Monthly Archive: December 2007 [9]
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December 29, 2007
よし房凛
田舎蕎麦、￥７５０。 小天丼、￥５００。
Inaka(country) soba and small tendon(tempura on rice).
辛味大根あげ餅そば、￥９５０。 小天丼、￥５００。
きざみそば（焼き油揚げと薬味合わせ）、￥９５０。
Radish and fried mochi soba, and a small tendon.
Kizami soba: Aburaage and seaweed etc.
ごぼう天そば、￥１０００。 磯天おろしそば、￥１３００。
Burdock root(gobo) tempura soba.
Isoten oroshi soba.
鴨南蛮、￥１６００。 かき揚せいろ、￥１４００。
Kamo-nanban: duck soba.
Kakiage(mixed tempura fritter) seiro.
天せいろ、￥１６００。 地蔵そば、￥９５０。
Seiro soba with tempura.
Jizou soba: Aburaage and ankake(thick starchy sauce with soy sauce taste).
梅そば、￥１０５０。
Ume(sour plum) soba.
山かけ、￥９５０。
Yamakake: Grated yam with quail egg.
そばがき、￥１０５０。
Sobagaki- kneaded buckwheat dough, served hot with soy sauce.
A soba place that I am totally addicted to. Everything is so delicious. Not only the soba noodles that is fantasic, but also the tempura, the duck, and many other toppings. For a soba place, the price is very reasonable considering the portion and the quality. Getting a small tendon(500yen) will make even a big eater like me leave with a happily stuffed belly. I tried almost everything in the lunch menu and all are so great that I don't mind going back for another round of the menu again, especially because you can choose either hot noodles with soup, or cold ones without soup, and I want to try both!
Lunch menu(J): 1, 2.
Past entries: 1, 2, 3.
よし房凛(Yoshibourin)
Add: 2-36-1, Nezu, Bunkyo-ku
Tel: 03-3823-8454
Comments(4) [ my favourites | japanese food | good cheap eats | 本郷・根津・湯島・上野 ]
December 27, 2007
L'Embellir (ランベリー)
カリカリのじゃがいもで包んだ赤座海老、オリエンタルなソース。
栗とリンゴのラビオリ、秋のキノコのソース。
From 4410yen lunch course.
Langoustines in fried potato roll, oriental sauce(herb).
Ravioli of chestnut and apple, in autumn mushroom sauce.
うずらの丸ごととココット焼き、黒豚とフォワグラを詰めて、ソース・マデール。
Cocotte grilled quail stuffed with minced kurobuta(pork) and foie gras, Madere sauce. (+1050yen)
Chocolate mousse with honey ice-cream, chocolate and Rosemary ganache with vanilla ice-cream.
Been here before - old entry here. I love the food much more this time cos my choices were all-hit-no-miss to my taste! You are supposed to choose 1 cold appetizer, 1 hot appetizer and 1 main dish, but instead I ordered 2 hot appetizers and 1 main(with no additional charge!) so I got to try the specialty Langoustines, and the ravioli which has my favourite food Japanese chestnut in it. Both are absolutely fantastic. The main dish and the dessert are both satisfying as well. The value for lunch is really not bad. Though glass wine is about 1575yen so it might be better to order bottles.
We went to this restaurant for lunch a few days after it got 1 Michelin star(though we booked way ahead) and saw all these flower bouquets in the front door. Some are from restaurants which also got Michelin stars.
L'Embellir
Add: 4-17-33 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku
Tel: 03-3423-0131
Comments(2) [ my favourites | french food | 神宮前・青山・広尾 ]
December 23, 2007
Gunma hotspring trip DAY 2
On the second day, we travelled by train and then by bus to a different hotspring called Ikaho onsen（伊香保温泉）. We stayed in Hotel Kogure（ホテル木暮）. The hotspring is more modern style, more spa-like than the "hotspring in the midst of the wilds" that we enjoyed very much the previous day. The mountain view(no snow yet in this area) is not as beautiful as the previous one too, but our room is more comfortable as we pay almost double for this hotel, and we don't have to walk in the cold to get to the hotsprings. The hotsprings are divided into female-only and male-only, and they are swapped everyday such that you can try half of the hotsprings at night, and the other half in the morning. Rooms with private spa attached are also available. There is a bar, there is a karaoke, there is a sauna, there is massage service and ganban-yoku (stone-slab bath) if you are willing to pay. We saw a few employee groups having gatherings in the private halls. Seems like this place is not so foreigner-oriented. When I went to get a beer from the bar, the staff immediately knew my name cos apparently two of us were the only foreigners in the entire hotel. ^^;;;; But the staff are very very friendly.
After we checked-in and dumbed our luggages, we took the "Gunma bus"(群馬バス) to an area which is famous for its "Mizusawa udon"(水沢うどん). A friend recommended Osawaya（大澤屋） so there we went.
Simmered leek and pork, and maitake mushroom tempura are both very nice. The udon is however nothing special...
Many udon shops packed along one small road.
An old temple at the end of the udon road.
Ishidan-gai(石段街）, i.e. stone steps street. I expected more souvenir stores and more lively atmosphere but it was really quiet and felt more like a local street. My friend who was planning to buy souvenirs was quite disappointed. Well, it is a nice stroll. Better pictures from my friend's camera(my camera died on me at that time): 1, 2, 3, 4. They were taken near the top.
Dinner in the private room of the dining hall.
Abalone was so fresh that it was still moving on the hotplate.
Very delicious rice.
For the rice, the abalone and the beef, the staff told us to wait until the fire goes off, which is fine for the rice and the abalone, but the beef was overcooked by then...but it is still nice cos the quality of the beef is good.
The thick flat udon and the soup are so nice that I finished the last drop even though my stomach was bursting full. I was going to leave the dessert cos it didn't look appealing, but after tasting a little piece, I couldn't resist eating the whole thing cos it was so good. Everything in the course is absolutely delicious. Very satisfied!
Menu(J) here.
We got a beer and thought we would relax in the foot spa...but we forgot that the foot spa was outdoor and it was freezing cold even with our feet immersed in hot water. After snapping some pics, we dived right back inside....
Breakfast is buffet. The miso soup has crab in it, very nice! (We speculated that the crab might be leftover ingredients from dinner last night - you could choose two main dishs from abalone, beef and crab.)
At the most perfect timing, Ikaho hotspring was introduced on TV a few days before we went there.
Comments(9) [ other parts of japan ]
December 21, 2007
Gunma hotspring trip DAY 1
Minakami(水上) station in Gunma（群馬） Prefecture. From Ueno station in Tokyo, it is about two and a half hour to three hours by train. There are a few souvenir stores right in front of the station, but other than that, the town is very quiet.
Very nice grilled curry gratin rice in Caffe Restaurant ASIMA near Minakami station.
We stayed in Ousenkaku(汪泉閣) of Takaragawa hotspring(宝川温泉). The hotel sent a bus to pick us up from Minakami station.
Reception room where we were served tea and were introduced to the facilities in the hotel. The Japanese staff spoke really good English and Mandarin(!!). That's probably why there were quite a lot of foreign visitors. We wanted to save up money, so we stayed in the cheapest room without toilet and bath inside. There is a toilet right outside our room and we took shower before going into the hotspring anyway, so it wasn't that bad. The whole stay including dinner and breakfast is less than 10,000yen per person(there were two of us). The contents of the meals are exactly the same whichever room you stay in.
View from our room.
You need to cross a bridge to go to the hotspring.
Breath-taking views!
Bears in cages!
Entrance to the hotsprings.
There are 3 konyoku(mixed-gender bathing) hotsprings and 1 female-only hotspring. Females are allowed to go into the mixed hotsprings with bath towels wrapped around their bodies(usually you cannot put a towel into the hotspring water), but we were still too chicken and went straight for the female-only one.
Okay you are not supposed to take pics of the hotsprings...but we were early and there was no one there. ^^;;
The stream is right next to the hotspring.
Dinner time! If you pay more, you can have dinner served in your room. But we just ate in the restaurant.
Some river fish's sashimi and its roe. Chawanmushi and tempura.
Beef kaminabe(paper hotpot).
Grilled fish, mushroom and root vegetables.
Grilled chicken. Bear soup. I asked the waitress about the bear soup and she reassured me that the bear meat is from Hokkaido and NOT from the bears we saw earlier. ^^;; The food is really tasty. I especially like the beef, and also the bear soup which has many goodies like different kinds of taro, root vegetables and chewy floury things. I was so so so stuffed by the end.
Breakfast. You can choose either Japanese or Western.
Comments(11) [ other parts of japan ]
December 13, 2007
Cuisine[s] Michel Troisgros (キュイジーヌ[S] ミッシェル・トロワグロ)
French restaurant inside the Hotel Hyatt Regency. Check out the English review here.
Very high-quality snacks!
Amuse-bouche is green peas soup with mango and some citrus fruit jelly in it.
Homemade bread is basil, bacon and one I forgot.
トマトのジュレ、マスカルポーネ オリーブとレザンのラビオリ仕立て。
真鱈のパヴェ、ポワローのグリエと舞茸添え、マスタードのジュー。
Tomato jelly with two kinds of ravioli - mascarpone ravioli, olive and raisin ravioli.
Madara(Pacific cod) with grilled leek and maitake mushroom in mustard sauce. The sauce is made from beef stock and katsuobushi.
シャラン産鴨肉、無花果のバニュールスワイン煮、ポムスフレとフォルムダンベール。
Challans Duck with fig cooked in Banyuls wine, potato souffle with Fourme d'Ambert cheese and wasabi. We had to add the duck sauce ourselves. I chose the 10,000yen lunch course instead of the cheaper ones simply because I wanted to eat this!
Yogurt mousse and orange. Chocolate tarte with coffee cream inside. Ice-cream is caramel and anise flavour.
High-quality petit fours!
I have heard about this place for a long time and everyone warned me that the food is not "classic French" but more modern Japanese-French fusion kind of cuisine. The fish is definitely very Japanese, while the rest are light and delicate tasting and use quite a bit of herbs. I like the food alright but am not crazy about it. The environment is elegant, and the service, though a bit formal, is very professional. Somehow there are menus for 7500yen and 10,000yen course, but the cheapest 5000yen has no menu which makes it a bit embarassing to order...btw I went to this place before it got 2 Michelin stars...probably hard to book now.
Cuisine[s] Michel Troisgros
Comments(6) [ french food | 代々木・新宿・新大久保 ]
December 10, 2007
美味一服 めぐり
ばあばのヘルシーランチ、￥１０００。
Organic cafe serving very good Japanese set meals. It is on the second floor of a big kimono store. Many madams in kimono during lunch time! Healthy lunch set is 1000yen. You can choose plain rice, brown rice or takikomi-gohan which is rice cooked with mushroom, vegetables etc. This place is not vegetarian as they serve fish, such as maguro(tuna), though it is in healthy amount.
ばあばのヘルシー小漬け丼ランチ、￥１３００。
黒ごまプリン、￥６５０。
Lunch set including a small maguro rice bowl, 1300yen. Sesame seed pudding, 650yen.
The veggy dishes change everyday. I usually have brown rice but this day I had rice with Japanese chestnuts. If you order the set meal, you can order a small dessert for 300yen. I had the softcream with blueberry sauce. The softcream here has won some reward apparently. It is nice but I am not sure why it is so special....
京うどんセット、￥１０００。 マロンソフト、￥８００。
Kyoto udon set with one veggy side dish, 1000yen. Udon on its own is 700yen.
Marron soft, 800yen. Expensive but quite nice with whole marron on top, marron bits here and there, and marron cream at the bottom.
薬膳スープ粥セット、￥１３００。
Rice porridge with many grains and chinese medicine ingredients, plus a salad, 1300yen.
白玉ぜんざいソフト、￥８５０。
Usual lunch set. "Shiratama Zenzai Soft"(850yen) is just okay though.
冷たいごまだれうどんセット、￥１０００。
Cold udon with sesame sauce, 1000yen.
Cheese cake, 650yen. Tastes normal, and still a bit frozen.
お茶漬け、￥７００。 抹茶 ア・フォガード、￥８００。
Ochatsuke, 700yen. For the standard lunch set, you can ask for second helping of the rice, but that is not available for ochatsuke. I didn't know that and I ate one bowl of rice with half of the toppings and saved half for the next bowl. Ended up having to order another bowl of rice, which is, well, 200yen only.
Softcream with freshly made matcha, 800yen. This is nice.
The standard healthy lunch set is the best, both in quality and value. Soup udon is nice too. For desserts, all the softcream parfaits and the sesame seed pudding are good. Though I think the price of dessert is too high....I still order it everytime though....
Menu(J): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.
美味一服 めぐり (Meguri)
Add: 2F Ueno 1-20-11, Taito-ku
Tel: 03-3834-5154
Comments(6) [ japanese food | good cheap eats | 本郷・根津・湯島・上野 ]
December 08, 2007
Il Sale (イルサーレ)
ミンチにした魚介のスパゲッティ。
1300yen lunch course includes appetizer, garlic bread, pasta, dessert and coffee. For the pasta, there are usually 4 choices: 1 garlic and olive oil sauce, 2 tomato sauce and 1 cream sauce. I had the minced seafood spaghetti in garlic and olive oil. It is very nice! The spaghetti is perfectly cooked with the right al dente. Dessert is tea mousse which is good too.
三色ピーマンのトマトソーススパゲッティ。
Back for the 1000yen pasta lunch, which includes a simple salad instead of an appetizer. I had the Tri-colour bell pepper spaghetti in tomato sauce. Dessert is espresso mousse. Both are good.
Very popular local Italian restaurant serving cheap and high quality lunches. The atmosphere is lively and the staff are very efficient(albeit a little bit too attentive perhaps).
btw, Yanesen(Yanaka + Nezu + Sendagi) is a pretty cool area for a walk.
Menu(J): 1, 2.
Il Sale (Near Sendagi station)
Add: 3-36-11 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku.
Tel: 03-3821-8810
Comments(2) [ good cheap eats | 本郷・根津・湯島・上野 ]
December 06, 2007
Bistrot Vendange (ビストロ ヴァンダンジュ)
若鶏もも肉とオレンジのサラダ。
豚肩ロース肉のトマト チーズのせ焼き。
栗のケーキ。
From a couple of lunch visits. 1000yen lunch includes appetizer and main. Hmm it is cheap for a reason. Chicken and orange salad was drowned in oily dressing. Grilled pork shoulder meat with tomato and cheese was a bit undercooked. I also got the chestnut cake for 400yen and coffee for 100yen. Bad move. Both were pretty horrible.
白身魚と小海老のテリーヌ。
牛腹身肉のステーキ マデラ酒ソース。
Fish and prawn terrine(+200yen). Beef steak with Madeira wine sauce.
Both are just so-so.
栗のフラン鶏レバーのせ。
サーモンの香草ソース。
Chestnut flan with chicken liver. Salmon in herb sauce.
Again so-so and very greasy. Instead of bread(which is dry and no good), I asked for rice which made it easier to finish the oily food. Well it is just 1000yen...
Lunch menu(J): 1, 2, 3.
Bistrot Vendange
Add: 1-9-1 Ueno, Taito-ku
Tel: 03-3834-0722
December 02, 2007
Tapas Molecular Bar
The much-hyped "chemistry experiment" dinner course at Tapas Molecular Bar!
食前酒。 カブラレスとさきいか。
Opening Aperitif: Yakult and beer. Cabrales Cuttlefish.
カリカリビーツ。
Olive cloud. Crispy beets.
ホタテとカボチャソルベ。
Chef cooking the scallop, which is served with pumpkin sorbet.
赤。 トミくん。
Red: Tomato and beets. Tommy Thai: prawn in Thai style.
いちごのスパゲッティ。
Chef making the "spaghetti" that is more like kanten. Strawberry and Pesto Spaghetti.
手長海老、アーモンド、きのこ。 ジュージュー肉。
Scampi, Almond, Grapefruit.
Warm Sizzling Beef. The beef popped out from a steel foam dispenser...
にんじんキャビア。
Carrot Caviar. Made using the syringes! XD
Tomato and water melon. Served steaming(pic here).
イベリコの秘密。
Secreta de Cerdo: Smoked Iberico pork. The cup is used to trap the smoke. Smells wonderful.
うなぎ、パイナップル、味噌。
Unagi, Pineapple, Miso.
Cold and foamy corn soup on top of foie gras hot soup.
ジューシーラム。
Ice of something I forgot. Juicy Lamb.
味噌汁。
Sweet liqueur inside the straw. At first we didn't know and were waiting for the "drink" to come...but it was just one monthful of liqueur in the straw.
Miso Soup on a spoon. The white balls are tofu jelly and the green powder is wakame...really tastes like miso soup.
くうき氷。
Blue Hawaii. The chef said you should finish it in 20 seconds. I panicked taking pictures! The chef scared us that because it is so cold, it could freeze our tongues if we were not careful...but he didn't say how to be careful.
ブルーベリーとローリエ。
Blueberries and Laurel: Blueberry sponge cake.
Desserts for one.
サフランとチョコレートのカプセル。 カプチーノのわたあめ。
Close up of the Saffron Chocolate Tarte, and Cappuccino cotton candy.
Fruit Course. After eating the miracle fruit(red thing in the right pic) and keeping it in your mouth for a while, the sour fruits like lemon and lime tasted so sweet with all the sourness gone. It is amazing!
What a fun experience. The food was actually very delicious which I didn't expect at all. Plus all the performances and surprises that keep you in high tension for more than 2 hours, I think it is worth a visit. They have a chef who can explain everything in English so foreigners can enjoy it just as much.
Wine menu here and here.
Food menu here.
Dinner course alone is 12000yen per person.
Tapas Molecular Bar
