Eduardo

Yes, that the place. Don't miss it if you get the chance to go

Sorry guys, the tempura place in Kyoto is Endo, not Edon and if I’m not wrong it was in the Sanjo Marutamachi area. Don't have any other details with me. Masuda is close to Shijo and the telephone number is 7-5361-1508. The street reference that I got from a press review (I'm not sure if its valid) is as follows: Miyukicho Nishi Iru, Matsudabara dori, Shimogyou-Ku. Sanrensho, it wasn't me mentioning the pastries. Even though, its true that it's impossible to leave any of their shopping centres without getting one. The way the make the occidental cakes and desserts is incredible. I didn't like most of the Japanese pastries that much. To sweet and heavy for my taste. The shops at Tokyo an Kyoto Station were great, but nothing compared to the ones at Daimaru in Kyoto...

Endo was quite easy to find by our concierge at the hotel. On the opposite, it was hard to reach Masuda, even though we had the telephone number. Give me a couple of days (I don't have the information with me at this moment) and I will post it.

We have just got back from our trip. The food has been amazing. Most of the times we just walked in at the places that seemed attractive and we didn't failed in any of them. So that should be, in my opinion, the starting point for someone visiting Japan for the first time. We have found out that both Tokyo and Kyoto have a plenty number of very good restaurants in the mid price range, and that it isn’t necessary to expend a hole amount of money to have a very good meal. That said, we have visited some more expensive restaurants that I would never miss if you can afford them: For sushi and sashimi in Tokyo, we had a fabulous dinner at Kybuei. Amazing product. Pure and really delicate. There you see the diference between a sushi man and a good sushiman. The cut of the fish is just another world. Dinner for two, with all the sushi and sashimi in the world, and beer 70000 yen For Tempura in Kyoto, Edon is the place. Best tempura in my life. Everything is delicious, but you have to ask for the sweet corn tempura. Incredible. Dinner for two with a cheap white wine 30000 yen For a more eclectic meal, and unforgettable experience, Masuda in Kyoto is the place. We had a fantastic time with Takashi Masuda, the owner and chef. What a personality. Great fun, and a dinner to remember. Perfect balance between tradition and a more modern cuisine. Tiny place (6 sits at the counter) and a large menu from Mr. Masuda. Best product and cero artificial effects. If you look for fire rockets in four plate, this is not your place. Dinner for 2 60000 yen with wine, shake and whisky Thanks to all of you for your help

Well guys, thank you very much for all the information. Can't wait to go!!

Thanks for your replies. Well, we are very open-minded about food, so all your recommendations are more than welcome. As a fact, here in Spain most Japanese places bases their offer on Sushi, Sashimi, Tempura, and Tepanyaki. Trying good places for this kind of food will be great. Of course, we want to go for a kaiseki as well. In Tokyo we will be staying at the Park Hotel Tokyo which I think is in Shiodome. In Kyoto, I think that we will finally go to the Hotel Granvia Kyoto, which is very close to the railway station. Budget is not such a big problem. Ok, I don’t want all my meals to go up to $200 each, but it’s ok to try some top range places. Sorry if I can’t be more precise, but I really don’t know very much about Tokyo and Kyoto, except for that I look forward very much to go there!! BTW, I don’t know a single word in Japanese and we will be most of the time by ourselves Thanks again!!! Eduardo

Hi, I'm going to Japan this coming August and I’m quiet lost about restaurants to go. I would really appreciate if you guys could give me some advice, in all ranges. We will be four days in each city, so we have plenty time to visit several places. Thanks in advance. It would be a real pity to go so far away and skip the best places!! I promise to give advice back if you ever come to Spain

On the salmon dish, the microfilm works as a papillote. Not to give flavour, or texture. The sweet taste comes from the orange sauce, that as Doc, I also found to be very much in front of the pristine salmon. Something like that also happened to me on the scallop dish. I concur with Doc in most of his comments, and also share favourite dishes. L’Esguard is a total must when going to the Barcelona area.

I would also recommend one of my favourite places from this summer: El Rodat in Javea, where Sergio Torres is making a very interesting cuisine. He has helped developing the gastrovac, a sort of a vacuum pack pressure cooker which raises most fish to their ideal point And if you try El Poblet, I'd definitely go for lunch to get some rice dishes. The rice there is amazing, and I wasn’t very fascinated this year with the rest of his offer.

Yes, I thought of that after posting my comments. I’ve never asked Sacha about it, but I think that what he serves as Villagodio is more “lomo bajo” (low loin??) than “lomo alto”. I’m going there for dinner tonight, so I’ll try to find out about this and also about the terrace, that, as far as I know, it should be ready by this week.

Paco, are you sure it was "chuleton" what they offered you?? (no bad intentions on my question). I go quite often there and I have never seen it on the menu. I wonder if it was “chuleta de ternera del Valle del Esla” (veal from Valle del Esla), which some days is included on the menu, but has not much to do with what we consider a “chuleton”.

I'm afraid I don´t. I used to buy it at the supermarkets when visiting Portugal, and haven't try to make it myself at home

Piazzola, you must have a back yard with no neighbours around if you want to try it. Ok, once you have live coal in your barbecue, put the “frango” with some salt (chicken) completely open in between two grills. Make a mix of olive oil and “piri piri” (Portuguese hot sauce). Put this mix on the frango with the help of a paintbrush and barbecue it quite close to the live coal. The skin side must get very dark, but watch out the other side, otherwise it will get to dry. You must “paint” the frango with the olive oil and piri piri several times while you barbecue it.

I'll find out and will tell you. I've been shopping there from not so long ago. But even if it isn't that place, you should go and take a look to some of their stuff (except for cheeses)...

There's a place in Madrid called Comercial Salamanca (Menendez Pelayo 2) where you can find,in my opinion, the best anchovies coming from Cantabria (I guess it's Santoña but I'm not completely sure). They are “home made” and surely deserve a try. Even if you are not interested on anchovies, it’s a good place for food. Excellent meat, great embutidos and a good selection of canned seafood and vegetables.

I think that the Parador is not the best choice for accommodation in Hondarribia. The building itself is very nice, an so are the common areas. But the rooms are a disappoint, in my opinion. I would rather go to Hotel el Obispo, which is very close to the Parador and is also walking distance to the centre of town.

I was in San Sebastian a week ago and went to Guetaria for lunch on Saturday. I ate at Elkano and I had the best turbot in years. The problem is that my wife finally couldn't make it, so I had to face a piece that would feed perfectly two people. I learnt from this time that fish is not the best thing to get stuffed with. I haven’t been to Kaia, but as docsconz said, there shouldn’t be much difference between both places. I’d say that Elkano might be more popular for locals. On Friday night I went to Martin Berasategui: if he’s not going through a good stage, boy I don’t know what to expect when he’ll get to his best. We had a great dinner, and the menu was entirely enjoyable. He has an incredibly technique, and all our dishes were very balanced and well thought. He really got brilliant in three or four dishes. Unfortunately, I left the printed menu at the restaurant. I’d try to get it from them so I can tell you all my favourites. Although the sumiller was extremely friendly, the only objection I can rise from that night is that the rest of the waiters weren’t at the level of Martin’s cuisine. I would expect a better service at a three star restaurant. In my opinion, Martin Berasategui is clearly behind Akelarre and Arzak on service.

There's a long article on this month's "VINO Y GASTRONOMIA" magazine, in which they write about insects as gastronomy items. I read it superficially last night and I have the impression that the insects that Petras is introducing in Spain are more kind of a snack or candy rather than real ingredients to be cooked pretending to be substitutes of our traditional “proteins”. It’s more a question of fun and snobbery… This said, the “hormigas culonas” y “cucarachas vietnamitas” are supposedly a great bite… They tried different dishes in Barcelona’s different restaurants using this insects, and from what I read, is seems that the dishes could work perfectly without them. They also talked about this Spanish cook (I don’t remember her names) who owns a restaurant in Miami called “Meeting Point”, and uses quite often the insects in her menu.

I might not be very objective with Sacha (both the restaurant and the formal owner, from who the restaurant takes his name), as he’s a very good friend of mine, but I subscribe every single word on Fernando Point’s review on Metropoli’s last issue (see last digest by Rogelio). Sacha first opened about thirty five years ago, and was initially run by Sacha’s parents, Carlos Hormaechea and Pitila Mosquera, a very peculiar couple who converted their restaurant in the place of reunion for the less official gourmets and night owls... After her husband’s death, Pitila entirely run the business almost until she passed away a few years ago, when she was already helped by her soon Sacha. If you ask Sacha what is his profession, he’ll probably tell you that he’s a photographer. And even though he hasn’t taken any culinary studies, he’s grown up in a kitchen and has a terrific traditional gastronomy basis, the heritage of both Galician and Catalonian rots. I would consider Sacha as a great cook whose biggest virtue is to know what he’s doing and what he wants to do. His cookery is very much out of the latest craze, what doesn’t mean it’s stuck. And tries to maintain in our days a lot of traditional recipes without renouncing to introduce some new ideas under that traditional basis. I think that Sacha represents the restaurant that any of us would be looking for in the next years. The culinary scene will move again, in my opinion, to this kind of places, “family restaurants” (in the same way of the “family doctors”) where the client and not the cook plays the leading role. In my last visits I’ve enjoyed tremendous dishes as (I need some help here with the translation) as guiso de butifarra con colmenillas, caldeiro de morcillo del Valle del Esla, risotto de perrechicos o ensalada de pulpo. Well, I would consider Sacha as a must visit in Madrid.

There come to my mine some more examples: Alberto Chicote serves at his "Nodo" a sort of a tataki with ajoblanco. An one of the dishes that is on Sacha's menu from several years ago is a salad made basically with almost rare tuna, ajoblanco, and a pedro ximenez sauce.

Miquel Ruiz, chef and owner of "La Seu" has closed his restaurant in Moraira and will be opening his new “La Seu” in Denia before summer. It’ll be located in the new marina of Denia. He’s already opened a bar right beside the restaurant for “tapas” and “paellas”. I’ve always found La Seu one of the best places to go in the Alicante area for a modern style of food, together with El Poblet. Let’s see how Miquel Ruiz does in this new location. It seems like Denia is becoming “the place”: Poblet, Casa Pepa, El Raset, now La Seu…

I spent a week in Galicia (Lugo and La Coruña) last August, and concerning to the beaches, it was very clean of fuel already. The oil spill became a big political problem, and everyone did their best to calm things down as soon as possible… I don’t think there is any kind of seafood restriction at this moment, and the quality of seafood doesn’t seem to have been affected. Prices are quite the same from what they were before the catastrophe.

Perdices con chocolate (partridge with chocolate) is a traditional dish in Spain, I believe specifically in Toledo, Bux. One of the dishes that I've enjoyed the most, was some cuitlacoche quesadillas with mole poblano and chocolate sauce. Clearly mexican influenced .

I'd say that June is definitely not the best month for seafood. It’s been always said that the months not including the “r” (May, June, July and August) are the worst of all of them, because of the temperature of the water. Seafood needs cold waters. ITOH, you might have nice days on that time of the year, and Galicia is worth a visit.

Actually, Roberto is located in a beautiful old typical Galician house, and it has a couple of comfortable rooms to expend the night if you wish: breakfast there is a complete amazement. That would be a good choice for being close to Santiago. I would also recommend a hotel called “Casa Grande de Cornide”, which is also outside Santiago: very quiet and very nice installations. I’ve also heard of a hotel called “El Semáfaro” close to Finisterre, which is located in an old lighthouse. I’ve never been able to get a room, as it’s always booked, but it shouldn´t be any problem for that time of the year.