need to go in the morning, either have cakes for breakfast, or reserve your cakes and come back a few hours later. Some cakes are only for take-out and some are only for eat-in. Because of all these hassle, I simply never bothered to go. But one day my friends and I walked past at 3pm, and there were two kinds of cakes left in the showcase. My friend went "Miracle!! Miracle!!", so even though we already had a full course French lunch, we decided to eat in. We had champagne at lunch already....but we conveniently forgot about that and had champagne again with the cakes. ^^;;;
Also bought chocolate financier with cherries, and coffee pound cake with marron. Both very good!
Past entry here.
HIDEMI SUGINO
Comments(4) [ cakes and sweets | 新橋・銀座・日本橋 ]
February 22, 2007
ほていさん＠月島
もずく酢。胡麻豆腐。刺身の盛り合わせ。
Mozuku(seaweed in vinegar) and sesame tofu. Sashimi.
あんこう鍋。雑炊。
Anko-nabe(Angler-fish/Monkfish hotpot). So good! The big pile of orange paste is Ankimo, which the madam told us to taste a bit before she put the lid on the nabe. The dashi is delicious from the start - we all drank a bowl while waiting for the ingredients to be cooked. The meat of Anko has firm texture, the skin is jelly-like and chewy(full of collagen). The rich-tasting Ankimo is of course the best part! Rice and egg are added to the soup to make zouzui. Yum!
This place is very popular during winter season when Anko is available. I had to book like 2 months ago and it was not an easy task cos the staff don't seem to be very patient on the phone. While you are there, they are efficient and simply do everything for you - you just sit and wait for your bowl of food. You are only allowed 2 hours, which is more than enough because, before you finish the sashimi, they will start making the hotpot, and before you finish your first bowl of anko and soup, the staff will come and scoop more ingredients into your (donburi-size)bowl. We had to wait a long time for the zousui though(Maybe they forgot to cook rice? ^^;;).
The place was packed with people smoking so not exactly a comfortable place to stay long. In fact I got a massive headache because the guy at the next table(very close) was an impossible chain-smoker who didn't quite stop even when he was eating.
We all had beer and nihonshu, about 6600yen each. Well very reasonable for the amount and quality of food you get. Taste-wise this place definitely makes it to my favourites, but the environment is a little too much for me!
ほていさん
February 19, 2007
PIERRE GAGNAIRE à Tokyo
I never thought this elevator was the main entrance and circled around the block...but this was it. ^^;;; Very lovely open terrace. Too bad it was too cold to sit outside.
The little tidbits have interesting spicy taste. Bread is from Maison Kayser.
カボチャのニョッキ パルメザンのチュイル。
ウズラの卵とトピナンプールのヴルーテ。
Amuse-bouche alone consists of 5 dishes!
Pumpkin gnocchi and parmesan feuille(I guess "feuille" is the same as mille-feuille but just one layer?).
Quail egg and topinambours(Jerusalem artichokes) in Velouté sauce.
ポロ葱とムール貝のスープ。
牛肉とカリフラワーのジュレ コリアンダー・ホウレン草 アーモンドを添えて。
Poireau leek and blue mussel soup.
Beef and cauliflower jelly, coriander and spinach, with almond.
平スズキのマリネ スモークサーモンのペースト。
Hirasuzuki(a kind of sea bass) in marinade, with smoked salmon paste.
ノイリー酒の香るフォアグラのガトー仕立て モヤシとズッキーニのクロッカン緑のソースにキノアを浮かべて。
地キンメのパヴェ 焦がしバター風味 フヌイユのママレード＜ピエロ＞サフランの香り。
Foie gras gateau(a slice of smoked duck on top), beansprout and zucchini(chopped into small bits) and quinoa in green sauce. On top is "Crystal leave", which is some fancy laboratory invention and has a natural crispy texture and a shiny surface caused by the salt intrinsic to the leaf....quite delicious but felt like eating an experiment. ^^;;
Kinmedai(Alfonsino) "Pavé", with burnt butter, marmelade of fenouil(fennel) in saffron sauce.
Dessert alone has 4 courses...
Raspberry soup with forgot-what ice-cream.
The cube thing is pistachio and forgot-what ice-cream.
Pear soup with forgot-what ice-cream(should have jot down some memo). The spaghetti thing is fried custard cream apparently.
Underneath the chocolate disc is chocolate paste and hazelnut and other things. The server poured hot chocolate sauce into the hole before we ate.
A 3-hour parade of dozens of dishes of food in bite size, all in trendy and stylish presentation. Each dish, no matter how small, is so complicated, that we spent a lot of time listening intently to the server's long explanation and cross-checking with the menu that everyone got at hand. I think I am not the one who went from mildly dazed to half-confused to utterly exhausted. ^^;; The food are all fancy but I have to say taste-wise they leave very little impression. Seriously I simply didn't know what I was eating at some point...very interesting experience though!
We had the 7000yen lunch course, which is quite cheap considering how many plates and bowls they will have to wash afterwards, but the drinks are quite expensive so better watch out.
PIERRE GAGNAIRE à Tokyo
Comments(5) [ french food | 神宮前・青山・広尾 ]
February 16, 2007
VILAMOURA (ヴィラモウラ)
キノコのガーリックソテー卵とじ。
タラとジャガイモのコロッケ。
Portugese dinner!
Sauteed mushroom and egg with garlic.
Cod and potato croquette.
コリアンダーとパルミジャーノチーズのサラダ。
バカリャウとポテトのクリーム煮、グラタン仕立て。
Coriander and Parmigiano cheese salad.
Bacalhau and potato cream gratin.
小魚と野菜の南蛮漬け、エスカベッシュ。
アサリと豚ロースのソテー アレンテージョ風。
Pickerel and vegetables Escabeche.
Clam and sauteed pork loin meat, Alentejo style.
ココット煮込みの温野菜。
焼きたてチーズパン（ポンジケイジョ）。
Vegetables in Cocotte.
Freshly baked cheese bread - Pão de queijo.
鴨のブイヨンで炊き上げた鴨ごはん。
Duck rice cooked from duck bouillon.
ヴィラモウラ風魚介のカタプラーナ、(ワタリガ二・アサリ・ヤリイカ・エビ・タコ) トマトスープ。
残ったスープをリゾットに リゾットライス。
Seafood Cataplana(crab, clam, squid, prawn, octopus). Tomato soup based.
Risotto is added into the leftover soup.
ハーブティー。 ポルトガルプリン。
Herb tea. Pudding.
エッグタルト。 チョコレートムース。
Portugese egg tart. Chocolate mousse.
I was not too excited at first about dining in a Portugese restaurant cos the very few times I had Portugese food, they were not very memorable experience. But this place turned out to be much much better than I expected. The food is simple but very delicious. Heavy use of garlic and coriander in almost all the dishes. Cod seems to be a common ingredient. I absolutely love the "fluffy" croquette and duck rice. The pork is a bit hard but the clam and the tomato sauce are very tasty. The Cataplana is a must try. The risotto is slightly salty but very good still. The desserts are not bad but nothing special. 6 of us shared all the food and we had about 2 drinks each(champagne and wine included), came to about 4000yen each - such good value!!
VILAMOURA
Comments(3) [ other cuisines | 新橋・銀座・日本橋 ]
February 14, 2007
博多もつ鍋 山笠
サラダとモツの明太子和え。
Salad. Motsu and mentaiko.
馬刺し盛り合わせ（赤身、霜降り、炙り） 。もつ鍋(味噌味)。
Assorted horse meat(sashimi and broiled). Motsu-nabe(miso based).
チャンポン。
Chanpon is added to the leftover soup.
Delicious motsu-nabe. A lot of seasoning stuff on the table(garlic, miso, chilli, wasabi...) for you to add yourself.
山笠
Comments(4) [ japanese food | 神宮前・青山・広尾 ]
February 12, 2007
Restaurant JOEL (ジョエル)
ズワイガニとカニミソのムース。周りはサフランの黄色を使ったホタテのムース。カニミソ・クリーム添え。
Cheese puff with prawn and pistachio inside.
Suwai-gani(snow crab) and kanimiso(crab innards) mousse. The yellow part is scallop and saffron mousse. Kanimiso cream is on the side.
海老のソテーとジャガイモのムース、ジャガイモチッブスのミルフィーユ仕立て。
鴨モモ肉の赤ワインソース。
Prawn Saute and potato mousse, potato chip mille-feuille - very simple but tasty.
Duck thigh meat in red wine sauce. My friend ordered venison and it tasted much better than mine. Later found out that this restaurant is famous for its vension....damn.
ワゴンデザート。
Wagon dessert. Had a piece of everything. The manager highly recommended(in fact he told us that everyone should have it) the gateau chocolat which is absolutely delicious. Love the basic caramel pudding and pear sorbet too. We also had some muscat dessert wine which is sweet and fragrant. Service is attentive and patient. The very knowledgeable and friendly manager is great fun to talk to. Dinner course is 8400yen.
N.B. This restaurant is going to move somewhere else by the end of this month and the name will change too.
JOEL
February 11, 2007
みますや
さくら刺（霜降り、赤身）。
Sakura sashi(sashimi of horse meat) - shimofuri(meat marbled with layers of fat) and lean meat.
牛煮込み。キノコ煮。
Simmered beef with onion. Simmered mushroom.
あん肝。穴子。
Ankimo. Anago.
カキフライ。柳川鍋。
Fried oyster. Yanagawa-nabe - hotpot made with dojo(loach - a small fish related to eel), burdock, leek and eggs.
肉豆腐。唐揚げ。
Meat and tofu. Kara-age.
ばい貝やわらか煮。焼き茄子。
Simmered water snails. Grilled aubergine.
ゲソ揚げ。玉子焼き。
Fried squid tentacles. Egg roll(very sweet).
季節のぬた。刺身盛り合わせ。
Maguro and vegetables with miso. Sashimi.
串カツ。ふぐのビール揚げ。
Fried pork skewers. Fried fugu.
きぬかつぎ（里芋）。お茶漬け（梅）。
Little taro. Ochatsuke - hot green tea poured on top of rice with savory soup seasoning and sour plum topping.
カレーうどん。肉うどん。焼きおにぎり。
Curry udon. Meat udon. Grilled onigiri.
A hundred-year-old izakaya with 99% of customers being salarymen and ojisan. ^^;;; The food is typical izakaya food, cheap and tasty. Many sake choices.
みますや
Comments(4) [ japanese food | 神田・神保町・秋葉原 ]
February 07, 2007
d'une rareté (デュヌラルテ)
マロン。シャテーニュ。キュブＢ。シリンドル ブール。
Marron tart. Marron bread. "Cube B": texture is somewhere between brioche and croissant. A candle shaped croissant. I like the cube and the candle.
d'une rareté
Comments(4) [ bakeries ]
February 04, 2007
Château Restaurant Joël Robuchon
Restaurant is on the second floor of the gorgeous "château".
We couldn't decide for a long time but finally opted for the more luxurious 12,000yen lunch course. The cheaper one is 7000yen.
Amuse-bouche is a spoonful of carrot jelly, blood orange sorbet and coriander foam.
特選生雲丹 甲殻類のジュレになめらかなカリフラワーのクレーム。
Uni and crustacean(prawn or crab?) jelly with cauliflower cream. A big chunk of fresh uni at the bottom which is super sweet. A memorable dish!
季節のキノコ 活帆立貝と合わせ、生姜の香るキノコのブイヨンを注いで。
Mushroom and scallop, with hot bouillon soup of mushroom and ginger poured (by the server).
宇和島産真鯛 特選カラスミと共にグラチネして、ヴァンジョンヌ風味のサバイヨンを添えて。
Gratiner of red seabream and karasumi, with sabayon(foamy sauce made from egg). The crispy layer of "gratin" tastes of cheese, very nice!
Bread are all great, with many different kinds to choose from. I like the basil(green one) and the little croissant with anchovy the most.
仔羊 パストラル風にローストし、ハーブのサラダを添えて。
Roasted baby lamb Pastoral style, with herb salad. Perfectly cooked, very tender and juicy. The black bits are truffle.
Avant dessert: Coffee jelly with amaretto and cocoa.
洋梨のスープ仕立て スフレを浮かべて アプリコット風味のソルベと共に。
Marron souffle in pear soup, with apricot sorbet. This is so good! I tried a bit of my friend's chocolate mousse but I like the souffle more.
The whole course is perfect. Just 100% PERFECT!! Every dish delicious without exceptions. I am seldom impressed by the fish course in French restaurants but I love the way they cook the fish. The lamb is easily one of the best(if not the best) I have ever eaten. Gosh I can see myself comparing lamb chops in other restaurants to this one from now onwards...
Service is very professional but not snobby. The interior is gorgeous of course. Unfortunately we were a big group and had to sit at the table right in the middle, which made us feel a little "exposed". The sofa seats next to the windows look much more comfortable~. Ladies get free French bread with nuts and dried fruits as souvenirs.
Joël Robuchon
Comments(13) [ my favourites | french food | 渋谷・恵比寿・代官山 ]
February 01, 2007
Don Ciccio （ドンチッチョ）
岩手短角牛のカルパッチョ。
Shorthorn beef carpaccio.
仔牛トリッパと茄子とアーモンド煮”シチリア風”。
”シラクーサ風”赤ピーマンと茄子のカラマリ、トマトソース。
Sicilian-style beef tripe and aubergine with almond.
Calamari alla Siracusana. "Calamari" is ring-shaped pasta that looks like squid ring. Red bell pepper and aubergine in tomato sauce.
白金豚ラグーとブロンテ産アーモンドのフジッリ。
”シチリア名物”イワシとウイキョウのカサレッチ。
Fusilli with Platinum pork ragu sauce and almond.
Casarecci with fennel and sardine. Traditional Sicilian dish.
白魚のスパゲッティーニ。
岩手骨付白金豚の香草炭火焼き。
Spaghetti with Bianchetti(tiny white fish which are spawn of sardines or anchovies, not sure which).
Charcoal grilled Platinum bone-in pork with herb.
大山地鶏と干しイチジクの”ウブリアカ”。
"Daisen" chicken and dried fig. Sweet sauce.
Right pic is my share of the 2 meat dishes.
あさりと仔羊リドヴォーのリングイネ。
大山地鶏とカボチャのヴェスヴォオ、クリームソース。
All four of us didn't feel quite enough....so after the main dishes we ordered some more pasta. The last two pasta were both 1.5 portion, while the ones before were all single portion.
Linguine with vongole(clam) and "ris de veau"(Lamb sweetbreads).
Vesuvio(pasta that looks like Mount Vesuvius? Just guessing...) with "Daisen" chicken and pumpkin in cream sauce.
Zuppa Inglese. Semifreddo.
Strawberry tiramisu. Gateau chocolat.
A famous Italian restaurant that closed down last year and re-opened with a new name. Many loyal fans apparently, one of them being my friend who tried the new place and said it was just as good as the old one. Already an impossible-to-book restaurant and you can only book two weeks in advance. Location is a bit inconvenient - quite far from both Shibuya and Omotesando station.
The food is great. All the pasta are very simple. Light and simple sauce with not much ingredients, but perfect al dente. Actually at first I thought the pasta were a little unimpressive (I love fancy sauces and fancy ingredients...) but the amazing thing was that I craved the simple, comforting taste immediately again. The pasta are not homemade though. The main dishes are pretty normal, especially the staff-recommended pork. Chicken in fig sauce is nicer.
4 of us went crazy and ordered so much food, plus 2 bottles of wine and mineral water and coffee, total was about 11000yen per person.
Atmosphere was very lively and energetic. Warm decor. A little crowded perhaps. It was full when we arrived, and when we finished around 11pm, there were still customers coming in! Appetizers and pastas came fast after we ordered, but the main dishes could be a bit slow in delivery. Despite of the negative comments I have read, the service is quite good. I am not saying this because all the staff are young and good-looking guys(which is quite a sight really ^^;;), but they know the menu well and are patient to explain to us. Also willing to split each and every one of the dishes for us. Though they didn't do the job so well.....the portion wasn't quite even and the ingredients were simply absent in some plates....often mine for some reason. ^^;; But definitely will go back!
Menu: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Don Ciccio
