Adventure #198: Ippodu

The Japanese ramen joint at Queensway, Ippudo is always pack at weekday lunch. So I never bothered to try.  Today is Saturday, we were just back from a wonderful break in Tokyo and there was no queue, so it was a great opportunity for us!

G ordered a standard white ramen.  It was good.  Noodle texture good and soup base tasty. Bowl was a bit small for G and he had to order extra noodles.

I had the red ramen - spicy one. No complaints there.

We also had some dumplings with lunch.

Good quality Japanese ramen though a bit pricey for lunch.

Ippodu
Queensway Plaza
Admiralty

Adventure #197: Duddell's

Girls' gossip lunch.  Amy booked a new place called Duddell's, a restaurant above Shanghai Tang's flagship store in Central.  Although situated in the heart of Central, the inside of the restaurant is quiet and peaceful.  The decor is simple but elegant.

 

 

Abalone tart - how decadent!

Veggie dumpling

A fried veggie dish, light but delicious.

Fried noodle, not too oily.

Since it was a girls' lunch, we just have to have dessert - 2 to share between 3 - not so guilty! Hahaha

Nice decor. Food quality good. Had more waiters than customers but too many suits around (we are after all in Central) so unable to fully relax!

Duddell's
3-4/F, 1 Duddell Street
Central
Tel: 2525 9191
Closed Sunday

Adventure #196: 班鳩 (Tokyo)

Last day in Tokyo.  Went for a stroll in Tokyo Station before we leave.  And while we were there, we had ramen for lunch.  There were a couple of recommended ramen restaurants there but we chose 班鳩. 

Before 12 and already a queue.

Restaurant is small but well equipped.  And everyone is there just to eat, people moved like a factory line!

Look good, taste good!

Adventure #195: Hiraboku 平田牧場 (Tokyo)

This afternoon we went to the American Pop Art Exhibition from the John and Kimiko Powers Collection at the National Art Center. After which we strolled to Tokyo Midtown for some shopping and dinner.

One of the restaurants recommended by the guide book was Hiraboku which serves deep fried pork from pigs reared in their own farm.  Not a big fan of deep fried pork but we gave it a go.

First to arrive were the salad and a bowl with sesame seeds. We were to crush the sesame seeds then mix with special sauce for the dipping the pork.

The other bits of my set meal arrived.

Although deep fried, the pork was crispy on the outside but juicy on the inside.  Very tender! Excellent!

G had the pork cutlet with curry. 

Food is simple but delicious.  Pork was fresh and succulent! What more can I say other than yummy!



Adventure #194: Bento Boxes (Tokyo)

Spent the entire day shopping at Shinjuku. Totally knacked at the end of the day.  Didn't fancy sitting in a restaurant, so we bought one of my favourite Japanese food - bento boxes from Marui food court and had dinner in our room.

These bento boxes were beautifully displayed, so full of colours and so inviting. And best of all, they were delicious!

Also bought some desserts and fruits.  Yum!

All department stores sell bento boxes.  They are all beautifully done and reasonably priced.  Great for lunch in the park or a quiet dinner at home.  A must on every trip to Japan. 

Bento boxes often go on sale after 7pm, a good time to pick up some good ones for dinner!

Adventure #193: Tempura Tsunahachi つな八 (Tokyo)

We arrived in Shinjuku for a leisurely shopping day. Walked past Uniqlo and saw a queue forming outside a restaurant. The people in the queue are all Japanese. That’s a sign for good local food. From what little Chinese words there were on the board outside, we learnt that this is a tempura restaurant and they have a rather reasonably priced lunch set. So, we joined the queue.

The restaurant looked small from the outside but it was huge on the inside with counter seats (many different counter areas) as well as dinning seats. We were seated at one of the counters where 2 chefs were working.

The chef at the back worked non-stop preparing all kinds of seafood for the tempura. And the chef in front prepared the tempura and served them to us as soon as they came out of the fryer!



In this picture, the chef at the back was shelling mountains of prawns, that's after he filleted 2 huge fishes!

This is the set we ordered.  The tempura was served as and when cooked.  Cannot get any fresher than this!

In addition to the normal tempura dipping sauce, we were given 3 different types of salt.  From top, plum flavoured salt, wasabi flavoured salt and normal salt.  I think the wasabi salt is really interesting, followed closely by the plum salt.  Made the taste of the tempura so much more interesting.

Clam soup, super delicious!

All done! Yum!

The tempura was great.  Had to eat rather fast as the aircon in the restaurant was rather strong and we didn't want the tempura turning cold.   I doubt if we would have enjoyed the meal as much if we had not sat at one of the counters.  Watching the chefs work took the whole dining experience to a whole new level!

 

 

Adventure #192: Yakitori Akira 焼鶏 あきら (Tokyo)

After a day of walking through Daikanyama and Nakameguro, we decided to have dinner at Nakameguro before making our way back to our hotel. The recommended restaurant here is a yakitori restaurant called Yakitori Akira. Nakameguro is a residential neighbourhood with some up and coming boutiques. Built along a canal, it provides for a relaxing afternoon stroll before dinner.

The restaurant is not easy to find, so use the direction below. The décor was Japanese, 3 types of seating, “prized table” on the tatami, normal table or seats at the counter. We were given a table on the tatami. Nice to look at but difficult to seat. Counter seats may be more fun.

The staff speaks minimal Japanese but has an English menu. This place, as the name suggests, specialises in chicken yakitori. And unlike what we were used to, this is a DIY joint! In addition to the chicken parts for yakitori, we also had the following dishes:

This was a free starter of pickles.

Tori Momo Tataki. Chicken thigh sashimi salad made up of slices of raw chicken meat mixed with tamanegi (onion), spring onion, myoga (Japanese ginger), daikon oroshi (grated daikon), sesame seeds and yuzu ponzu (citrus juice). Never had raw chicken before and I don’t think one is supposed to eat raw chicken! But this is sort of their signature dish, so we had to try. The salad was very refreshing, I remained unconvinced about the raw chicken. Couldn’t stand the raw chicken taste. G finished the dish.

Loved this avocado sauteed in butter with shoyu. Delicious!

Yakitori DIY. We ordered the standard fare - chick thigh, chicken heart, chicken gizzard and chicken meatballs.

Onsen egg dipping for the chicken meatballs. So good!

So much fat from the chicken skin, we caused a blast!

We finished the meal with yazu and green tea iced cream.



Nice decor. The DIY thing is a novelty for us. And as a result of the DIY, food quality of yakitori depends entirely on how good a cook you are. In HK, we are used to yakitori cooked to perfection by the staff.  Food was good but we still prefer the HK style yakitori.



Yakitori Akira 焼鶏 あきら

1-10-23 Naka-Meguro

Meguro-ku

Tokyo

Tel: 03-3793-0051

 

Directions: Step out of Nakameguro station (JR Hibiya Line), cross the busy main road, and straight over the little bridge across the concrete-encased, tree-lined “river” and turn right at the izakaya with a photographic portrait of the nineteenth century samurai Sakamoto Ryōma on its façade. Walk down the riverside street passed the line of small French restaurants, izakaya and bars and then climb the pale blue pedestrian bridge and cross to the other side of the main road. At the bottom of the pedestrian bridge facing the side you were on just now, turn left, past the canal and turn left onto a small path overshadowed by a canopy of trees. Along this path (canal on your left) are arranged a variety of enticing izakaya and restaurants, but do not be distracted. Akira waits at the end of the row.

Adventure #191: Suzuran Ramen すずらん (Tokyo)

Arrived in Tokyo late last night. Hungry upon arrival but most things were closed. Fortunately we stumbled upon a quaint noodle cart outside Suidobashi train station (cannot imagine going to bed with a hungry G). Great atmosphere but pretty average noodles. Regardless, the hunger and ambiance overcame its mediocrity and tasted wonderful neverthless. 

The next day we went in search for some real Japanese ramen. G’s sister recommended Suzuran Ramen. So on our way to our destination for the day, Daikanyama, we stopped by Shibuya to look for this ramen shop.

We were told that there is usually a long queue for the ramen. Luckily, it was a Saturday morning and we got there just before opening time (11.30am). We were the first customers!

The owner came out personally to take our order. Suzuran specialises in tsuke-men (dipping noodles), i.e. noodles and meat served separately from the sauce. We had to try their signature dishes.

We ordered one of its famous dishes, Kagoshima style pork belly (buta kakuni), tsuke-men style of course.

We also ordered what looked like a seasonal dish, tomato soup noodle.

The restaurant is small, at most 10-12 counter seats only. Everything was made fresh right in front of us (except the noodles of course). The homemade noodles, whether it was the flat noodle or the ramen, were excellent. Cooked just right and have that slight chewy bouncing texture when eaten.

This is the Kagoshima style pork belly (buta kakuni). The belly pork was excellent, soft and tasty, although a bit too salty for our taste. The noodle dipped in sauce was heavenly.

This is the tomato soup noodle. Tomatoes freshly cut and veggies freshly stirred fried right in front of us. The tomatoes and veggies were very fresh and the soup base very good. This help balance out the saltiness of the pork belly. Great combination!

I was told they also make a mean dan dan noodle and hot ramen. Maybe next trip!

Suzuran Ramen
3-7-5 Shibuya, Tokyo

Directions: It's on the east side of the station, not Hachiko or Dogenzaka side. It's behind the huge, rather new, Shibuya police station. Come out Shibuya Station East Exit and take the pedestrian overpass across Meiji Dori, on the right. Head toward the police station, which you can't miss. When you get to the other side, walk uphill on Roppongi Dori just past the station (on your right) and take the second right and it is on the right side of the street. It is literally 5 minutes from the station. Best time to go, before lunch crowd or in the evenings.