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hawkny

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Everything posted by hawkny

  1. When I was in Chiang Mai a couple of years back I had a few very nice meals at a restaurant called the Rain Forest (the restaurant was recommended by several Thai people when I asked them where to go for the best meal in Chiang Mai). Wonderful place, located outside the city center (take a tuk-tuk or a bicycle to get there), frequented only by only by local Thais (at least when I was there I was the only Farang). All of the dishes I had were great, the thing i recall the most about the place was the quality and the abundance of the "Thai Food" ingredients such as Thai and Holy Basil, Lemongrass, Peppercorns etc. Upon leaving the place I was very happy to have just had an outstanding meal, but I was also wondering why I can't get a Thai meal outside of Thailand of the same quality(or close to it) that the Rain Forest serves( my view is that it is all up to the quality and freshness of the Thai herbs). If you are in Chiang Mai it is definitely worth a visit. The restaurant section in Chiang Mai News has the address for the restaurant( 181 Chiang Mai - Hod Rd., T. Nong Khwai. Tel: 053441908, 053432319)
  2. Also, Gyu-tataki is perfect as part of a multi-course meal. Most other Japanese beef dishes such as Teppan-yaki, Suki-yaki, Shabu-Shabu etc are meals in them-self
  3. As for beef, I would worry less about obtaining authentic Kobe Beef/Wagyu(unless you want to show off to your guests) and more about the preparation. Wagyu/Kobe Beef is sold outside of Japan, but I have yet to encounter a cut of Wagyu outside of Japan that is even close to what you get in Japan. The cut your local butcher can provide you with for roast beef is most likely as good/better as the wagyu beef you can get (if my US experience can be transplanted to the UK). In addition to Torakris suggestions for the gyu-tataki, you could sprinkle sliced roasted garlic, chives and/or scallions on top of the beef. Ponzu is a great dipping sauce, but you could(should) add a couple of more sauces, at least one soy-sauce based with horse-radish/chili-daikon/etc.
  4. Can only comment on one restaurant. Went to Miyako Sushi three weeks back, an outstanding experience, best Sushi I have ever had. The restaurant is quite small, seats about 8 people at the counter + 4 tables. Seated at the counter, which is where one should sit in a premium Sushi place. Only two chefs, the master and his assistant, was lucky enough to be served by the master. Had the 5,000 Yen Omakase, and after a couple of small request to the chef about preferences he served some outstanding fish. The sushi was Edo-mae style, which means that the sushi is in Tokyo style (and should have been caught in Tokyo bay, which is not always the case). Most of the Sushi was very familar to "regular" sushi, but there were no rolls on the course menu and some of the fish had been "prepared", for example a grilled Anago(eel) that was excellent, a wonderful zuke(marinated tuna) and a superb boiled squid. Also, a shrimp-powder mix was used instead of wasabi for some dishes. Had a few repeats and some additional pieces that were not on the course menu, the total bill came to 10,000 Yen (80 US Dollars) per person including beer and sake. Considering the outstanding quality of food I consider it a bargain. Would definitely recommend this as "the" Sushi-place to go to for a visitor to Tokyo(or people living there as well for that matter). It is next to the Asakusa temple, which is one of the major tourist spots in Tokyo, so it can can be visited after some sightseeing. Speak Japanese, so language was not an issue for me, but the chef seemed used to western visitors and he was eager to show his (well worn) Japanese-English food dictionary.
  5. www.tokyoq.com is the web-site you are talking about. He was one of the originators behind it, although there are other people contributing to the restaurant reviews these days.
  6. Mamster For planning your trip, my suggestion is that you visit Tokyo Food Page and Tokyo Q(at both sites you will have to do a little bit navigation before you hit the restaurant reviews). Both sites are in English, and has an extensive collection of reviews. Tokyo food Page's restaurant list is more extensive, where as tokyoq has more in-depth reviews. I have found both sites to be fairly reliable in their reviews(I am not associated with either of the sites). Tokyoq has a review of an Eel Restaurant for this months review which you indicated was on the agenda of things you wanted to do. For Department store food halls, one tip if you really want to cheap it. All department stores close one day mid week(Monday-Thursday), so visit just before close on the day before their mid-week close. They are offering steep discounts, since it will be two days before they can sell their food-stuff again. All the department stores listed previously are excellent, but I would also like to add Isetan in Shinjuku to the list. The Takashimaya branch in Shinjuku used to have a Fugu counter with live fish where the fish was sliced before your eyes. The fish should be in season end of November, definitely worth trying (at least you can say you had it and survived). Another suggestion is to go to Ameyoko between Ueno and Akihabara(The electronics district). This is a more down-to-earth version of the department store food hall. For sushi, I always thought that Sushisay in Tsukiji was the best place for visitors. The fish is of very good quality, the price is reasonable and it is housed in an old wooden building next to the fish market which adds to the ambiance. Yakitori (Grilled Chicken), eating under the rail-road tracks in Yurakucho(near Ginza) is quite an experience. There are several vendors, all of roughly the same quality. It was suggested to pick up Tonkatsu at a department store. Alternatively, go to Maisen in Omote-sando. They have a file of "Black Pork" (which is their signature dish) that is just unbelievable, tender and tasty for about 3,000 yen if I remember correctly. It's a shame that Ninnikuya has gone downhill(as indicated in this thread), it was definitely one of my favourite places in Tokyo. If you have the money to spend, try Arakawa in Shinbashi (near Ginza) for Teppan-yaki. It will be expensive, but I would be very surpised if you did not come out of the restaurant claiming that this was by far the best steak you ever had. I have yet to find a steak outside of Japan that comes even near the best steaks in Japan. Chanko-nabe in Ryogoku. "Sumo"-cuisine. More of a been there, done that experience, but you could be eating with real wrestlers. For Sake you can visit the Japanese Sake Center in Ginza for some tasting. Most department stores will also have sake tastings. I would stick to Japanese places. Tokyo has some outstanding international restaurants, but with four days you are better off focusing on the local stuff (Even sticking to Japanese you will barely scratch the surface of what Tokyo has to offer). Tokyo has it's fair share of medicocre and/or over-priced restaurants and my uggestion is to go to places that you have done prior research on. Eating alone should not be a problem, especially at the places that offers a counter(which is where you want to be anyway). Since you are a foreigner, at night-time people will be eager to strike a conversation with you after they have had a few sakes and beers. Warnings: A lot of places do not accept credit cards, so please come armed with cash. A lot of places will have menus only in Japanese with pictures or plastic replicas of the dishes in the windows (If you want to bring your own plastic replica food, head to Kappa-bashi which is a half-mile stretch of shops selling restaurant supplies). The magic word is Omakase (chef's choice), which is ususally the best way to go anyway in better restaurants. Also, not every restaurant will have English speaking staff (I would say most of them don't). I would not be too discouraged by this, there will usually be a guest at the restaurant who speaks English willing to help out. Enjoy your trip. Disclaimer I left Tokyo two years ago, so some of the info might be out of date
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