Tokyo Foodie.com

Have you seen Kill Bill?

Remember the restaurant that housed the big fight scene when Uma Thurman killed all those guys?

Did you know that is based on a real restaurant in Tokyo?

This is how many conversations begin, which culminate in a trip to Gonpachi. As one of the most well-known Tokyo establishments, Gonpachi offers a casually minimal, though consistently adequate foray into non-sushi Japanese cuisine. Of course, they have a sushi bar as well, though the real draw here is the atmosphere.  Gonpachi, run by the massive restaurant company Global Dining, has locations in Ginza, Shibuya, and Odaiba as well, in addition to Fukuoka and Bevery Hills (!) but any Tokyoite can tell you that the one to wow visitors with is the Nishi-Azabu branch.

The soba is not only homemade, but arrivers can watch chefs knead the soba dough through big pane windows. The tempura is perfect, as are some of the “grilled things-on-sticks”. We recommend the duck with wasabi, the toro (bluefin tuna belly), the foie gras, and especially the Gindara, a stupendous black cod glazed with miso and grilled so the consistency is soft and flakes off into bite-size morsels like sea bass. Everytime I’m there, I ponder just asking for 10 orders of gindara.

The drink menu is not only extensive and covers all the basics, but they threw in a few interesting cocktails to wow your parents. The dessert menu was created by Stephane Vieux, which means the presentation always competes with the combinations of tastes; for an unforgetable end to your Japanese barn dinner, indulge in a Warm Chocolate Cake & Sesame Ice Cream or the Kuzumochi & Kinako Ice Cream with Black Sugar Syrup.

Ok, I need to admit something. Almost all my Japanese friends hate this place. Seriously. To them, this is not fine dining, barely Japanese food, and overpriced stereotyped Lonely Planet fodder. I don’t necessarily disagree in premise, it is after all, a big wooden barn decorated to look like a Japanese restaurant on a movie soundstage. Although for visitors, Gonpachi may just fullfill the basic Japanese sterotypical dishes which are so often lost in the modern Tokyo of nouvelle and fusion. This is the kind of restaurant that your family will write group emails to their middle-aged European friends about. Just ask Quentin Tarantino.

Gonpachi

03-5771-0170

1-13-11 Nishi-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0031

http://www.gonpachi.jp

The last thing you’d expect to be eating in Tokyo is Mexican food. In the greatest culinary capital of the world, inundated with myriad options of all types of Japanese food, curious oddities from other parts of Asia, Thai, Chinese, Indian, and Singaporean food as good and authentic as the best found in those countries, why would any foodie consider eating food from Mexico?

Well, believe it or not, there are some crazy folks who, after living in Tokyo for so long, crave other types of sustenance. For those spicy-searching creatures, I’ll take a quick look over Tokyo’s Mexican restaurants. Please don’t be too depressed. You couldn’t have expected Oaxaca.

La Fonda de La Madrugada - Harajuku

This Disney-esque mock up of what they want you to believe Mexico looks like will make you vomit. [ed: That was eloquently put.] This mistake of a restaurant is what happens when a developer decides that interior design is more important than food quality and service. Who cares if half the dishes are just tasteless doughy/meaty things soaked in canola oil? At least it’s festive! While the menu is certainly more diverse than most of the local Mexican joints, the food is all saturated in grease, the waiters are untrained, slow, and uninformed, and the food, well… if a waiter doesn’t spill a plate of it on your lap (this happened to my friend), and they don’t charge you for multiple plates that were never ordered (this happened to my other friend), and they don’t mess up your order and bring you other dishes (this has happened to almost everyone I know), the food will probably make you vomit all over Omotesando Street (this happened to me). Still, the mariachi band is nice.

La Jolla - Hiroo

03-3442-1865. http://www.la-jolla.jp/

Hiroo Station: Hiroo 5-16-3, Koyasu Bldg. 2F.

We award our La Jolla our Runner-up prize. A relative newcomer on the Mexican scene, and located in the foreigner haven of Hiroo, La Jolla has in freshness what it lacks in style. The food, while approaching Junkadelic’s grandeur, is served drably and people often complain of feeling like they are eating in an office building. In terms of offerings, it seems like they photocopied Junkdelic’s menu, though they get props for deciding to add more variations, like fish tacos. We expect that as La Jolla grows up, it will focus on its ambiance a bit more, for although the food gets high marks, the complete dining experience is still lacking that bit of excitement.

Junkadelic - Nakameguro

03-5725-5020.  http://junkadelic.jp/

One of the only palatable Mexican restaurants in Tokyo, Junkadelic shines as a (not-so) hidden gem in the backstreets of Nakameguro. Frequently full of the salsa-seekers and huge-ass-margarita sippers of Tokyo’s international community, Junkadelic retains the position for the second year as Tokyo Foodie’s Mexican Restaurant of the Year! The chimichangas, fajitas, and burritos are large, fresh, and affordable and though some complain about the authenticity of the cuisine, the taste more than compensates. Start with a large order of nachos, try a few GIGANTIC and strong margaritas (in flavors locos likeguanabana and mora), order a main dish or 3, and make sure you ask for chipotle salsa - it’s not on the menu, but they will smile their devious smile when you ask, and it will be the wings on your new-found Mexican angel. Junkadelic was started by a Japanese guy who lived in San Diego, traveled around Mexico, and couldn’t find any acceptable Mexican cuisine when he returned to Tokyo. Theinside is decorated like a Mexican courtyard during a family reunion, and they project skateboarding videos on the wall, acompanied by **not-cheesy** mexican music.

Other Ones

I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but there really isn’t that much edible Mexican food in this city. There are other places to be sure; Corporate places based on plasticized Tex-Mex upscale Taco Bells line Roppongi and Shinjuku (La Fiesta, El Borracho, El Patio, Salsita, Rosario) and overpriced attempts at Fancy Mexican Food (The new La Colina in Tokyo Midtown, opened by the aforementioned Fonda De La Madrugada, and just as under-performing, though costlier).

We tried to warn you. It’s not our fault.

We came here for the sushi anyway.

Last year`s Sexy Sushi party turned out to be amazingly delicious!!! (see Sexy Sushi Party post) . Now it`s time for the 2008 version of sushi party entitled “Sushi is Art”. Be there and be raw to enjoy great sushi which defies gravity, meet sushi lovers, meet artists who turn raw fish into asymmetrical amorphous sculptures of sanguine sumptuous sushi and enjoy the unique eclectic atmosphere created by the sound of uni sliding down your tongue.

WHERE: A Secret Club (Which is incidentally the name of a continent) DAIKANYAMA. Sorry.. but you will have to figure the rest out by yourself. It is secret. But we are reasonable people… sending us an email might help as well.

WHEN: MARCH 15th (SATURDAY)

From 22:00pm
Reduced club admission fee in the club (incl. 1 drink) >> men and similar 2000yen, girls 500yen.

Sushi: basic set 1500yen, collector edition 2000yen.

To get the discount price at the door of the club… guests have to say they came for the “GIRLUZA sushi party…”

As we entered the resoundingly minimal interior of Tibet Tibet, we couldn’t help but feel that the huge black Buddha in the back of the room was beckoning us to stop thinking about crowded trains and other stresses of city life. Situated on a small side street set apart from Shimokitazawa’s funky secondhand shops, this restaurant is the perfect spot for an eye-opening dinner.

We chose a seat on the soft white mats instead of the sofas, sauntered up to the low glass tables and, after glancing at our options, summoned the staff by ringing the worn metal bell (an electronic one would have seemed alarmingly out of place). Fruit-infused shochu arrived first: delicious concoctions of fresh fruit soaking in alcohol in glass jars prominently displayed as faux-art pieces on the wall behind the bar (¥500- ¥700). We recommend the blueberry, pomegranate and raspberry varieties on the rocks.

Every time we visit Tibet Tibet, we gain new appreciation for its inventive Southeast Asian dishes. A shining example is the harumaki spring roll loaded with shrimp, avocado, tomato, tobiko, yellowtail, green onion and carrot drizzled with a gingery ranch dressing (¥880). The presentation in thin rice paper is understated, yet the flavor is somehow both rich and light— and tremendously addictive.

While nibbling on potato-pork croquettes with wasabi mayonnaise (¥680) and an excellent, lightly fried corn and shrimp tempura with sprinkles of shiso (¥700), we got ready for the night’s feature presentation: the Himalayan Coconut Curry (¥900). Arriving in a big wooden bowl, the moat of thick curry hounded the plateau of sweet purple rice in the middle, which was like an eroding desert island guarded by stalks of fresh cilantro and warm avocado wedges. While we generally shy away from curries that aren’t loaded with chili, we can’t help but dish out spoonfuls of hyperbole when contemplating this dish’s brilliance, which lies far more in the balance and ratio of the fresh ingredients than any attempt at taste-bud mutilation.

On nights when the turntables in the corner are silent, Tibet Tibet plays an eclectic mix of Latin, African, Indian and Indonesian music, which leaves us questioning exactly why the restaurant is named after a country that’s barely represented on the menu. This mix of ethnicity was demonstrated yet again with a large urn full of tom yum kun, a mildly spicy, steaming and almost Vietnamese version of the popular Thai noodle dish, replete with green vegetables and crowded with soft tofu (¥880).

Tibet Tibet has found its identity by serving an unpretentious mélange of Southeast Asian cooking. The beautiful irony is that, in doing so, it has succeeded in creating a distinctive character while straddling the culinary borders that so often pigeonhole restaurants into serving popular but mediocre dishes. So take a moment. Forget what you think you know about fusion, and just savor, savor.

2F Nice Bldg, 5-29-9 Daizawa, Setagaya-ku.Tel: 03-5433-1565.

Open Sun-Fri 6pm-1am, Sat 2pm-1am. Nearest stn: Shimokitazawa, west exit. www.livemedia.co.jp/wwc/wwctop/yuutop/tibet/tibetindex.html

On entering elegance on a glass floor with lotus flowers under your feet, you emerge looking out over downtown Tokyo, from an unobstructed 35th floor view. In good weather, the city lights around Mango Tree Tokyo remind you of garlic and blinking red chili peppers in the sky. You sit and decide on the more expensive Course B (8400 yen) dinner set, because really, is there any other option, and really, it will be cheaper than ordering a la carte, right? (At this exact moment, you don’t realize that no matter how full you are after the dinner set, you will not be able to resist a couple mojitos, a bottle of wine or two, and maybe a fresh spicy papaya salad or delicious tender satay plate on the side.)

You are surprised by the first of the seven courses, a tiny surf clam salad with spicy sauce which you need to squint to see, but packs a pungency that surprised your taste buds, still recovering from the sweet aftertaste of that mojito. The deep fried chicken wrapped in some sort of Pandan Leaf is soft on your tongue and its sweet and spicy sauce relaxes you. You next receive a spicy mushroomy shrimpy Tom Yum Goong soup, and a “Steamed Pacific Cod Mousse Thai Style Flavored with red Curry”, yes you think you read that right, some sort of orange-colored cod-based Mousse filled with scallops and cauliflower, a novel concoction which is subtle but interesting enough to keep you staring. Well, by this point, your palate is cleared and you have to wait a bit, have some wine, “Take some time for yourself,” their menu exclaims, because you’ll need the rest before feasting on perhaps the most … (for lack of a better word) delicious thing you have tasted all month.

You decide to start a new paragraph to talk about this dish, because well, frankly, it deserves it. Grilled Standing Lump with Spicy herb served with Sticky Rice eeks with herbs, onions, leeks, lemongrass, red pepper, and cilantro, a gorgeous touch to an otherwise already spectacular beef. The thinly-sliced Lump (do they mean Rump?) is medium cooked and grilled with vinegar then covered with the firey mixure which makes you wish aloud, “Dear Mango god, Please let this never end!” All your friends turn to you and decide your outburst is caused by a broken heart, pour you some more wine, and hand you a desert menu, which is really a considerate gesture considering the rice noodle soup and persimmon tatine which came with the dinner set is a bit disappointing after that main course.

You order a glass of port, some organic coffee, and a divine coconut creme brulee (after which 3 of your friends quickly follow suit), because you decide it will sate your sad heart and your overstimulated hunger. This Tokyo jewel has a sister in London and one in Bangkok, and clearly prides itself quality and selection, on not being able to list every city in the world on their business cards, like some Gordon Ramsey carbon-copied mass-manufactured haute chicken fat. Today, Mango Tree has calmed your raging quest for culinary adventure and your emotional confusion has been embraced by the spicy constancy still lingering on your tongue.

Mango Tree Tokyo

Marunouchi Bldg. 35F

2-4-1 Marunouchi

Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Tel: 03-5224-5489

In front of New Marunouchi exit of Tokyo station.

http://www.mangotree.jp/

Tokyo is a city with wide variety of delicious local cuisines, but sometimes you just want the good old hamburger (especially hung-over on a rainy day)…. and that is exactly what this hamburger place offers.

The name of the restaurant is “The Great Burger” and the name completely stands for itself. Having been there several times (usually a bit under the weather) I highly recommend for those cheese lovers, the unusual gorgonzola burger. It literally melts in your mouth!! The avocado burger gets also a high mark in my black book and veggie burgers are also available!

The place is a bit difficult stumble into (although I amazingly did when I first found it) since it is in one of the backstreet of the Omotesando / Harajuku so make sure you got the map printed out. The lunch menu has discount. Lunch Time 11:30～16:00.

Shibuyaku - Jingumae 6-12-7 1F　(渋谷区神宮前6-12-7 J-CUBE A 1F) [Map], [Homepage], open 11.30am-11.30pm.

As long as you overlook the fact that every country in the world except Japan and Iceland have ratified the anti-whaling laws, you are in for one of those rare meals that can only be found in this, quite possibly the most culinarily-adventurous cities in the world. And in this particular corner of Shibuya (right next to 109), there is no attempt to hide, or even downstate the whale.

On a recent visit, I experimented with the waiter’s suggestion of getting whale prepared 5 different ways. There are a few other things (like fried chicken!!) on the menu, but why would you want to do that to yourself? We started with whale sashimi, which was a bit bland but evoked faux-memories of sailing in the high seas with pirates chasing whales with rusty harpoons. It wasn’t bad, was soft and meaty, just didn’t have the bite that I had hoped. Whale blubber and bacon were next: white rectangles of fat which were so chewy and succulent that I regretted loading it with wasabi and soy-sauce.

We tried whale heart and whale brain, both of which I won’t detail here for purposes of creating a little bit of mystery (Do order it though!). And to finish, the waiter brought out fried pieces of karage whale, which though seemingly just chicken in disguise, allowed us to fully taste the fatty vastness of whale, dipped in tangy something sauce, bringing me back to Moby Dick, pirates, and eventually, the street of Shibuya, with lights spinning a bit under my drunken shochu brain. I half-expected to emerge from Kujira-ya in the middle of a bunch of hippies protesting whale-eaters like me. But luckily… this is Japan, where eating is never a crime.

Kujira-ya

Shibuya (right next to 109)

Dogenzaka 2-29-22. Open 11am-9:45pm (LO) daily.

Tel: 3461-9145.

Japan has some customs that are regarded as indelible such as not wearing shoes indoors, or thou shalt not stick chopsticks vertically into food. At the risk of sounding blasphemous to my Japanese compatriots, California may have a thing or two that it can teach Japan about creativity in the sushi world.

Coming from someone who eats sushi daily and has learned to appreciate the subtleties in the texture of hirame, having avocado and waterfall-like salmon gnawing at my unagi eel definitely induced winces. My friend thought avocado was just a food Californians ate to show the rest of the world how pretentious they are. And I admit, telling Japanese people how to reinvent sushi doesn’t exactly help my case.

San Francisco and L.A. are full of restaurants which produce salmon/mango/macadamia nut rolls by the dozen, but finding these Calimaki institutions in Tokyo was a bit of a surprise. Still though, with a prime location amidst Tokyo’s foreign population in Azabu-Juban and a extensive drink menu with many top sakes and such novelties as white wine mojitos, Rainbow Roll sushi makes up in taste and invention what it lacks in tradition.
The restaurant’s namesake, a crab-avocado California roll covered in generous slabs of shrimp, salmon, squid, and nobiko is succulent and unique, as is the Dragon Roll, soft warm eel embracing avocado. The ambiance is sleek and modern, and though the basic sashimi selection was fresh and well-prepared, I wouldn’t go back unless I wanted to experiment. There are myriad impeccable sushi restaurants in Tokyo, but only one where making fun of Californians is so much fun. Don’t take your Japanese grandparents… They probably won’t get it.

Rainbow Roll Sushi

Monte Plaza 2F, 1-10-3 Azabujuban, Minato-ku, Tokyo
(One minute walk from exit A5 of Azabu Juban Station on the Oedo and
Nanboku lines)
Tel.03-5572-7688

How do 4 Russian-cuisine neophytes eat through 19 dishes and 24 drinks at Tokyo’s
most adored (and perhaps only?) Belarusian restaurant? Give them some vodka and a menu.

A dark dark dark black beer (highhhhhly recommended) and a double shot of ice cold Stolichnaya vodka in a frozen shotglass. Flanking an unspectacular thoroughfare near the Russian Embassy, lies a world in which vodka passes as water, and yuppies on Atkin’s diets run for dear life. On a recent outing with my 3 adventurous eating companions, our quest to self-challenge our own gastronomic familiarity was met with equal prowess played by the part of a very adept team of Belarusian chefs and waitresses who slung comments like, “You guys can really drink, huh?” I’ll take that as a compliment at a Belarusian restaurant any day.

Another vodka and black beer round began the journey. We started with the smoked salmon crepes, rolled with capers and decadent cheese sauce, which we knew we’d be seeing again. The potato pancake stuffed with warm baked meat and the stuffed paprika (red and yellow spliced bell pepper) showed us that what’s on the inside really counts. The stuffing trend continued with a few Golubtsys (stuffed cabbage rolls) and what my friend so eloquently describes as “Sumpin’ with sumpin’ inside”. But where he lacked verbosity, he made up for with appetite, challenging the burly white-hatted chefs to a duel of culinary adventure. Another black beer, another double shot of Stolichnaya vodka. And it was then that they pulled out their trump cards. The perfection of the Sour Cream Pork Stew left us begging for seconds; tender soft pork cutlets in tangy sour cream sauce sang a duet with the Beef Stroganoff, the Bolinchky, and as foreshadowed, another 4 orders of the salmon crepes.

While independent since 1990, the former USSR republic has continued to develop and refine its own distinct culinary culture. At one time, Belarusians used to be scornfully called bulbashi, or potato-eaters. Now though, restaurants like Minsk are showing Tokyoites the superlative truth, one dish at a time.

Minsk [Belarusian Home Cooking]

1-4-2 Azabudai Minato-ku, Tokyo

Tel: (03)-3586-6600

What? Has TokyoFoodie.com turned into an adult site? Well, not yet anyway! But the sexier that sushi gets these days, it’s little wonder that the above picture might be censored by your Japanese company’s internet security. A new underground group of architects, designers, and sushi chefs in West Tokyo has created a series of sushi parties, in which expert sushi chefs (think Tsukiji) combine top-quality sushi with modern sculpture-esque creations, chill lounge music, and a deep red speakeasy-like bar replete with models, sushi connoisseurs and designers. It ain’t cheap, but that manages to weed out the kaiten-sushi scum crowd. As red lounge music filled the warm air, bursts of raw hirame wrapped around asparagus covered with black pepper filled our taste-buds. Soon after platters of salmon nigiri, came the toro, more than satisfying the purists who gave suspiciously peering eyes at the ikura wrapped in warm avocado on a bed of soft marinated cabbage.

The hamachi decadence and aforementioned Avocado wrapped in alternating layers with tuna heaven will thank you for bringing your appetite. The concoctions were accented with spices and novel combinations of fish and vegetables which look like mini cities filled with ikura people and mackerel freeways. Keep an eye out for these secret sushi extravaganzas happening around Tokyo. Sushi is in evolution.

Sexy Sushi Party

Secret Locations around Tokyo on the Den-en-toshi line.

Watch TokyoFoodie.com for announcements.

Yum.