Monthly Archive: January 2008 [10]
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January 31, 2008
Pātissier Shima （パティシェ・シマ＠麹町）
From two visits. Creme Shima is very good! Though the fig tart has only a very thin layer of fig on top and it is mostly cream - a bit too sweet for me. Marron tart is bascially a thick slice of marron paste.
Past entry here.
Pātissier Shima
Add: 3-12-4 Koujimachi, Chiyoda-ku (near Koujimachi or Hanzoumon station)
Tel: 03-3239-1031
Comments(2) [ cakes and sweets ]
Pierre Marcolini (ピエールマルコリーニ)
Marron Parfait, 1365yen. Expensive but very good! Available on the second floor of the "Glaces Cafe". Have been to the "Chocolat Cafe" next door long time ago(entry here).
Menu: 1, 2, 3
Pierre Marcolini
Add: 5-5-8 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-5537-0015
Comments(1) [ cakes and sweets | 新橋・銀座・日本橋 ]
January 29, 2008
馳走そっ啄
Japanese kaiseki tenshin lunch set, 3990yen. Full kaiseki lunch course is 7350yen, and dinner course is 10,000yen~. Quite famous place so reservation is a must, and you have to choose to start either from 11:30 or 13:00. There is no written menu and I've forgotten the waitress' explanation....so just pictures. Everything is very nice. Quite a lot of food too! I still managed to finish 3 helpings of the delicious chestnut rice. The assorted appetizer plate is all cold food. The little red dish is Japanese wine. Dessert is nama-fu zenzai. The quality of food is great but I must say I'm not so sure about the value for money, especially the restaurant looks just like a normal washoku place.
馳走そっ啄 (Chisou Sottaku)
Add: 2F, 6-7-7 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-3289-8010
Comments(4) [ japanese food | 新橋・銀座・日本橋 ]
January 25, 2008
Ristorante Tanicha (タニーチャ)
The restaurant is supposed to be 10mins walk from Roppongi or Nogizaka station, but it is so much of a hideaway in a nondescript residential area that, even with the help of a map and direction instructions from the restaurant staff through the phone, it still took us 20 mins to find it. Quite surprised that this obscure little restaurant was filled with salarymen on a Friday evening.
From 5000yen dinner course. You can choose the appetizer, pasta, main dish and dessert from a large variety of choices - took us more than half an hour to decide!
Amuse-bouche: Ankimo terrine. It is like an izakaya snack, a bit bitter. Should have ordered beer instead of champagne.
フォアグラと洋ナシのソテー、フランボアーズのヴィレコット風味。
Foie gras and pear saute, with raspberry vinegar(+600yen). I always end up ordering foie gras...but oh this is so good! The combination of sweet pear+foie gras+cheese is absolute heaven.
Sample of the handmade pasta available was brought to us to choose.
One mouthful of simple spaghetti with cheese. It was nice but I was very puzzled about what it was for...I can understand a simple pasta at the end of the course in case you are still hungry, but right after the appetizer? I later realised it was a good idea because the next pasta course was a looooooong wait...
Piping hot homemade bread.
アニョロッティーニ"Tanicha"風。
カカオを打ち込んだカネロニ 野鹿のラグー。
Tanicha-style Agnolottini. It is filled with four kinds of meat - pork, beef, chicken and hare.
Cocoa Cannelloni rolled with Venison Ragu.
My friend and I chose different pasta and the staff split them into half to let us try them both, so the pics show half portion. Both are so good, so rich with complex flavours of meat, cheese and herb. I wish the portion were bigger though~ we were desperately trying to cut each piece of pasta into half so that we could enjoy it longer, while all I wanted to do was to stuff my face with a huge bowl of it....^^;;
金曜Special「タニーチャローストの日」料理。 チョコレートのスフレ。
Friday is Special "Tanicha Roast day". Okinawa "AGU" pork roasted with herb. The madam brought the whole chuck to show us at the beginning. It tastes so much like Cantonese roasted pig apart from the herb. Served simple with mustard and green pepper. The skin is the hard crispy kind. 90% of my cut is pure fat though, with a little white meat near the bone. Dessert is Chocolate souffle. It doesn't look like souffle but it is nice and light with chocolate sauce in the middle. It is hot from the oven.
Glass wine is 1200~1500yen. I had a glass of red and it was really nice. Plus a glass of Rose champagne(1000yen), extra charge for the foie gras, 10% service charge, my bill was about 9000yen. I would say it is a bit expensive, especially the portion is really tiny. But then the restaurant is in a posh area. The whole course took us 4 hours, even we were slow on deciding the menu, delivery of food was simply too slow. The madam actually apologised to us for the delay.
Menu(J): 1, 2, 3.
Ristorante Tanicha
Add: 1-5-16 Nishi-Azabu, Minato-ku
Tel: 03-5775-6050
Comments(2) [ italian food | 麻布・六本木・赤坂 ]
January 22, 2008
茶房 はん亭 (Sabou Hantei)
Hantei is a famous high-class kushiage(deep-fried food on skewers) restaurant. I've only been there for dinner once years ago and the old Japanese wooden building was very impressive; the food was delicious but also expensive(at least 10,000yen per person). This casual Japanese cafe "Sabou Hantei" is right next door and serves simple and cheap Japanese meals and desserts.
焼き茄子と豚しゃぶのとろろポン酢、￥１２００。
Grilled aubergine and pork shabu in tororo(grated yam) ponzu. Lunch set on weekdays includes either a coffee(with whipped cream) or a small "mamekan" - beans and kanten with "black honey".
鰻冊めし、￥１３００。
Uzaku meshi - Nagoya style unagi rice. For the first bowl, you have unagi and rice on its own, then you add the veggy pickles on the second bowl, and for the last you pour hot tea to make ochatsuke.
秋刀魚の香り揚げ、彩りおろし、￥１１００。
クリーム芋あん あんみつ、￥７００。
Fried Sanma with grated radish and herb.
Anmitsu with ice-cream and sweet potato.
鮭と根菜いろいろ炊き合わせ、香り味噌添え、￥１２００。
Salmon and root vegetables takiawase with miso.
豚の竜田と温野菜の岩海苔ソース、￥１２００。
そばろ弁当、￥１１００。
Pork Tatsuta-age(marinated and deep-fried) with vegetables and seaweed sauce.
Soboro bento. Minced beef and egg are both sweet.
新・イタリー丼、￥１１００。
"Italy don". Rice bowl with tomato, asparagus, onion, and lots of herbs.
Food here is absolutely delicious. Portion is generous. The staff are friendly. I always step out of this place full and satisfied. Though there are only a few options for lunch and they change only every few months. I basically tried everything on the summer, the autumn and the winter menu. My favourites are the pork Tatsuta-age, the unagi rice, and the Italy rice bowl. They serve Japanese sweets too but lunch set comes with dessert(during weekdays) so I've only tried the Animitsu which is good but I think specialised Japanese sweet shops are better, like this one nearby.
Menu(J): 1, 2, 3, 4.
茶房 はん亭
Add: 2-12-15 Nezu, Bunkyo-ku
Tel: 03-3827-5317
Comments(2) [ japanese food | good cheap eats | 本郷・根津・湯島・上野 ]
January 19, 2008
L'Artemis Petillante (ラルテミス・ペティアント)
5250yen 4-course dinner has the choice of either: 2 appetizers+main+dessert, or appetizer+fish+meat+dessert. I had the later. There is also a 3990yen course which is the basic 3-course meal: 1 appetizer, 1 main and 1 dessert. The portion for each dish is slightly bigger for the 3 course dinner compared to the 4-course one.
フォアグラのポワレといちじくのロースト（＋６３０円）。
Chilled corn soup.
Foie gras and roasted fig(+630yen).
本日の魚のポワレ（カレイ） 丸ナスの厚切りローストとシェリーヴィネガーとケッパーのソースで。
フランス産 小鴨のヘーゼルナッツ焼き（＋６３０円）。
Pan-fried "karei" flat fish, roasted aubergine, sherry vinegar and caper sauce.
Grilled baby duck with hazelnut(+630yen).
本日のスフレ（洋ナシ）。
Pear Souffle and pear sorbet.
The food are not impressive but not bad in general. The roasted fig is really nice though the duck is a bit normal. Many of the tempting choices in the menu have additional charges, like the foie gras and the duck. But the boring-sounding options without additional charges actually look good too so maybe it is best to stick to the basic options for better value. Tax is included and the service charge is 7%. Unfortunately the service is far from great - try to get the manager to explain the menu cos the waitress is not so helpful. Glass wine is less 800~900yen. Location is a bit inconvenient - about 10 mins from Harajuku station if you don't get lost.
Menu(J): 1, 2, 3, 4.
L'Artemis Petillante
Add: 2-31-7 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 03-5786-0220
Comments(2) [ french food | 神宮前・青山・広尾 ]
January 16, 2008
La Saetta（ラ・サエッタ）
Have been here before(entry here and here), but didn't get around to try their brown rice lunch and dessert.
玄米ランチプレート、￥１０００。 沖縄産寿豚パラ肉と季節野菜のボッリートミスト、サルサヴェルデ添え（＋￥２００）。
Brown rice lunch plate: Okinawa pork belly and seasonal vegetables pot-au-feu with Salsa Verde. The pork is soft and very nice with the green sauce. Also came with Minestrone, curry-taste omelette and brown rice. Dessert is panna cotta made from milk, which is unfortunately a bit bland. Lunch includes a small cup of either coffee, Okinawa herb tea or Genmai-cha.
牛バラ肉のキノコたっぷりラグー、温泉卵添え、￥１０００。
Beef belly meat and mushroon Ragu sauce with hotspring egg.
自家製サルシャチャとケッパー、キノコの白いワインソース、￥１０００。
玄米ランチプレート： オーストリア産牛ホホ肉の白ワイン煮込み マッシュポテト添え、￥１０００。
Salsiccia, caper, mushroom, white wine sauce.
Cow cheek simmered in white wine with mashed potato. Again brown rice lunch comes with Minestrone.
築地直送 エビと有機野菜のフリット タルタル添え、￥１０００。
カキとキノコ、豆のクリームソース、￥１０００。
Prawn and organic vegetables fritter with Tartare sauce. I asked for the Minestrone to come together with meal so that I can eat the brown rice with the soup, which is much nicer.
Oyster and mushroom, in cream sauce with beans.
築地直送 魚介のトマトソース、￥１０００。
Seafood tomato sauce.
Very very nice lunch at an excellent price. The portion is big enough to fill me up and the quality is high. My favourites are Okinawa pork belly and prawn fritter; though everything is good. Too bad they only do lunch during Tue-Fri. This place is a bit hard to find but well worth the effort if you are in the area. Walkable distance from Okachimachi/Ueno.
Menu(J): 1, 2.
La Saetta
Add: 1-3-5 Ueno, Taito-ku
Tel: 03-3832-1311
Comments(4) [ italian food | good cheap eats | 本郷・根津・湯島・上野 ]
January 13, 2008
お好み焼 きじ (Okonomiyaki Kiji)
モダン焼き。
Modanyaki: Squid, pork, yakisoba and egg.
豚もやし。 スジポン。
Pork and beansprout, topped with egg and spring onion.
Beef tendon in ponzu.
げそ玉。 焼きうどん。
Gesotama: Squid tentacles. Salt flavour.
Yakiudon. Ponzu flavour.
ポテト。 ちから。
Potato. Salt flavour.
Chikara: Mochi, Konnyaku, Chikuwa. Soy sauce flavour.
えび豚。
Ebi-buta: Prawn and pork.
Super popular Okonomiyaki restaurant from Osaka. We went around 5:30pm on a weekday and luckily there was no queue yet but the seats were already half-filled. After that the queue just kept getting longer and longer. They don't take reservation so there is no other easy way other than going early on a weekday or be patient and queue. Once you are inside though, the atmosphere is quite relaxed and the waiters won't try to hurry you or anything. All the food are cooked in the kitchen and delivered to your hotplate table for you to sprinkle seaweed or katsuobushi on top. The food are very nice in general, despite they are slightly on the salty side. Not the harder, more solid okonomiyaki I am familiar with, but the soft and liquidy kind. Other than the regular "sauce flavour", which is easy to get tired of cos it is so sweet, you can also choose "Salt" or "Soy sauce" or "Ponzu" for some items. Four of us shared all the food and with 2-3 drinks each, it was about 2500yen per person.
Menu(J): 1, 2.
お好み焼 きじ 丸の内店 (Kiji Marunouchi)
Add: B1 2-7-3 Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku(Inside Tokia)
Tel: 03-3216-3123
Comments(4) [ my favourites | japanese food | 有楽町・丸の内 ]
January 10, 2008
鳥つね自然洞
特上親子丼、￥１６００。
Tokujo Oyakodon, 1600yen. Tokujo is the highest rank in the menu.
More than anything, I love the egg! Very rich taste and smooth and still runny and just perfect with the super delicious rice. The chicken meat is still pink when served and I am sure it is fresh and everything but, hard, fatless chicken is just not my thing.
上タタキ親子丼、￥１３００。
特上もつ入り親子丼、￥１９００。
Jo-tataki Oyakodon, 1300yen. The staff warned me that the chicken meat is minced, but the combination of half-cooked egg and rice and minced chicken is so heavenly.
Tokujo Oyakodon with Motsu(chicken giblets), 1900yen. Motsu seems to be very popular and runs out really quickly. It is nice but that is a lot of motsu with one bowl of rice - even though I can eat it, I can't eat a lot.
親子丼セット、￥２１００。
Oyakodon set. The simple oyakodon is the lowest rank in the menu, but...I actually like the chicken meat better than the highest rank one! It is soft! Hoever my impression is that the egg, and even the rice are not as delicious as the Tokujo. The set is 2100yen and includes a chicken salad and two Tori-shinjo(deep-fried minced chicken). Since lowest rank Oyakodon is only 1000yen, the salad and the shinjo alone cost 1100yen!
上親子丼、￥１３００。かつ丼、￥１１００。
Jo-oyakon. Chicken is pink and soft and juicy! Like it!
Katsu-don. Fried chicken with egg.
In sum, I think for the egg and the rice, I like Tokujo the most, but for chicken meat, I prefer the middle rank Jo-oyakon and below. Jo-tataki is also a favourite. This place is very famous but there is no queue at lunchtime on weekdays.
Menu(J) here.
鳥つね自然洞 (Toritsune Shizendou)
Add: 5-5-2, Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku (Not far from Akihabara)
Tel: 03-5818-3566
Comments(3) [ my favourites | japanese food | good cheap eats | 本郷・根津・湯島・上野 ]
January 07, 2008
Caudalie (コーダリー)
From the 1800yen lunch course(available on weedays only).
Bread is hot and refillable. Chilled(still summer when I went) turnip soup with Iberico pork bits on top.
豚のロース肉のポアレ、白いんげん豆のトマト煮、メルゲーズ添え。
Green salad and pickled vegetables.
Pan-fried pork loin, white kidney beans in tomato stew, and Merguez sausage.
Herb tea and petit fours.
Went back and had the 1800yen lunch again. Chilled green asparagus soup. Beef fillet and vegetables with rice, teriyaki style. The salad is the same(here) while the petit fours have different flavours(here). Last time I kept having more bread cos they were so good, and the manager seemed to remember and kept giving me more bread this time too...3 bread plus rice with the main dish, I was so stuffed by the end. But from this time onwards, they don't warm the bread anymore - kitchen staff too busy? Still good though.
Third time. Vichyssoise with consomme jelly in it. It is so nice! Panfried fish(2 kinds) in crustacean and basil sauce.
Fourth time round I tried the 2800yen lunch. Asparagus and broccoli soup.
Escargot on mushroom with garlic cappuccino sauce.
Grilled quail. Black sesame seed creme brulee and nougat ice-cream with marron and apricot. Also includes coffee and petit fours.
This restaurant is still pretty new. When I first went in summer, it was never full, but now it is always fully booked even on weekdays lunchtime, which is quite amazing cos its location is obscure and entirely off the main road(though it is near Ueno Park). The food is delicious and the value is amazing. 1800yen lunch is really a good deal, though the menu for it doesn't change much. I basically tried all available options for the 1800yen lunch. The restaurant is tiny and there is only one guy(very friendly) serving. Tax is included and no service charge at lunch or dinner.
Menu(J): 1, 2.
Caudalie
Add: 1-6-19 Ikenohata, Taito-ku
Tel: 03-3828-3006
