Le Petit Tonneau Kudanshita (ル・プティ・トノー＠九段下)

Posted on April 25, 09 by seat

豚ほほ肉赤ワイン煮　チョコレート風味、￥１８００。
Pork cheek meat red wine stew with chocolate flavour, Y1800. This one is the best lunch I had in this place. I tried a couple of stewed meat lunch after this but they didn’t taste as good.

I think this place is pretty well-known among foreigners living in Tokyo. Its nearest station is Kudanshita but it is less than 10 mins walk from Jimbocho. I’ve had dinner here before long time ago(see tag). This post is made up of entirely weekday lunch visits when the menu is cheaper than the weekends’. On weekdays, this place is packed with Japanese salarymen and OLs, occasionally you see groups of foreigners or old Japanese couples who seem happy to talk to the foreigner staff in French.

Food-wise, I must say the quality varies depending what you order. The Y1050 spaghetti/short pasta/risotto lunch are very standard and not bad for a workday lunch. The Y1800 meat/fish lunch can range from “delicious!” to “hmm okay” to “…..terrible”. The portion also depends on the day. I guess if you come here for >10 times and you average out all the lunches, you will get a rating somewhere around “not bad”.

豚挽のトマトファルシ　サラダ添え、￥１８００。
Tomato Farcie with grounded pork, Y1800.

豚バラ赤ワイン煮　白いんげん豆添え、￥１８００。
Pork belly red wine stew, white kidney beans, Y1800.

シュークルート、￥１８００。
Choucroute, Y1800.

桜海老　トマトソーススパゲティ、￥１０５０。
黄桃のタルト、￥３００。
Sakura-ebi(prawn) tomato sauce spaghetti, Y1050. Yellow peach tart, Y300.

的鯛とケッパーのリゾット、￥１０５０。
Matou-dai(fish) and caper risotto, Y1050.

仔羊のロースト、￥１８００。
Roasted lamb, Y1800.

牛ホホ肉のビール煮込み　赤キャベツのブレゼ添え、￥１８００。
Cow cheek beer stew with red cabbage braiser, Y1800.

いとよりのブレゼ、岩のりのリゾット添え、￥１８００。
Itoyori(fish) braiser and seaweed risotto, Y1800. I think fish lunch is generally better than meat lunch.

鮮魚のポワレムール貝のスープ仕立て、￥１８００。
Pan-fried fish with mussel and soup, Y1800.

かさごのポワレかぶとベーコンのクリーム煮、￥１８００。
Pan-fried Kasago, turnip and bacon cream stew, Y1800.

かきクリームのスパゲッティ、￥１０５０。
Oyster cream spaghetti, Y1050.

仔羊肉とキャベツのショートパスタ、￥１０５０。
Baby lamb and cabbage short pasta, Y1050.

目鯛のポワレキャベツのブレゼ、￥１８００。
Pan-fried Medai and cabbage braiser, Y1800.

ステーキ　フリット、￥１８００。
Steak and frites, Y1800.
Menu: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

Le Petit Tonneau – Kudanshita (ル・プティ・トノー＠九段下)

太陽のトマト麺 (Taiyo no Tomato men)

Posted on April 4, 09 by seat

A chain ramen shop near Tokyo Dome that promotes LOHAS(heathy + environmental friendly). Usually I try not to go near chain/franchise food joints simply because of the high chance of having a 21-year-old part-timer cooking in the kitchen, but this shop is alright even though the cook is different depends on the day of the week and all of them are pretty young. Their homepage says the soup base is low-fat chicken, the noodles have soy milk blended in, the vegetables are low in agricultural chemicals, and organic tomatoes from Italy are used(why not use local ones? ). Healthy claims aside, I think the food is not bad in general, and it does feel good to have a bowl of noodles that is not oily or salty and has a lot of tomatoes in it. Plus it is cheap, it is non-smoking, and it opens all day, everyday of the week.

太陽のチーズラーメン、￥８３０。らぁリゾ、￥１５０。
Cheese ramen. “Risotto” that you can put into the leftover tomato soup.

鶏パイタンＢランチ（鶏パイタン麺＋鶏めし）、￥７８０。
Lunch set available during Mon-Sat lunch hours. Chicken paitan(white soup) ramen + chicken rice.

太陽のボンゴレ麺、￥８８０。唐揚げ、￥１００。
Vongole-men. The clams are just toppings. Kara-age(fried chicken). This one is juicy but I had a really dry one before.

太陽のエッグラーメン、￥７８０。にんにくネギめし、￥２８０。
Egg ramen. Garlic and spring onion rice.

鶏パイタン麺全部のせ（にんにく・味付玉子・アオサのり・ねぎザル盛）、￥９３０。
チーズの包み揚げ、￥３８０。
Chicken Paitan ramen with all the toppings(garlic, seasoned egg, seaweed, spring onion). Fried cheese dumplings.

太陽の茄子ラーメン、￥８００。替玉たまご、￥２００。
Aubergine ramen(slightly spicy). Kaedame-tamago(extra portion of noodles plus a raw egg to put into leftover soup).

アサリ野菜炒め、￥４８０。炙り鶏チャーシュウ麺、￥７８０。
Clams and vegetables. Chicken charshu-men – the chicken is heated with a burner.

太陽のＡランチ（太陽のラーメン＋ネギめし）、￥８５０。ランチ味玉、￥５０。
Lunch set available during Mon-Sat lunch hours. Taiyo no ramen + spring onion rice. Plus a seasoned egg topping(Y50 at lunch time)

Menu(J): 1, 2, 3.

太陽のトマト麺 (Taiyo no Tomato men)
Add: 2-17-8 Misakicho, Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-3239-4343

メーヤウ神保町店 (Meyau)

Posted on April 4, 09 by seat

トロトロ豚の三枚肉トロトロポークカリー、￥８００。サラダ、￥１００。
Pork curry(fatty pork, potato). Salad. The fatty pork is delicious!

エスニックグリーンカリー、￥８００。
タイ＆インド風まなかい生まれのカントリーカリー、￥９００。
Green curry(pork and veggy).
Country curry(veggy and coconut milk).

ロール白菜のグラタンカリー（プレーンカレー）、￥１０００。
Chinese cabbage-roll gratin curry.

激辛チキンカリー、￥８５０。
具たくさん野菜たっぷりベジタブルカリー、￥８５０。
Super spicy chicken curry. Too hot for me…
Vegetable curry.

ココナッツたっぷり南国レッドカリー、￥８００。ココナッツアイス。
Red curry(chicken, bamboo shoot, raddish, coconut milk).
Coconut ice-cream(free dessert for ladies on Monday).

ボリューム満点鬼もりカリー、￥１２００。ラッシー、￥２５０。
Ono-mori curry(large size pork curry). Lassi.

This curry shop has a few branches and seems quite popular(even has a fan site!) but I must say I am not so crazy about its curry. The menu sounded interesting so I tried everything…but the soft fatty pork is the only thing I like. The curry is very spicy(all the ones that are bright red in colour) but I find it a bit lacking in favour other than chili. It is very cheap though, plus you get a Y100 discount coupon everytime.
Menu(J): 1, 2, 3.

メーヤウ神保町店 (Meyau Jimbocho-ten)
Add: 2-2-6 Sarugakucho, Chiyoda-ku.
Tel: 03-3233-0034

蕎麦作つじ田 (Soba Saku Tsujita) CLOSED!

Posted on March 25, 09 by seat

肉そば(中３００g)、￥８８０。
Niku soba, Y880. Other than pork, there are also lots of stuff like half-cooked egg, leek, kikurage mushroom, shiitake mushroom, green veggy inside the spicy dipping soup for the soba. Since it was filled with too much ingredients, I couldn’t really dip the soba into the soup at first. ^^;;;

This small(10 counter seats) soba place is opened by a really good ramen shop Tsujita just across the road. The soba branch is nothing as “gourmet” as the ramen shop though. Big pile of soba dough is squeezed through a machine and drops straight into boiling water. But I still like this place because it is VERY CHEAP and they managed to make a bowl of cheap soba quite tasty. If you order cold soba, you need to choose from 200g, 300g and 400g. It is the same price whichever you choose and I always ask for 300g. For hot soba, maybe because of the fixed size of the bowl, they won’t ask you how many grams you want, but after you finish, you can ask for “kaedama” and they will serve you another portion of soba. There is a pot on the counter for you to add soy-sauce-based soba soup freely. Other FREE goodies on the counter are raw egg, raw quail egg(I always add this! There is a special scissor for cutting open the quail egg), regular tenkasu(crunchy bits of deep-fried flour-dough) and also spicy tenkasu.

豚そば、￥８００。
Buta(pork) soba, Y800. Very satisfying!

十割そば（かけ）、￥６８０。タコめし、￥２５０。
Juuwari soba(soba consists entirely of buckwheat), Y680. Tako-meshi(octopus rice), Y250. Tako-meshi has a nice buttery taste.

合鴨の味噌漬け、￥４００。海苔胡麻そば、￥７８０。
Miso-marinated duck, Y400. Heated with a burner before serving. It is a little salty and probably better as a snack for drinking beer.
Seaweed and sesame seed soba, Y780. The soba is not of very high quality so cold soba without soup to cover up is probably a bad choice.

天丼・十割そばセット、￥１０００。
Tendon(tempura on rice) and Juuwari soba set, Y1000. The tempura is fried on order. Not amazing but good for the price. Again Juuwari soba tasted better with soup. Tendon is 400yen if order on its own.

Location is 10 mins walk from Akihabara. It is open on Sat and Sun too.

Menu: 1, 2, 3, 4.

蕎麦作つじ田 (Soba Saku Tsujita)
Add: 1-1, Ogawamachi, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku

松翁 (Matsuou)

Posted on March 25, 09 by seat

白子天ざる、￥２３５０。
Shirako(fish milt) Tenzaru, Y2350. Available only in winter. Very nice shirako tempura(you get 3pcs) and also lotus root tempura and maitake tempura. They serve the tempura one by one so you can eat it while it is hot.

手打ちきしめん、￥１０５０。田楽（こんにゃく、小芋）、￥５５０。
Store-made Kishimen(flat udon), Y1050.
Dengaku(Konjac and taro), Y550. Usually dengaku is grilled but the one here is only steamed. Served with miso as usual.

なめこそば（鴨つくね　なめこ）、￥１４００。二色もり（むらめ切りと並そば）、￥１０５０。
Nameko soba(Duck meat ball and Nameko mushroom), Y1400.
2-shoku-mori(perilla soba and regular soba), Y1050.

田舎そば、￥１１００。けんちん汁、￥４００。
Inaka(country) soba, Y1100. Kenchinjiru(miso soup with root vegetables), Y400. The kenchinjiru is a bit salty so it maybe good to eat it with plain soba.

I like the tempura, the toppings on soba, the soup…but I’m not so crazy about the soba itself. Most items on the menu are quite expensive and for this kind of price I would rather go somewhere else for really good-quality soba(Just found a quite expensive but really good soba place in this area which I will blog after I’ve exhausted its menu in a few months or so ^^;;).

Menu(J): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

松翁 (Matsuou)
Add: 2-1-7, Sarugaku-cho, Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-3291-3529

とんかつ　やまいち(Tonkatsu Yamaichi)

Posted on March 17, 09 by seat

特ヒレ、￥２１００。
Special pork filet cutlet(Toku-hire), Y2100.

I love this tonkatsu place! Very small hole-in-the-wall restaurant with only a big round table for 8(need to share with strangers), a small table for 2, and 4 counter seats. The nearest station is Awajicho but it’s not far to walk from Akihabara. I’ve only been here for lunch and it is usually packed especially on Saturday, but there is no crazy lines. The chef fries everything himself behind the counter so during busy lunch hour, you may have to wait for some 15-20 mins. Watching the chef at his work with a very serious expression will make you patient though. The staff(chef’s wife and daughters?) are very friendly, and no matter how busy the chef is, he will always say thank you when you leave. Just love this sincere attitude of Japanese.

Anyway, the most expensive menu is Toku-hire but I think it really is the best. The meat is lean but soft and tender. The set comes with rice(refillable), soup and pickled vegetables.

特ロース、￥2000。ロース、￥１５００。
Special pork loin cutlet(Toku-rousu), Y2000.
Regular pork loin cutlet(Rousu), Y1500.
Toku-rousu is much nicer than Rousu so I think it is worth the Y500 difference, but Toku-rousu is not as good as Toku-hire. There is more fat in Rousu than in Hire and normally I will prefer the former because I like fat….but this place is an exception.

ヒレかつ丼、￥１７００。合びきメンチ、￥１０００。
Hire Katsu-don, Y1700. Menchi-katsu, Y1000.

カキフライ、￥１４００。　車えびフライ（３本）、￥１９００。
Kaki-fry(fried oyster), Y1400. Kuruma-ebi fry(3 pcs), Y1900.

海老しんじょう揚げ、￥１４００。
Ebi-Shinjou-age(fried chopped prawn), Y1400.

貝柱コロッケ、￥１４００。串かつ、￥１３００。
Scallop croquette(cream inside), Y1400. Skewered pork and vegetable katsu, Y1300.

ロースかつ丼、￥１６００。
半メンチ、ヒレ一口かつ、海老しんじょう揚げ、カキフライ。
Rousu Katsu-don, Y1600. Love the katsu-don here.
You can order all the katsu by one piece. I ordered one kaki-fry(Y250), one bite-size Hire-katsu(Y250), one Ebi-shinjou(Y250) and one half-size menchi-katsu(Y300). For 400yen you can make it a set with rice and soup. Good idea if you want to try a bit of everything.

Menu(J) 1, 2.

とんかつ　やまいち(Tonkatsu Yamaichi)
Add: 1-8-4, Sudacho, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-3253-3335

御茶ノ水小川軒 (Ochanomizu Ogawaken)

Posted on March 6, 09 by seat

A really nice yoshoku(western food) place in Ochanomizu that I’ve fallen in love with recently. In my first visit when I saw the price on the menu, I thought I would try once, but probably wouldn’t come back because there are so many yoshoku places in this area that are much cheaper. But after the first taste of the curry….I was immediately addicted. I ended up trying almost everything on the menu(Not in one day!) and everything I ordered was good. There is nothing fancy about the food, just basic yoshoku that is perfectly done.

ビーフカレー￥１３６５。マカロニグラタン、￥１５７５。
Beef curry(Y1365). The curry that got me hooked. The sauce is so smooth.
Macaroni gratin(Y1575). Winter menu.

シーフードカレー、￥１４７０。
Seafood curry(1470). All the lunches come with salad and pickled vegetables.

デミカレー、￥１４７０。トリュフショコラケーキ（自家製アイス添え）、￥５２５。
Demi curry(Y1470). Truffle Chocolat Cake & storemade ice-cream(Y525).

オムライス、￥１５７５。ハヤシライス、￥１５７５。
Omelette Rice(Y1575). Hayashi Rice(Y1575).

Raisin-wich. Souvenir that everybody seems to know about.

All the above were eaten in the first floor cafe where the lunch menu is mainly curry. I then ventured down to the basement restaurant which has a different lunch menu with the main item being hamburger. Basement restaurant is smaller and is a bit more expensive than the first floor cafe. All lunches come with a salad, a small soup, rice or bread, and coffee.

デミグラスソースハンバーグステーキ（１５０ｇ）、￥１６８０。
Chopped Beef(100% wagyu) Demi-glace Sauce 150g (Y1680). Super delicious! After the curry, I got hooked to the hamburger too…..damn.

カニクリームコロッケ、￥１９９５。
Chinese cabbage and Cauliflower soup. Crabmeat Croquette(Y1995).

和風ソース　ハンバーグステーキ、￥１６８０。
Chopped Beef Soy Sauce 150g(Y1680). The soy sauce is a house blend apparently. I spread a bit of wasabi on the hamburger and add the soy sauce….very nice!

季節野菜のハンバーグステーキ、￥１８９０。
Seasonal Chopped Beef 150g(Y1890). It is just the same Chopped Beef Demi-glace Sauce, plus some sauteed seasonal vegetables on the side.

Basically everything is nice. In particular Beef curry and Chopped beef Demi-glace sauce. The service is very friendly. And they give out 200yen discount coupons so well it is not tooooooo bad. Note that Hayashi rice(very good too) is available in both 1st floor and basement and the staff said it is exactly the same thing.

First floor menu here. Basement menu can be found in the homepage.

御茶ノ水小川軒 (Ochanomizu Ogawaken )
Add: 1-9-3 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku
Tel: 03-5802-5420

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