Gong Xi Fa Cai! Today marks the first day of the Chinese New Year, and I'd like to wish everyone a very happy and prosperous Year of the Ox!
We had a very small celebration - just the three of us - yesterday with lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Roppongi Hills. The food was very good, and we were pleasantly surprised to find out how family-friendly Roppongi Hills centre is! Despite the fact we often come to Roppongi Hills whenever we want reliable and fairly authentic international cuisine, or just to watch a movie, I'd never noticed so many families with children at the Hills before, but I guess that's probably because we weren't in that demographic before. There's even a "family room" on the 2nd basement level of the Hillside part, where we bumped into a couple who'd taken the same birthing preparation class four months ago. In our brief encounter yesterday, we discovered just how much we share in common. They're also a mixed Caucasian-Asian couple like us, their son was born only two days after Zak, who also weighed in above 4kg at birth. The guy also works in the same field as Rob and they live close to us! We'll definitely keep in touch and hang out with them :)
I will write the review and post up the photos of our lunch when I have the time to later in the week.
Monday 26 January 2009
Friday 23 January 2009
Sushi @ Fukuzushi, Tokyo
Last week, the tech guys in Rob's office went out to dinner, and although spouses were invited, I was the only 'spouse' who turned up. With a baby in tow. Oh well, at least I got to know a little more of the guys who work with Rob everyday while enjoying good food that I didn't have to pay for. Although I'm now getting used to bringing 3-mth-old Zak out for meals, I have to admit that I'm finding it a bit strange that it seems like we're the only parents in Japan to take such a young baby out to restaurants.
Said dinner was at Fukuzushi, a sushi bar in gaijin-central of Roppongi. Not surprisingly, there were many non-Japanese patrons there for dinner. The decor was nice enough to draw the upper class, and service was pretty good, but when it came down to the food, I have to say that I don't think the food justifies the price tag. I suppose that is to be expected if you insist on eating in Roppongi where the main target audience is well-off expats. Roppongi is a good area to find decent international cuisine, but I think it's better to look elsewhere for better and cheaper Japanese fare. That's not to say that the sushi was bad quality at this restaurant. Au contraire - the quality of the seafood was pretty good, but I'll stick to my favourite sushi place in Tsukiji if I want sushi (it's much closer to our apartment anyway). I did enjoyed the lively company and the chance to socialise, even if it was a miserably cold night out.
You can order a-la-carte or set course at Fukuzushi, and the set courses require a minimum of two orders. For simplicity, our table went for the 6,000 yen course, for which you get a salad, sashimi, sushi, miso soup and dessert. The sashimi and sushi came out platter-style for four people, and I definitely ate more at our end of the table because it seems that the other two (American) guys weren't as enthusiastic about the food as I was. They probably would say they didn't mind eating sushi, but I, on the other hand, *heart* sushi! The other half of our group had two Japanese guys so leftovers was not a problem at that end. It has been more than one week since this dinner happened, so my memory on the names of the sushi is a bit fuzzy, but I think I have most of them correct:
Salad - not much to say here, it was a pretty ordinary and forgettable bowl of salad:
Sashimi - (clockwise from the dark pink flesh at the top) maguro (tuna), tai (sea bream/snapper), aburi-toro (lightly grilled fatty tuna), ebi (prawn), katsuo (bonito), and buri (yellowtail), and in the centre is kani (crab). I particularly enjoyed the fatty aburi-toro, with its fragrant lightly-charred surface and melt-in-your-mouth texture. I would have much preferred ama-ebi which is smaller and sweeter than the ebi on this plate.
Sushi - (left to right from the top row) anago (conger eel), tamago (egg roll), ikura (salmon roe), sake (salmon), buri (yellowtail), maguro (tuna, perhaps bintoro?), and chuu-toro (medium fatty tuna). I loved the slightly charry flavour in the anago, and for some reason, I really enjoyed the salmon.
The guys at our end of the table were wondering what else to have (they probably wouldn't if they'd eaten all of their share of sashimi and sushi!), so a few more pieces of sushi were ordered for those who wanted to eat more. I was already pretty full, but once again there were leftovers on this plate (who wouldn't want to eat uni (sea urchin roe/gonads)?) so I helped finish it. One of the Japanese guys took the other leftover uni sushi, saying he's only eating it because it's the most expensive item on that plate. I guess it requires a bit of an acquired taste even with the Japanese people. Meiji-maguro (baby bluefin tuna - pink one at the top) and saba (mackeral - left on second row, not the uni) were o-susume (recommended) items by the staff perhaps because they are in season now.
Dessert - milk jelly with a caramel sauce. This was very light, did not taste very milky (a good thing for me), and not too sweet. A nice way to end the meal (as much as I like rich Anglo-European desserts, I've always much preferred to end a big meal with something light):
Said dinner was at Fukuzushi, a sushi bar in gaijin-central of Roppongi. Not surprisingly, there were many non-Japanese patrons there for dinner. The decor was nice enough to draw the upper class, and service was pretty good, but when it came down to the food, I have to say that I don't think the food justifies the price tag. I suppose that is to be expected if you insist on eating in Roppongi where the main target audience is well-off expats. Roppongi is a good area to find decent international cuisine, but I think it's better to look elsewhere for better and cheaper Japanese fare. That's not to say that the sushi was bad quality at this restaurant. Au contraire - the quality of the seafood was pretty good, but I'll stick to my favourite sushi place in Tsukiji if I want sushi (it's much closer to our apartment anyway). I did enjoyed the lively company and the chance to socialise, even if it was a miserably cold night out.
You can order a-la-carte or set course at Fukuzushi, and the set courses require a minimum of two orders. For simplicity, our table went for the 6,000 yen course, for which you get a salad, sashimi, sushi, miso soup and dessert. The sashimi and sushi came out platter-style for four people, and I definitely ate more at our end of the table because it seems that the other two (American) guys weren't as enthusiastic about the food as I was. They probably would say they didn't mind eating sushi, but I, on the other hand, *heart* sushi! The other half of our group had two Japanese guys so leftovers was not a problem at that end. It has been more than one week since this dinner happened, so my memory on the names of the sushi is a bit fuzzy, but I think I have most of them correct:
Salad - not much to say here, it was a pretty ordinary and forgettable bowl of salad:
Sashimi - (clockwise from the dark pink flesh at the top) maguro (tuna), tai (sea bream/snapper), aburi-toro (lightly grilled fatty tuna), ebi (prawn), katsuo (bonito), and buri (yellowtail), and in the centre is kani (crab). I particularly enjoyed the fatty aburi-toro, with its fragrant lightly-charred surface and melt-in-your-mouth texture. I would have much preferred ama-ebi which is smaller and sweeter than the ebi on this plate.
Sushi - (left to right from the top row) anago (conger eel), tamago (egg roll), ikura (salmon roe), sake (salmon), buri (yellowtail), maguro (tuna, perhaps bintoro?), and chuu-toro (medium fatty tuna). I loved the slightly charry flavour in the anago, and for some reason, I really enjoyed the salmon.
The guys at our end of the table were wondering what else to have (they probably wouldn't if they'd eaten all of their share of sashimi and sushi!), so a few more pieces of sushi were ordered for those who wanted to eat more. I was already pretty full, but once again there were leftovers on this plate (who wouldn't want to eat uni (sea urchin roe/gonads)?) so I helped finish it. One of the Japanese guys took the other leftover uni sushi, saying he's only eating it because it's the most expensive item on that plate. I guess it requires a bit of an acquired taste even with the Japanese people. Meiji-maguro (baby bluefin tuna - pink one at the top) and saba (mackeral - left on second row, not the uni) were o-susume (recommended) items by the staff perhaps because they are in season now.
Dessert - milk jelly with a caramel sauce. This was very light, did not taste very milky (a good thing for me), and not too sweet. A nice way to end the meal (as much as I like rich Anglo-European desserts, I've always much preferred to end a big meal with something light):
Thursday 15 January 2009
Sushi at Zanmai, Tokyo
Encouraged by our recent attempt at eating out with a baby, we decided to again try on Sunday, this time lunch at our favourite sushi restaurant in Tsukiji, Sushi Zanmai. I deliberately chose this place because it was relatively nearby (only a 10-15minutes walk), and because it has been awhile since I've eaten good sushi. The last time we came to Sushi Zanmai was when the little guy was only a few weeks old, for my birthday, and my parents were still here in Tokyo to look after Zak while Rob and I shot off on our bikes for a quick lunch. Although we could no longer have the highly-desired counter seats where we could eat freshly-made sushi as we order them, I'm pleased to say that this dining excursion with bub was a success. Although we arrived with a baby in a carrier, we were still asked for our seat preference: counter, table or the tatami dining room on the 3rd floor. We went with whatever was available, so it was off to the 3rd floor where there were quite a few tables of diners with kids (such a sight is rare in Australia: children enjoying sushi). I'm beginning to think that it really isn't so difficult to go out and eat with a baby, and that now is really the time to do it when the baby is still so young and easy to pacify by carrying or feeding, before he reaches the age where he starts grabbing everything within reach, gets restless and can't sit still for more than 2 seconds.
Zak fell asleep on our walk to lunch, and to make eating quick and easy before bub woke up, we ordered the Zanmai Sushi Set where you get 13 pieces of sushi and a bowl of miso for 3000yen. Since we've eaten here countless of times before and I've blogged about it twice before, I won't say too much except to say that the quality was excellent as usual, and I relished every bite of the sushi without shoyu (soy sauce), which is the way I like to eat sushi because I think that's the best way to enjoy the taste and texture of the sushi as presented.
Zanmai Set with Miso soup. There was no detail of what the sushi pieces were, but the following are what I think they were. Top row, left to right: zuwaigani (snow crab), a white-silvery fleshed fish which I don't know the name of, akagai (ark shell), ika (squid), bintoro (pink tuna), kanpachi (amberjack), chuu-toro (medium-grade tuna belly). Bottom row, left to right - joh-anago ('top' conger eel), botan-ebi (spotted shrimp), tamago yaki (egg), me-negi (leek sprouts), ikura (salmon roe), uni (sea urchin roe/gonads):
Zak fell asleep on our walk to lunch, and to make eating quick and easy before bub woke up, we ordered the Zanmai Sushi Set where you get 13 pieces of sushi and a bowl of miso for 3000yen. Since we've eaten here countless of times before and I've blogged about it twice before, I won't say too much except to say that the quality was excellent as usual, and I relished every bite of the sushi without shoyu (soy sauce), which is the way I like to eat sushi because I think that's the best way to enjoy the taste and texture of the sushi as presented.
Zanmai Set with Miso soup. There was no detail of what the sushi pieces were, but the following are what I think they were. Top row, left to right: zuwaigani (snow crab), a white-silvery fleshed fish which I don't know the name of, akagai (ark shell), ika (squid), bintoro (pink tuna), kanpachi (amberjack), chuu-toro (medium-grade tuna belly). Bottom row, left to right - joh-anago ('top' conger eel), botan-ebi (spotted shrimp), tamago yaki (egg), me-negi (leek sprouts), ikura (salmon roe), uni (sea urchin roe/gonads):
Tuesday 13 January 2009
Ichigo - strawberries in Japan
Winter in Japan is the season for ichigo aka strawberries, which is a strange notion to those of us who normally associate berries with summer. No, it's not that strawberries naturally thrive in winter here, but that they are cultivated in greenhouses for harvesting during winter, and there's a reason for this - Christmas. According to this source, strawberries-and-cream decorated sponge cake has become a symbol of Christmas in Japan because of the red and white Christmas colours represented. Now, there's something about Japanese fruits that everyone should know. Yes, they can be notoriously expensive (like these grapes which was sold for US$910 for a bunch of 30 grapes back in August 2008), but the quality of fruits in Japan are always excellent. Ichigo is a prime example - they are almost always perfectly shaped and a gorgeous brilliant red, and best of all they are the sweetest strawberries I've ever eaten. I've heard some say that ichigo lack the tartness that characterises the taste of strawberries, but I much prefer sweet over tart anyday.
Here is a shot of a punnet I bought the other day for 300yen (it was more expensive at the beginning of winter, and will likely get cheaper as the season wears on):
Here is a shot of a punnet I bought the other day for 300yen (it was more expensive at the beginning of winter, and will likely get cheaper as the season wears on):
Friday 9 January 2009
Singaporean (again) @ Hainan Chifan, Tokyo
So it was New Year's eve, with a dinner somewhere planned with Rob, bub and Kim. We actually wanted to try another Singaporean restaurant recommended by one of Rob's collegues which is supposedly much better than Hainan Chifan, but unfortunately many restaurants, including the one we wanted to go to, were shut on the eve of New Year. Now here's something about the restaurant culture in Japan: you don't bring kids along. There are 'restaurants' that do allow children like the many fast food and so-called 'family' restaurants like Denny's, but even these places are not so warm towards uncooperative children, especially crying infants. That's one thing I miss about Australia, where there are many restaurants that accomodate children with a kids' menu and a play area. Anyway, I wasn't keen on the idea of eating take-away food at home on NYE, so we needed a fairly casual restaurant that wouldn't be too fussed with our 2.5mth-old joining us for dinner. Hainan Chifan happened to be open on NYE, and it is a fairly casual setting, and it is in the same building as Rob's office which makes it convenient for him to drop in after work for dinner, so we settled on bringing Kim there who was eager to try Singaporean food. It was a good meal, and Zak behaved really well, but carrying bub in the baby carrier in front of me made it for awkward eating - a small sacrifice for dining out again! Yay for a successful first dining experience with baby!
Since we've eaten here a few times before, and I've blogged about Hainan Chifan twice before, I won't say much except to show photos of more dishes which are also worth ordering. Apologies for the poor quality of the shots - I took these photos with my crappy phone camera, and no amount of editting can improve the quality so I didn't bother.
Chicken and Pork Satay ~700yen; Roti Pratha with Curry ~400yen:
Chicken Rice set ~1000yen - apparently this is something that Rob's Japanese colleagues always order whenever they come to this restaurant - I guess this dish is very friendly to the Japanese tastebuds rather than the more greasy and fiery fare that characterises Malaysian/Singaporean cuisine; Prawn and Vegetables Sambal Belachan ~1300yen:
We'd love to try the other Singaporean restaurant one day soon.
Since we've eaten here a few times before, and I've blogged about Hainan Chifan twice before, I won't say much except to show photos of more dishes which are also worth ordering. Apologies for the poor quality of the shots - I took these photos with my crappy phone camera, and no amount of editting can improve the quality so I didn't bother.
Chicken and Pork Satay ~700yen; Roti Pratha with Curry ~400yen:
Chicken Rice set ~1000yen - apparently this is something that Rob's Japanese colleagues always order whenever they come to this restaurant - I guess this dish is very friendly to the Japanese tastebuds rather than the more greasy and fiery fare that characterises Malaysian/Singaporean cuisine; Prawn and Vegetables Sambal Belachan ~1300yen:
We'd love to try the other Singaporean restaurant one day soon.
Tuesday 6 January 2009
New Year in Japan
2009 marks our third new year in Japan, and we're still loving the experience. Compared to the two previous new year's celebrations, this past new year was laidback and rather uneventful, a time to spend as a new family. As mentioned before, Kim was visiting Tokyo from the Noto for a couple of weeks during the Japanese winter school holidays, and she stayed mostly at her Japanese "host" family in Saitama. Technically they are no longer her host family since Kim's time as an exchange student years ago, but they maintained such a close relationship that they are practically her family. Although Rob and I have never met them, they did something lovely and thoughtful for us when they prepared some osechi to give us. The food was delicious, and saved me from cooking on New Year's day! The roast pork especially was good, and tasted almost like the Chinese-style roast pork. It was my first time trying datemaki, a traditional New Year's food, which is a sweet rolled omelette mixed with fish paste (looks similar to tamagoyaki or dashimaki tamago). And the sweet kuri kinton (sweet chestnuts in mashed sweet potatoes) was a gorgeous yellow colour and was yummy. Here is a photo of the food:
On the plate: roast pork, chicken roll, datemaki, mashed boiled eggs; in the bowl is the kuri kinton:
I hope everyone had a wonderful and lovely New Year's celebration!
On the plate: roast pork, chicken roll, datemaki, mashed boiled eggs; in the bowl is the kuri kinton:
I hope everyone had a wonderful and lovely New Year's celebration!
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