Tokyo eats: 龍吟 [Ryugin]

Super back-log post that should be posted 3 months ago!  Yikes!

I must have passed the exteriors of the restaurant on a weekly basis when we lived in Tokyo for it was near my yoga school.  When I found out what lies beneath, I wanted to go try out Ryugin before we left.  But we never did quite got a chance.  That was in 2007.  5 years on, I still wanted to make a trip down to Ryugin.  The Man never quite understood my fascination with wanting to try the place until one of his friends raved about his dining experience there.

Thereafter, it was a scurry trying to secure the reservations at Ryugin which we eventually got.  Woo hoo!  Happiness! 

It is rather impressive that Ryugin only opened its doors in 2003 and in just 10 years, owner and chef, Seiji Yamamoto has managed to secure 3 Michelin stars for his restaurant.  Specialising in modern Japanese cuisine, chef Yamamoto use of fine Japanese ingredients in his cooking is beautifully plated and presented in each of his dishes.

That evening, we had the Early Spring Menu where the dishes signified the ending of Winter and the coming of Spring.  Not quite knowing what to expect (I didn’t want to spoil the surprise by doing massive online research of the restaurant), all of us were definitely in for both a visual treat and feast.

Changing from Winter to Spring:

Seasonal vegetables with “Pine Nuts” dressing and sip of “Burdock Root” Soup

2 kinds of Calf Sweetbread – Sweetbread egg custard and deep-fried sweetbread

An interesting twist of the use of sweetbread.  I especially enjoyed the deep-fried version which was crispy and somewhat crunchy.

We noticed that when the dishes are set in front of us, the serving-ware would somehow be a little moist.  Puzzled as to why this was the case, I asked our server what the significance was.  Turned out that in ancient times before serving the food to the royalty, the kitchen staff would need to spritz the serving-ware before serving it.  If the serving-ware had been touched after the water has been spritzed, it would mean that the food had been tampered with.  Interesting tit-bit learned that evening.

Ichiban Dashi Soup: Spring “Wakatake” with “Kuruma Shirimp” Ball

Beautiful bowl with intricate dragon artwork imprinted on it and when revealed, it housed this really fragrant soup with the shrimp ball.

Assortment of Sashimi Ryugin Style

Don’t expect to find the usual sashimi here at Rygugin.  Sashimi is anything but usual and we all loved the twist that he did with the sashimi platter.  The presentation, the seasonings, the textures were all beautifully done to show off his mastery.

“Kinki fish” from Hokkaido Grilled on Charcoal

Interesting side dishes that were served along with the kinki fish – grilled eggplant with stuffing, boiled daikon soup served like a drink and my fave of the trio was this pickled green apple with ginger flavour that was tangy and crunchy to the palette.

“Chicken wing tip” stuffed with sharksfin in rich chicken essence and chopped vegetables

Wagyu Beef fillet grilled on charcoal with assorted vegetables

My shot of the wagyu beef fillet sure didn’t do this dish any justice but this was sinfully good.  Feeling stuffed by now, I could only manage 2 pieces and palmed the rest off to the guys on the table who happily ate the seconds without any form of protest.

Signature dish “Sanshoo pepper rice” with season vegetables in Spring presentation

Rice that looks almost too healthy and too good to be true.  Managed just 2 bites and left the rest untouched simply because I was too full.

At this point, the server asked if we were all full and if we were like to have another special dish.  I declined the offer but the rest of the table wanted to see what the chef would whip up for us so they nodded their head in joy.  This special sakura ebi with rice was given to some of us and it turned out to be far more enjoyable that their signature rice dish (IMO).

Now, on to desserts.

Tangerine Candy

When cracked open, our served dished out the candied tangerine to be place on the nitrogen ice-cream.  A huge fan of all things citrus, this was clearly a winner for me. Baked Ginjou Sake “Oyaki Souffle” with feathery “salted” soft served ice-cream

And what do I make of this sake souffle?  Honestly, it was one of THE best desserts I’ve had in a loooong time.  Love that the souffle had a hearty dose of alcohol in it (yes, one could get sufficiently intoxicated if you are allergic to alcohol) that was well-balanced with the right amount of salt in that feathery soft-serve ice-cream.  I wish we had seconds of this dessert instead.

Overall, a wonderful time spent at Ryugin and I’m giving it a two thumbs up for this three Michelin star dining experience.

龍吟, Ryugin

Address: Side Roppongi Bldg, 1st Floor, 7-17-24 Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo　106-0032

Reservation available time : 11:30am-6:00pm
Tel:+81-3-3423-8006

Michelin: ***

Tokyo eats: とんかつ三本

Our last day in Tokyo saw us wandering the streets of Shinjuku attempting to get some shopping done.  Not before a quick bite to ease the Man’s hunger pangs.   This had been one of my fave hang-out places to go as a student in Tokyo and I was secretly hoping that I would be able to find it in one of the lanes at Shinjuku.  And we did!

Lunch sets are pretty much a good bargain (approximately 1,100 – 1,500 yen) here at this casual eatery which is famous for Tonkatsu (breaded pork loins).  They don’t just use ordinary panko.  Each pork loin is carefully coated with a generous serving of bread chunks doused with the Tonkatsu sauce, this was definitely a meal that brought back fond memories of hanging out with classmates after school.

Tokyo eats: Akasaka Fukinuki Unagi Restaurant

The last trip that we were in Tokyo, the Man kept talking about Unagi Don (grilled eel in sweet sauce served over white rice).  So much so, I kept thinking about it and on the last day of our trip, I decided to drag the Man to go have it.  We tried looking for the one that he used to frequent in some small lane off Shinjuku station, but the tiny lanes all looked the same and it felt like we were going round in circles.  So, we aborted tiny lane Unagi Don mission and headed to a proper eatery that served up Unagi Rice in a proper mall.

Located at the 14 floor of Times Square, Akasaka Fukinuki Unagi Restaurant is a specialty eel restaurant and apparently the only place in all of Tokyo that you can eat Hitsumabushi, a Nagoya-style eel donburi.

I knew what I was going to have – the Hitsumabushi lunch set which is actually grilled eel served on rice with accompaniments.  Looked around and saw that most of the diners ordered this set as well, so I guess it must be popular.

What’s interesting to note is that Hitsumabushi is recommended to be eaten in 3 different ways.  Using the flat wooden spoon provided, we first scooped portions of unagi and rice from the large laquered bowl into the small bowl.

The first way to have this is to add much Japanese pepper as you like on to the unagi and rice.  I initially didn’t think very highly of having the unagi this way but I guess you’ll get to enjoy the original sauce with just the pepper.

The second way of eating the dish is to add green onion and seaweed.   Mix everything up and just tuck in.

And the third way of eating this is to mix in green onions seaweed, wasabi and lots of warm dashi (Japanese soup stock) from the white flask along with the unagi and rice.  It’s kinda having cooked porridge, very heart-warming when you are feeling cold.

After trying all 3 ways, you can choose to have the rest of unagi and rice in any combination you’d like.  Kinda tough if you ask me because all 3 methods are pretty good.

Beach Break

One of our new year’s resolutions included taking more beach holidays around the region and it was a toss between Danang or Bali.  And we went with the latter because it’s been such a long time since we were there.  Think the last time we visited Bali was about 6 years ago.  Wow!  Has it been that long?

Deciding on a hotel to stay was also tough for I wasn’t too familiar with Bali anymore.  We knew what we wanted, a nice resort with a private pool for us to just sunbathe and chill the entire day if the weather was kind enough for us.  Narrowing down to a couple of nice resorts was a toughie for me.  Remember, not a stellar track record when it comes to booking of hotels?  Well, in the end, I decided to book us in a for a weekend retreat/stay at Uma Ubud.

I’ve long been a fan of hotels under the Como Group (actually, more of a sucker for the range of shower gels and lotions under the Como Shambhala range – they are seriously da best!).  The Ultimate Ubud Spa Retreat package sounded like quite a treat for the soul and those complimentary massages/ yoga classes sounded like quite a fun thing to do apart from lounging by the pool, so Uma Ubud it was!

While we weren’t quite expecting a swanky new resort, the Man felt that the hardware of the resort was a little rundown.  But having said that, the ‘software’ is actually pretty commendable.  The staff were real warm and friendly.  They greeted us by our names and ensured that our requests were fulfilled.  When we found out that the roof was leaking (and damaged my Balenciaga bag in the process – sigh!), they sent someone into our room when we were out for dinner to fix the problem.

Did I not mention that the massages at the Como Shambhala Spa were so good!  The Man and I felt all relaxed having indulged in daily massages coupled with complimentary yoga sessions.  I finally felt a little more flexible, arm muscles a little more defined now.  All I need to do now is to lose more of my muffin top

But it was hard when we ate pretty darn well.  Again I had to stop myself from over-eating so those yoga classes really did make me feel better.

Will be sharing some of the eats that we managed to discover on this trip, so stay tuned.  As for me, I’m already dreaming of our next beach destination.  Where next?  Hmmm….

Say a prayer for Boston

Woke up to some really shocking news this morning and learned of the bombing at the Boston Marathon.  Memories flashed as I watched the scenes on the television, ‘Hey, we were there last year.’  I was AT the finish line waiting for the Man to finish his race just last year.  The runners, the supporters, the people behind Boston Marathon – I cannot imagine what they went through in those split seconds when the bombs set off.

This was close to the Finish line.  This was the place where we tried to find a spot to wait for our respective other halves to finish the grueling race.  The streets were jam-packed and it was almost impossible to find a spot where we will not be pushed.  In the end, we gave up trying to secure a spot and moved to the nearest mall which provided an unblocked view of the street with the runners in sight.

It was somewhere along this spot that the blasts happened.  A day of joy and celebration for runners and supporters alike quickly turned into a day of horror.  A day where the city comes out to support the runners and mark their achievements as they crossed the finish line turned to little importance.  Truly a sad day indeed.

This incident is probably a little closer to our hearts  because we were there.  We were amongst the many who participated in this world-celebrated running event, we knew how important the weekend was to Boston who went all out to make us feel welcomed during this event.

During the course of my work, I also met with some of the organisers of the Boston Marathon.  I’ve had the privilege to work with some of them and learned of what they do at the Boston Marathon.  Thankfully, they are all safe and my prayers go to them and their teams during this difficult time.

When President Obama addressed the Boston Marathon explosions, he said. “Boston is a tough and resilient town. So are its people. I’m supremely confident that Bostonians will pull together, take care of each other, and move forward – as one proud city.”

And it’s true, I know in my heart that Boston will get through this trying time and will rise victoriously as Champions again.

Tokyo eats: a to z Cafe

The recent impromptu trip to Tokyo saw me spending a little lone time while the Man went about with his work meetings.  Had meant to meet up with a colleague but timings got messed up so my afternoon freed up.  Not quite knowing what I should do (didn’t quite make plans ahead), I whipped up the phone and tried to google for a nice cafe to suss out around Aoyama area.

A to Z cafe definitely stood out from the rest and I was determined to go look for it for well-known Japanese pop artist Yoshitomo Nara has helped put the design touches to the cafe.  Being a fan of his work which I think is ‘quirky cute’, I was curious to check this cafe out.

It was kinda challenging to find this place but having read that the cafe is situated at the end of a small side street on the fifth floor of an unassuming building.  I kept my eyes peeled open for any signs.  Small cafes in Tokyo very often do not have flashy signboards but they might have a small billboard near their premises so do keep your eyes wide opened for these tell-tale signs.

Stepping into the cafe, I was thrilled to find that I missed most of the lunch-crowd.  Didn’t have to wait too long to get seated by the counter.  While waiting, I simply took my time to browse through Yoshimoto’s work that has been specially handpicked by the artist himself to be placed in the cafe.

Cute book of postcards by the artist himself.

The cafe offers a good mix of Japanese and western food which all looked very good.  Originally, I wanted to order a Pork don but was told that I could only have the daily lunch set.  Well, that’s fine by me as well.  The pictures of the set lunch did look pretty decent.

Snapped more pics as I sat around and waited for my food.

This was the lunch set that I’ve been given.  For 1000 yen, I must say that it was pretty worth it.  There’s sashimi, a small serving of pickled vegetables, chicken, tofu, soup and rice.  Now that’s a full meal that kept my tummy happy.

As I chomped merrily on my meal, I was kept pretty entertained with Yoshitomo’s artwork.   In the middle of the cafe, one will find a hut that’s supposed to be Yoshitomo’s atelier.  I would have loved to stepped into the room and spend time going through his stuff but I think this room is off-limits to the guests.  Nevertheless, it’ was nice to peer in and take a look at the many paintings, drawings, artifacts that the artist had artfully placed around the small hut.

Loving this little corner of the cafe too.  If I were seated here, I probably would order a coffee, get lost and relish in the ‘me’ time as I watch the world slowly go by.

A to Z cafe

Address: 5F, 5-8-3, Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, JapanTelephone: +81 03-5464-0281

Website: http://atozcafe.exblog.jp/

 

 

Related articles

• Tokyo eats: Harbs (j0annesim.wordpress.com)

Tokyo eats: Harbs

One of my fave cafes to head to after school with my class-mates or to spend some time on my own when we were living in Tokyo is Harbs.

With a philosophy that goes ‘Cakes that can fill your heart with happiness’, what’s not to like?  Lunch sets here are pretty affordable, for about 1,500 yen (or so), you’ll get a sandwich, coffee/tea and a half-slice of a cake.  Sounds like a good deal right?

Didn’t mattered that we just polished off a bowl of noodles at Ichiran Ramen before this, I was going to make me some room for dessert since I was there and I kinda forced the Man to do so as well.   And our cake of choice?  One of their most popular items, Mille Crepes – seasonal fruits generously packed between six layers of crepes.

Worth every bite I must say… now it’s time to hit the gym.