Travelogue: Spirited Away

[therese]

Nuts!  Now I've gotta find an unripe persimmon.  I won't be able to sleep, otherwise.

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Be sure to have somebody at hand to document the expression on your face when you do this. You can then re-live the experience without having to repeat it.

[Hiroyuki]

Thanks for showing us the inside of that building. I'm familiar with that object on the top of the building, but I didn't know that the inside would be like that.

Find an unripe persimmon and eat it? It's inedible!

There are actually two types of persimmon: Ama gaki (sweet persimmon) and shibu gaki (astringent persimmon). The former becomes sweet when it's ripe, while the latter stays astringent even when it's ripe. Shibu gaki are good (turned sweeter than ama gaki) when dried. You've already seen dried persimmons (hoshi gaki) somewhere in your trip.

[Shelby]

The "flaming turd" looks like a big sperm to me

[Peter Green]

March 26 – Part 2 – Old Town

I figured, as long as we had to cut through it in order to get to Kappabasha dori, we might as well do the tourist thing.

Asakusa.

It’s a tourist trap, but it’s still fun. And it looks almost exactly the way I remember it looking when we were here 14 years ago. The shops selling stuff for the temple, the dried snacks all tidy on disply curbside, and the usual gewgaws.

And, as a bonus, the cherry blossoms were just coming out. We had’t missed them after all.

It was jammed with people, everyone on their way to the big temple, the Senso-ji, a tribute to Kannon, the embodiment of mercy and to the lack of common sense on the part of two fishermen who tried (repeatedly) to throw away a gold statue that showed up in their nets on the 18th of March, 628 A.D. Those darned gold statuettes are such a nuisance, and you never have the proper license for them when you head out fishing in the morning.

The big temple is impressive enough, but how many of these can you visit? Okay, one is a bit of a push for the two of us. Scud and I were more curious about the collection of little stalls on the side. These were in the direction of Kappabashi dori anyways, so we stopped for a bite.

Roots and tubers. Steamed and ready to go. I was confused by the ones on the far left. They almost looked doughy…..we ordered one. What the heck.

Potatoes, duh! Steamed, and loaded up with salt and a massive lump of butter.

There’s another thread going on, JIs Japan Starving?, where there's a discussion on how butter has disappeared from the shelves of the supermarkets. I’ve solved the mystery. It’s all here at this stand.

I mean, I like butter as much as the next person…..okay, maybe a bit more than the next person, but, still, I had problems working through the mass of fat that had been spatula’d onto this potato. We did our best, but there was still a couple of dabs on the styrofoam at then end of it all.

With our monthly intake of dairy fat and salt in us, we continued our Journey To The West.

It’s a nice walk, with the neighborhood being very much that, a neighborhood. The trappings of the tourist zone fall away as soon as you’re out of the covered arcades, and you’re back in a working people’s area, with shops and small factories

After a few minutes of walking through narrow alleys, and past a few interesting looking shrines, we came to that famous marker of the street of food equipment: The Imprisoned French Chef.

I explained to Scud how Pierre (that’s his name) had been fused into the building by the Self Defense Forces after the 80 foot tall monster chef went on a rampage in this part of the city.

At least, that’s the story I tried to feed Scud. I swore up and down that I’d taken it from that famous book of modern history “Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo”.

He doesn’t seem to believe me as easily nowadays.

Anyways, the street of food gear – Kappabasha dogu gai.

As you’d expect, you can buy all the stuff you might possibly need for a window display. There were windows full of sushi,

And some of the biggest mounds of curry rice you’re going to see anywhere.

You can even buy a life-size statue of me to scare small children and aircraft with.

The street signs were a curiousity looking an awful lot like Buttercup from the PowerPuff Girls, but I’m pretty certain they predate that series.

The porcelain gave me cause to pause. I could use a few more pieces, if I could bring them back in one piece.

I figure, you always need a few more serving pieces.

And, as you’d expect, there were plenty of places selling pots, and a couple of very good looking knife stores. But I was on video and Scud was on still, so you won’t be seeing any of that.

I caught sight of something I’d been looking for, and bought a ying yang hotpot. Why is it I have to go to Tokyo to buy something for a dish from Chengdu?

Strangely, what Kappabashi doesn’t have is a lot of restaurants. Lots of equipment, but nowhere really for it to be put to use.

It’s odd, as you’d think there’d at least be a place for cucumber rolls – kappamaki.

Which puts us on the topic of kappa.

The picture didn’t come out, but there’s a pretty little statue of a kappa. The kappa is another member of the Yokai, the ubiquitous water spirit that haunts streams, ponds, sewers, and toilets. He carries a small puddle of water in a depression on the top of his head. He’s also bound by a keen sense of etiquette, so, if you’re in trouble with one, the trick is to get them to bow, spill the water, and then they’re yours. A handy thing to know if you catch one munching on a small child. The cucumber reference is because their second favourite food (after human children) is cucumbers.

It’s another odd coincidence. I’d read about Kappa in Murakami’s Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but that was a long time ago. And then, a week ago, a friend loaned me a film about a Yokai war in the the Northeast, the hero being a wolf, but with a swamp scene with kappa. And then today I was watching a new anime with Serena – Karas – in which kappa appear as serial killers in the toilets of Shinjuku.

Poking around on IMDB for the title of that film (Kiba something or other) I also see that Takashi Miike has a 2005 film, Yokai Daisenso – The Great Yokai War, which echos of Pompoko.

So, you just never know.

Where was I?

Dinner was going to be something we’d want in the not too distant future, so we started walking back in the direction of the underground. It’s a good part of the town to stroll through, as there are still a lot of the older, smaller shops about, and these gave us an opportunity to stare into windows and make a nuisance of ourselves.

I even found a go store, with proper-sized boards. I’ve never done well with getting Scud to take up the game (perhaps it was the taunting and jeering?), but I was sneakier with Serena, and found a go anime for her. She really enjoyed Hikaru No Go, and so I’ve set the stage for her to learn. The theme of Hikaru No Go is that a young boy, Hikaru, finds an old haunted go board. The board comes with a metrosexual go tutor from the Heian days who takes a fond interest in the little boy. Lots of dramatic scenes of go stones being placed dramatically on the board. Talk about excitement!.....

Ahem!

I won’t say I was disappointed, but it’s a little sad how go has fallen out of the limelight in Japan, and even Korea. Ten years ago there were go schools all over Korea, and I should think they were still popular in Japan (from the magazines I subscribed to then), but the world of electronic gaming has left the black and white clam shells behind.

I couldn’t even find a go channel on tv. Sniff!

From where we were, it seemed reasonable to target Ryogoku for an early dinner. Scud was in favour of this, and that was good enough for me.

We were going back to Popeye.

Scud was really concerned that we get there before the crowd descended upon the place for happy hour. He remembered how crowded it had been the other night (when we were there at 9 p.m.) and assumed that the world would rising up en masse to fall upon the doors of Popeye as soon as they opened.

So, at 4:50 p.m., we had a ten minute wait before they would be starting service.

This is okay by me, as it provided a chance to do some shooting with decent light. The staff had no problems with my taking a few pictures, and were happy to discuss bits and pieces of the beer business.

I really haven’t done much to cover their bottles. They have a seriously impressive selection of Belgians, I must say, and, as we saw the other night, the glasses to match them.

But it’s the drawing line behind the bar that really gets my respect. Forty beers is an easy phrase to toss about, but when you see the massed line of taps back there, you get a better realization of how much goes into keeping that many lines up, stocked, and running.

And there’s Yona Yona, one of the pioneer micro-brews of Japan. And they’ve got the coolest coaster.

Our starter this time was a salad with some chunks of fried octopus.

Scud went back to the Weizen, this one a Ginza Kougen (from Iwate) with a good cloud about it, and a fairly decent head, one that held on longer than I’d expected. It was sweet, with a full mouth, which is what Scud was looking for.

Myself, I had the Shiga Kougen IPA. Good and hoppy, with enough bitterness about it to make me happy.

The Kougen group is probably the largest of the small in Japan, with four brew restaurants in town, and their pulls available here, as well.

We had another plate of the sausages (the trio) we’d had the other night. For Japan, Popeye has an excellent happy hour deal. They don’t do anything about the price on beer, but with selected beers on the menu (about a dozen of the draughts) you get a free plate of food. Given that in Asia you should eat while you drink (sensible) this takes a fair bit of the financial burder off of a night out.

Plus, I like the food.

We were doing halves in order to cover as much ground as possible…..well, as much ground as possible and still remain relatively lucid. Next was a Nide Cream Ale. This had a beautiful head, creamy in texture and cratered like the moon with large bubbles breaking clear from time to time. The bubbles in this were relatively light, and the beer came over as clean, and surprisingly transparent for a cream ale. This was a good, straightforward beer, but a but mushy in the mouth, lacking a bit of definition.

Scud stayed with the Belgian theme, and went for the Belgian White from Hakusekikan. This had been second in our tasting from the other day, and the Boy felt it was worth a reprise.

Our prior tasting notes put this as “on the sweet side, with a bit of tang in there, and a reasonable presence of hops”. With a bit more time, and more volume to work with, I’d add a nose of flowers and herbals. The beer has the expected cloudiness, and the head is holding up rather well. It’s still a little too sweet for me, but it’s a good example of a Belgian White.

Scud ordered a plate of deep fried things, taking Rona’s excellent advice to heart. These were hot and fresh, heavy on battter with the chunks of chicken in there, too.

Next was an Echigo Pils from Niigata. This had a good opening, with a well variegated head and a nice initial flavour, but then the head passed quickly into the Great Beyond, andd there was a sad aftertaste that I couldn’t wash away. Because of the ceramic mug, it was hard to judge the colour, but “kinda orange” would sum it up best.

And we went out on a wedge of cheese pizza. We’d wanted to try this as a comparison piece to the odd quiche-like thing we’d eaten in Osaka. This came out much more as a “pizza” with a thin but not dry crust, and a good topping of mozzarella and herbs.

I admired the Tower of Beer that had arrived at a nearby table, a meter or more tall, 2/3 beer, and 1/3 head. The bottom 1/3 was wrapped in ice to retain the chill.

I was sorely tempted, but Scud warned me that if I ordered one of those, he was having another baked Alaska, and that would put a serious filler in our dinner plans.

“You have a plan?” Disbelief painted on his face.

“I always have a plan. Just, perhaps, not one for this reality.”

Note: For a lot more detail on the brews of Japan, Bryan Harrell has a great column on Bento.com covering the beers of Japan. He also has coverage of the April 20th tasting that we almost missed mentioning the other week (did anyone go?).

[Hiroyuki]

Thanks for the update. And, Pilsner from Echigo Beer? Niigata has a number of wonderful local beer (ji-beer) breweries, and Echigo Beer is Japan's first local beer brewery.

Official website of Echigo Beer:

http://www.echigo-beer.jp/index.html

Edited to add: Butter on the potatoes: Was it really butter, not margarine?

Edited May 2, 2008 by Hiroyuki (log)

[Peter Green]

Thanks for the update.  And, Pilsner from Echigo Beer?  Niigata has a number of wonderful local beer (ji-beer) breweries, and Echigo Beer is Japan's first local beer brewery.

Official website of Echigo Beer:

http://www.echigo-beer.jp/index.html

Edited to add:  Butter on the potatoes:  Was it really butter, not margarine?

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Margarine? Good point! It didn't seem quite as malleable as marg usually is, but I'm not an expert.

[Peter Green]

March 26 – Things on Sticks

My plan consisted of walking around in Ryogoku looking for something good.

Scud was less than impressed.

Initially, we cut through the train station to see what was there. Train stations are usually a safe bet for eats.

Ryogoku is sumo, at least in Tokyo. Coming out from under the tracks at the JR station, the massive Kokugikan stadium loomed took up a big part of the night sky in front of us. I’d already mentioned that I liked this part of town. It’s just got a great feel to it.

Part of it is the plethora of chanko restaurants, serving beer, beer, beer, and nabe.

The other part of it is the history. It was here in Ryogoku that the 47 Ronin pulled off their hit on Kira Yoshinaka. It’s also here that Ryunosuke Akutagawa grew up. He’s still one of my favourite short story writers (yes, even more so than Murakami).

There’s a feeling of fullness around Ryogoku, like everything is packed just right. Not too tight, but with no slackness left about.

We ended up back on the other side of the tracks. We passed the masked young lady working yakitori over charcoal on the street, and impulse took me to ask for a couple of sticks. She shook her head, and indicated that we needed to go inside.

Decision made. We were eating yakitori.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Inside was perfect. Glaring flourescent lights, a smoke alarm on the ceiling, chunky wooden tables, and a long bar fronting off a great collection of sake, beer, and shochu (and a mess to make me feel good about the state of my computer room).

I started with some non-descript sake (hot) and I even sprang for some tap water for the Boy.

We ordered a eight chicken to start, half of them in soy, and half of them salted.

That was enough to get us started, and so I moved onto the next stage of the night’s entertainment.

Pantomime.

The older, smaller man who was running the place had incredible patience. And good humour. Through jabs and well placed hands, I managed to order some chicken hearts and liver.

Both of these were good, the chicken heart with that Bill Cosby allure to it was particularly tasty.

There were three running the restaurant. The older, reserved gentleman who was manning the bar and taking the orders. An older lady with one of those voices that is just way out of place (if you closed your eyes, you’d think she was 10. Either that or a cat). And the younger masked chef working outside over the coals.

I was trying to puzzle through the specials up on the wall, and there were a couple that I was drawing a blank on. Finally, I went back up to the counter, and did the Marcel Marceau thing again.

One of them appeared to be quail eggs. The other was more difficult.

The older gentleman craned his head around to read the sign, smiled, and then pointed at my crotch.

The quail eggs were a little tough on the outside, with a lot of chew getting through to the yolk. The testicles were that sort of soft, sweet meat consistency. Nothing coarse or gristly about them.

Scud refused to go near them.

There was also a sign up for a more expensive sake – Correspondent’s Club, at 700 yen. It’s a 1999, and the lable claims that it’s bottled exclusively for the Foreign Correspondent’s Club, which begs the question, what’s it doing here?

I dallied with the idea of a beer, or maybe some shochu, but I felt that now was the time for sake.

A nice enough sake. Served cold it had a very clean smell. In the mouth there was a bit of citrus, and a taste that passed away fairly quickly, leaving a dry mouth.

Next we found the pig belly and some pork neck, all glistening with fat. We loaded up on these, figuring this would probably wrap up the evening.

We finished on the pork, and I took a few minutes to enjoy the last of the sake. We thanked our host, paid the bill, got the cook to pull down her mask for a smile, and headed for the underground to get the train back home.

Just as we were beginning to head off, though, our host came running out to present us with a thin piece of paper covered in kana and kanji, that looked like a sumo programme. But he was pointing to one particular line to the left of the centre, and just down in the finer font.

I was confused. I’ll have to figure out how to scan it without damaging the paper, and get some advice.

With that, we headed home.

[Domestic Goddess]

Quote: "The street signs were a curiousity looking an awful lot like Buttercup from the PowerPuff Girls, but I’m pretty certain they predate that series."

You know the PowerPuff girls!?? You, Peter, are officially in my cool books!

(P.S. We are 3 sisters in the family, I was dubbed Buttercup, the tomboyish, aggressive violent one [Me violent? ]. My youngest sister was Blossom because she always tried to be the leader while the second to the youngest was Bubbles because she had a high shrill voice like Bubbles and was always the crybaby of the family.)

[Hiroyuki]

Inside was perfect.  Glaring flourescent lights, a smoke alarm on the ceiling, chunky wooden tables, and a long bar fronting off a great collection of sake, beer, and shochu (and a mess to make me feel good about the state of my computer room).

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Yes, perfect. I feel as if I went back to the Showa period.

[Peter Green]

March 27 – “Fried is good”

We needed to get out of the house.

“C’mon, Scud! Let’s go to Shinjuku and stare at the bright lights!”

“You fool! That’s how they kill mosquitos!”

That ominous line withstanding, I dragged the boy and his proboscis away from the all-day Naruto fest on tv with the promise of an English language bookstore.

Shinjuku is neat. I say that as a geek. It’s everything modern Japan is supposed to be. Clean lines, superskyscrapers, people moving resolutely from A to B (and even, sometimes, to C) and a total feel of being in the midst of a nest of ants.

I see the Shinjuku skyline, and I think of Akira and Patlabor and Tokyo Babylon and all the other myriad neoTokyo silhouettes that populate the world of anime.

I alsot think of the other Murakami – Ryu. Particularly In The Miso Soup, in which the plot focuses on an aging Western psychopath who butchers his way through the bars of Shinjuku.

We got a little lost in the station, but even that was fun for the sake of seeing what we could find.

But, beyond the idle idling, we were on a mission. We had to find the big Kinokuniya.

First, being a bookstore, it’s a magnet for the boy and I.

Second, being Kinokuniya, it’s something we’re familiar with through the foreign branches, so it just seems wrong not to visit.

Third, I’d told Scud they’d have English language manga. (Well, I had to get him out of the house somehow, didn’t I?)

It’s a good store, but, because it’s built vertically, it felt smaller than the ones I know in Bangkok and Singapore. A false illusion, as this was occupying multiple floors in two buildings, but falsehood is the nature of an illusion, and perception is everything.

I just had to say that. Sorry.

Scud did manage to find a copy of Masamune Shirow’s Ghost In The Shell, which satisfied him to some extent. Then he started making noises about buying Shonen Jump.

But, of greater importance, I was finallly able to stock up.

First, I found the Red Book.

I also found a very entertaining little book called “Who Invented Nattou?”. This is a parallel text, in both Japanese and English. The premise of it is that the modern Japanese are continually being caught out by the odd questions of foreigners (like “who invented nattou?”), and this book is meant to arm them for the irrelevant queries that we can come up with.

Like the Michelin Guide, this is something I wish I’d had at the start of the trip, as it discusses food etiquette, kitchens, houses, and a host of other day to day trivia that is hard to find elsewhere. Heck, I wish I’d been reading it earlier.

I lusted after some of the cookbooks, too. There was one titled Izakaya in particular, but I had to consider the issue of suitcase weight. Books pile on the kilos faster than almost anything else (well, besides my diet), and I reined in my desires.

Beyond the English section, we rooted through the manga in the second building. Scud had a short list of things one of his Japanese-literate friends at school wanted, and this was a place where we’d have a good chance of finding it.

Book shopping done, we started looking for lunch. I now had a decent guide book with maps to work from – the Time Out for Tokyo – and it praised a particular tempura shop in the neighborhood.

Tsunahachi.

As happens, Rona did this place shortly after us, but she’s a lot better organized and effective than I, and already has the post up here.

What are the odds that she’d be in the same restaurant as I only a few days apart? And greater odds that I’d be in Lin Heung in Hong Kong a few days after her, but before she posted about there?....Anybody see Rod Serling around?

I can hear Rick Blaine now…….

“Of all the tempura joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.”

I love that film. Even the remake, Barbed Wire, is excellent (if you haven’t watched the two back to back you should. Pamela Lee Anderson and Humphry Bogart are like two peas in a pod, say I).

Where were we again?......

Ah, yes, Tsunahachi.

For me, it’s a crowded warren of narrow corridors. From the entry point, there was one bar directly ahead of us, and then there was a no smoking section tucked around to the right. I carefully maneuvered my bulk through so as to not trash the place, and Scud and I were seated at the bar.

Her menu was more elaborate in what was provided. Scud and I had just pointed at the middle of the set menus, which I think may have been the lunch specials, and made do with that.

We had two chefs at the bar, the young lady taking care of us and the others at the counter, and the male chef dealing with the crowded tatami room behind us.

First up were the prawns. A pair of ebi, all piping hot and crispy. There’s something wonderful about the taste of fresh fried batter, served up before you straight from the oil.

The miso was very nice, with that Hitler’s Brain sort of cloudy texture to the miso. This one had a very pleasant taste of clams about it, and a poke with the chopsticks confirmed there were shellfish down in those murky depths.

Next was a very buttery piece of squid, for which I have only the shoddiest of pictures. Look to Rona’s shot, it’s much better, and fried squid all look alike anyways.

Then there was a trio of vegetables. The one on the left tasted of starch, and may have been a sweet potato. The green was, well, green, and the other was very nice, but I can’t put a flavour to it.

And then there was the shell, stuffed with good bits of stuff, and then battered and deep fried. Both Scud and I really enjoyed this, with the taste of shellfish about it.

I have no idea what this was. It was green. Rona had suggested aojisai, but that doesn’t help much. It was refreshing enough, but with an odd texture about it.

And, like Rona, we finished on eel. Scud was very happy with this, as he misses eel nowadays, and I’d put it off earlier in the trip as I had always thought of eel as a Tokyo thing.

We sniped at the clams in our bowl, but there was a crowd beginning to form, so we cleared the way and tried to get to the counter to pay.

At this point I finally missed a beat, and I clipped the edge of one of the chairs in the waiting area, sending things flying. I immediately glared at Scud in the hopes that everyone would blame him.

We strolled back towards the station, taking in the variety of food and beer venues to be had. And then Scud found a game parlour, and we had to check it out.

One floor was all dance machines. Dance, Dance Revolution taken to a far more commercial level. And then there were the drum machines, the guitar machines, and others I couldn’t make much sense of.

Another floor up, and everything was pink. Booths for photos. Lots of the crane machines for trying to pick up Hello Kitty dolls, and more stuff that was just, well,….pink.

Finally we found the manly stuff on the fourth floor, and Scud and I blazed away for a few dollars worth against zombies in the sewer system.

That kept us pretty well occupied until the coins ran out, and then it seemed like a good idea to go looking for food.

That’s not hard to do.

Having satisfied his needs for fairly mindless violence, the Boy had not choice but to follow me into the Depachika of Takashimaya. Rona prefers Isetan, which was also close by (just across the main street from Tsunahachi), but Takashimaya is something I’m used to from Singapore, so the decision was made.

I’m getting used to the pastry thing. The whole initial approach to Takashimaya’s food floor is all pastry. Pastry, pasty, and desserts. But this was okay by us, as one of our missions was to get a sampler of desserts, so we spread ourselves around a bit, buying one or two pieces in the different outlets.

After we’d run the gamut of puff pastries and profiteroles, we made it through to the regular foods.

When we did get through to the foods, I spent a lot of time puzzling through the furikake.

Seeing as how furikake has its own thread (this is egullet, after all), I’ll put aside much discussion and direct you to here.

Finally, we emerged from Takashimaya and headed for home with our bags of goodies.

Back in the room, we settled down to a pleasant bit of gluttony.

The chocolate one in the foreground had a nice custard filling to go with the roasted almond on top. Behind it was what disappointingly turned out to be a cheese bread type item.

These were both good. I was more partial to he blueberry one on the left, but Scud praised the white powdered sugar with the walnut and plum on top.

Add onto that some more items designed to keep us in the running for the condiment creep awards, and we’d had a relatively successful day of things.

The Boy scuttled away to catch up on cartoons, and I started pouring (poring?) over the Michelin. I did one quick pass, dog-earing several pages, and then did another review.

A lot of the restaurant reviews did look quite similar, which was a little depressing, but there were a few that stood out.

One in particular took my eye, which concerned a young chef who was visiting Spain on a regular basis for the chef’s congress. From this he was bringing back ideas to use in his own exploration of Japanese cuisine.

Sounded good to me. We were going to Ryugin to see Seiji Yamamoto.

Unfortunately, there was the issue of reservations. However, I find that, by abandoning myself to fate, I can often pull things off. A phone call did indicate they were full, but they could possibly fit us in at 10 p.m…..?

Done. They were kind enough, as well, to take my cell and promise to call if anything opened earlier.

This all worked out rather well. We’d just binged out on pastry, it was mid afternoon, I was drinking sake and reading, and we probably wouldn’t be too keen on eating for awhile anyways.

What to do for a few hours?

When I’d asked Scud earlier what he wanted to see on this trip, he’d said, with no hesitation, that he wanted to see the Tokyo International Anime Fair, he wanted to go to some manga and anime shops, and he wanted to see Tokyo Tower.

Why do people build these things? Is it all Freudian?

You do get great views, though.

From the other side of the observation platform Scud could make out the Shonen Jump building out by the harbour.

And the second floor had a small amusement park, with a Pikachu the size of me, a merry-go-round, and this little train ride inexplicably overseen by Hitler.

And I even had the chance to buy some authentic souvenirs.

Hello Kitty.

She’s everywhere. And it’s good to see that she and Doraemon are on good terms again after the sumo unpleasantness.

At the base of the tower was a final treat.

A busker.

This was like something out of a Shintaro Katsu film….well, except perhaps for the head mike. But the female entertainer working the crowd with her monkey just seemed so….right.

Scud was entranced, and there was no way I was dragging him away from this before it was over. You probably weren’t going to get me away, either.

This seemed like a good spot to wrap up. Needless to say, I failed to do so. Instead we walked down to Shiba Park, and checked out the old neighborhood from when I’d been here back in the 90’s.

Still looks the same. But the cherry blossoms were coming on strong, and it looked like we were in for a good finish.

[Hiroyuki]

We sniped at the clams in our bowl, but there was a crowd beginning to form, so we cleared the way and tried to get to the counter to pay.

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Shijimi! People will tell you that you don't have to eat the flesh, but as for me, I usually eat the flesh from each and every one of these small shells.

[Peter the eater]

Why do people build these things?  Is it all Freudian?

I don't think so - sometimes a tower is just a tower.

That one has been around long enough to be a legitimate icon despite its obvious original Parisian aspirations. For me it's more of an arm reaching upward . . . etc.

Back to the food - another tour de force Peter the Green!

edited to add: forgot to throw in campanilismo

Edited May 8, 2008 by Peter the eater (log)

[Hiroyuki]

Tokyo Tower is a TV tower. Without it, we could not watch TV!

[johnnyd]

Thanks for the Tsujiki visit - I'm a seafood nut and that market is the holy grail, dude.

This is a terrific topic. A highlight for eGullet.

Thank you!

[Peter Green]

March 27 – The Singing Dragon

At 9:30 I felt we were getting close enough to brace the elements and begin our journey to Ryugin. I had a map, and it appeared to be just across Roppongi Crossing, through the pimps, and then up a side alley.

Roppongi is an odd mix. You move from the sleeze of the Crossing Crowd to the glamour of the malls to the quiet wealth of the back streets in just a few steps.

As we approached, perhaps a 100 meters out, my phone rang. It was the restaurant calling to let us know that they could take us now. I think I may have surprised them when I let them know I would be there in 170 seconds.

The entrance is easy enough to find, knowing that I’m to look for the red. A small sign, a blaze of cherry blossoms, and targeted lighting make it a simple matter, even for me.

Inside it’s a small, open room. The staff were, of course, expecting us, and showed us to our table with warmth, but no fuss.

There was a choice of three tasting menus, of differing length. Given the hour, and Scud’s menacing looks, we unfortunately chose the shorter 9 course menu – the Spring Short Course. I really shouldn’t say “unfortunately” as there was nothing wrong with it at all, but I would have liked to linger over the longer versions. However, by their advice, this would have had us heading home at 1:00 a.m. from dinner, and that was a little later than Scud was up for.

(Before we proceed, my apologies for my photos. They don’t do justice to the food at all. Still, I’m happy that they allow shooting, they just ask that you don’t use flash, a request I did my best to comply with, but occassionally this cheap thing I have with me resets itself).

As I’d mentioned earlier, I came with few preconceptions of the restaurant and its chef, Seiji Yamamoto, other than knowing that he was someone who was interested in finding out how things can be done well.

The wine list is primarily French, and quite good. But, as the clock relentlessly ticked off my remaining hours in Japan, I was realizing that it was sake that I would miss the most. So, rather than taking wine as they recommended, I asked for them to recommend sake that would work with the dishes.

The first sake was a Sakura junmaishu, from Aomori, in the North of Honshu. A little dry in the mouth, and with a pleasant bouquet. It matched with Scud’s comment of the room “Everything here feels light”.

Our opener was an Okura Petit Croquette – a croquette of tofu, a little golden brown ball of tofu with the texture of a proper croquette. A tidy little thing, and, as we’ve said before many a time “frying is good”.

Edited for this: I was just doing more reading and, in a Japan Times article, they referred to this as an okra croquette (okura?), as opposed to a tofu croquette. But my notes say tofu, so I'm uncertain

And truffles never hurt.

It begins with the softness of the tofu against the light crisp of the fried exterior, and then right away, with that softness, the truffle blooms in your nose and then subsides, to linger in the crevasses of your mouth.

Meanwhile my idiot child expresses his delight at this by doing ninjutsu finger movements. I think he watched too much Naruto this day.

Chateau RyuGin 1970

With Spring Cabbage Puree and Broiled Mullet Roe

Next was a cute little piece. A warm soup of cabbage in broth (surinagashi) corked and presented with the date of our chef’s birth.

The soup was corked, and then poured into a glass alongside a pretty little piece of mullet row, cherry blossoms lightly adorning the black tile it’s served upon.

The mullet roe was, as you’d expect, pleasantly salty, thick and a little pasty, offset by the diakon, and filled out on the sweeter side by the broth.

This was followed by

”Sakura” Sea Bream

Early Cherr Blossom Presentation

Served with Fuki and Celery in Soy Sauce

What arrived was a cherry blossom plate, with one sakura leaf under which the sea bream sheltered.

I wish this picture was better, but I include it to give the idea, if not the image. The fish is very nice, but it’s the fuki and celery with it that get my attention, that pleasant crunch to go with the fleshiness of the seabream. The fuki is a form of butterbur (also known as a bog rhubarb), that needs to be prepped with a hot water bath to remove the harshness, and then plunged in cold water to set the colour. This is the same sort of process that Yoonhi follows for bracken fern prep and some other wild roots, as the hot water will remove the toxins (hopefully).

The restaurant’s name comes from a poem, that refers to “the singing dragon in the clouds” a motif that runs through the décor, and again takes me back to the title line of this thread, chosen back in early March. I can’t look at the lid of this bowl and not think of Haku in his dragon form in Spirited Away.

“But, what’s under the lid”, you ask?

Scallop & Peas Dumplings “Shinjo-wan”

Served with a Hearty Serving of Spring Vegetables

This translated as rich scallops from Hokkaido; sweet green pea dumpling; the almost de rigeur bamboo shoot; fiddle head ferns (kogomi) from the hills; fresh herbs; and a broth of kombu and clams, very clean and fresh.

There followed the Assorted Sashimi “Ryugin Style” – pretty cuts of fish, each with a condiment set aside to complement the particular flavour. The octopus…well, I’m a sucker for an octopus, as you know. This was extremely soft and carried the smell of shiso and ginger and cherry blossom with it. The tuna shileds itself behind a wafer of daikon, the seabream (tai) rests folded like an obedient pet, with a droplet of yuzu sauce its leaving behind it. And what I take for squid doesn’t taste at all like ika, but mcuh more like a fish in texture.

The sake they brought next was the Hiroki from Fukushima (that Hiroyuki had googled for me). This is the same one that I’d had a few days earlier at Morimoto.

It was still good.

Crispy Fried Naruto White Tilefish and Fish Print Presentation

Served with Frothy Brown Vinegar Sauce

Along with Warm Vegetables and Pine Nuts

Was I mentioning Naruto earlier? A tilefish served on a tile. A very hot tile. The signatures and fish design are done with red miso and squid ink. The small mound of green vegetables has been nicely truffled, which goes surprisingly well with the miso used in the marinade, and the broad green starchiness of the beans works well with all of this.

The fish itself is very Mediterranean, from the vinegar foam to the extremely crisp skin, reminding me very much of some of Passedat’s preparations from Le Petit Nice.

Thumbs up from Scud.

Chef’s Rice Dish of the Day

Now there’s an understated title.

The rice is marvelous.

Seiji Yamamoto’s father-in-law grows this for them in small batches. A northern rice (koshikani?), but this is grown in the South, on their farm in Shikoku.

The rice I adorned with boiled, firm bamboo, onion, and fresh green peas.

The miso was extremely silky, threads of bean paste sliding through your mouth and down your throat.

And for pickles, norimaki, that thick vinegared seaweed holding the pickled vegetables bound tensely to counter the relative abandon of the rice and vegetables.

The chef came by the tables to visit, accompanied by our sommelier who took care of the translations. This is where I asked of the rice and its origin (and probably got the spelling wrong, but that’s my fault). He’s the sort of person you just like as soon as you meet him. A broad, good humoured smile on his face, he’s obviously someone who’s having a lot of fun with what he’s doing, and couldn’t be happier than in doing it for people who enjoy it.

He noticed that both Scud and I had scoured our rice bowls clean, and cheerfully went back to the kitchen to prepare us another serving.

Who are we to argue?

Rice finishes the main part of the meal, and a very nice green tea arrives, but I’m still lingering over the remains of the sake. The tea does look good – the bowl of pale green resting in a donut of a saucer - but I want to keep this flavour of sake, rice, miso and vegetables in my mouth as long as I can.

I’m greedy.

My sommelier then brought me a treat.

A 25 year old sake that had been oaked in casks from Chateau d’Yquem. Shigeri, I believe, was the name, and I think it’s a word that relates to luxuriance.

It’s a very interesting taste, like a brewed sherry, very soft, with a lot of oak in it. When you drink, it flows to the sides of your mouth, then vanishes, with just a shadow of sweetness remaining.

With the sake comes dessert. Pineapple Coated with Cocount Sherbert

The sherbert is full of the taste of coconut (as you would expect) and there’s a dusting of mango powder to give an additional sideways flavour to the tangy sweetness of the pineapple.

More dessert arrives.

”Whispering of the Wind among the Pine Trees”

Kuromitsu Syrup and Dried Grape Treats

Served with Caramel Ice Cream

There’s a small pile of ginger salt on the side to go with the ice cream. The ice cream itself has that just-pulled-from-the-churn feel about it (which so makes me want to go and get a batch of ice cream underway right now, but I’ll restrain myself until I finish this), and the “cake” is a dense packaging of the fruit, with miso and soy setting off the raisins, chestnuts, pinenuts that are all packed together, with an anti-doping-challenged topping of poppy seeds.

More tea arrives, this time an English camomille.

As a sweetener for this comes a tidy little pot of Indian honey, from the border with Nepal (these Himalayan honeys are being touted now as the new wonder medicin, good for whatever may try to hamper your good health).

It was well past midnight by now, but business was still going well. Ryugin aims for two seatings, one at the traditional hour, and another for the post-theatre, post-concert, post-whatever crowd that will arrive looking for an excellent two star meal.

Lucky for us.

Edited May 8, 2008 by Peter Green (log)

[Peter Green]

Ryugin was a meal that both Scud and I enjoyed. Like Paul Pairet in Shanghai, Seiji Yamamoto is somebody who's looking at the new tools and methods of the molecular gastronomy crowd, but dealing with them in that manner, as tools and methods, as a means to achieving the desired result, rather than just the result in and of themselves.

I get kind of incoherent on this topic, I know.

I like having fallen into the meal as a naked naif, as I came to it with no preconceptions. But as I read more about the chef, I'm annoyed now that I didn't take the time to go with the longer 12 course Spring Gastronomy menu:

-Château RyuGin 1970

-White Asparagus Tofu Salad

-"Sakura" Sea Bream

-"Kuzu-Tataki" Rock Trout Rice Bowl

-Assorted Sashimi

-Steamed Abalone & Matsuba Crab

-Crispy Chargrilled "Akamutsu" Perch from Choshi

-Chargrilled "Superior Beef" - Slow Cooked in a "Gastrovac" Oven

-"Bamboo Shoot Rice"

-Pineapple Coated with Coconut Sherbet

-Strawberry Rice Cake with Hot Adzuki Beans

-Minus196℃. Candy Apple

What I've read of the Candy Apple has me kicking myself.

But, countering that, Scud was very good about staying awake, and it is almost as much his vacation as mine ("almost", I am the one paying for this, after all).

Yamamoto san is very active on the international circuit, producing some striking pieces (check out the review of Star Chefs for his Silkscreen of Squid Ink with Squid Carpaccio, the approach taken for detailing the hot tile in for the tilefish I had.

I can see why Food & Wine has him down as one of the top rising chefs (if not arisen)

The Japan Times article talks of Yamamoto having come from the traditional kitchen of Aoyagi, while Michelin puts the credit to an early start with his mother. That background obviously has given him the strong fundamentals to launch into what he's doing now.

He’s also trained as a sommelier, which explains his keen interest in working wines to pair his creations.

I’ll let you read the details in the Japan Time's write-up, but looking that over makes me feel that I must return, with a somewhat better prepared agenda.

And, like I said, even through an interpreter he comes across as just so...likeable. I'd love to have more time with him to go over what he's thinking when he does some of these things.

Alternatively, if he could be talked into coming to Bangkok for the next WGF?.......

[prasantrin]

Coincidentally (again!), I'll be eating at Ryugin in just two weeks! I've got a 6:30 reservation, and am thinking of doing one of the Gastronomy Courses. I'll certainly have the time, but since I'll be dining alone it might get a bit boring/uncomfortable to sit there for three hours or so. Plus I will have to try to get out to Tokyo Bay after!

I have to ask--I know how much the different dinners are, but how much is the wine pairing (if you remember, even though you didn't have it)? I don't drink much wine on its own, but I love wine with food, and I imagine the wine pairings are spectacular. I'm a cheap drunk, though. What to do...what to do...

The lady/man standing in front of Pikachu looks like s/he's flashing it!

It's a good thing you didn't go Isetan. I'm sure you would have walked out with some of the Y10 000+ per 100g iberico ham!

One last thing...do you think it would be inappropriate to print out the coupon for a free glass of champagne with dinner? There's one here. I don't really care for champagne, but it might be good!

Edited May 8, 2008 by prasantrin (log)

[Hiroyuki]

Just as I thought, it's not okura but okara, what's left of soy beans after soy milk is produced to make tofu.

I found a blog showing photos of a dinner at that restaurant. Again, I hope Peter doesn't mind.

[Peter Green]

I have to ask--I know how much the different dinners are, but how much is the wine pairing (if you remember, even though you didn't have it)?  I don't drink much wine on its own, but I love wine with food, and I imagine the wine pairings are spectacular.  I'm a cheap drunk, though.  What to do...what to do...

One last thing...do you think it would be inappropriate to print out the coupon for a free glass of champagne with dinner?  There's one here.  I don't really care for champagne, but it might be good!

←

If they've got a coupon for it, then I see no reason not to do so! Especially seeing as how champagne goes with everything.

I can't recall what they're charge was for wine pairings (or sake pairings in my case) Really, I'd just glanced at the menu and settled on the shorter course just as a matter of timing. Having read what I've read about Yamamoto now, I would go for the wine pairing, but maybe you could ask them nicely to give you smaller tastings? Otherwise it's going to be a very red faced and giggling Rona heading out for Tokyo Bay later that evening.

I'd definitely go for the gastronomic course if I was going back, but that is going to be a lot of food for you (I remember Ginza Kuraudo in Osaka).

Maybe you could DHL me the leftovers?

[Peter Green]

The lady/man standing in front of Pikachu looks like s/he's flashing it!

←

It's possible! I think I heard a squeal of "pika pee!"

[Peter Green]

Just as I thought, it's not okura but okara, what's left of soy beans after soy milk is produced to make tofu.

I found a blog showing photos of a dinner at that restaurant.  Again, I hope Peter doesn't mind.

←

I can't read the text, but the wine labels I can make sense of. Boy, does that look good.

Rona, why not just phone in and ask ahead about wine pairings? The pictures in the link have me drooling.

(Thanks, Hiroyuki!)

[prasantrin]

Rona, why not just phone in and ask ahead about wine pairings?  The pictures in the link have me drooling.

(Thanks, Hiroyuki!)

←

The two wines were Y1500 per glass, so perhaps wine by the glass might be a better option for me. I think I could handle two glasses without making a complete food of myself. Maybe I should start practising with a couple of glasses a night now, so I can inure myself to the effects of alcohol before dining there.

You should read this blog, too. The pics are great, as is his commentary. I thought the Y26 000 course looked do-able for me, and he said his dining partner usually has a small appetite, too, but managed to eat everything without feeling too bloated.

Can't be too bloated, you see, because I have a wedding to attend the next day! (I heard the food's going to be crappy, though, so maybe I really should fill up at dinner!)

[Peter Green]

You should read this blog, too. The pics are great, as is his commentary. I thought the Y26 000 course looked do-able for me, and he said his dining partner usually has a small appetite, too, but managed to eat everything without feeling too bloated.

←

I gotta go back if just for that "apple".

[Hiroyuki]

Seiji Yamamoto’s father-in-law grows this for them in small batches. A northern rice (koshikani?), but this is grown in the South, on their farm in Shikoku.

I have to ask this before I go to bed: Is this koshihikari by any chance?? It's a specialty of my former town!

[Peter Green]

Seiji Yamamoto’s father-in-law grows this for them in small batches. A northern rice (koshikani?), but this is grown in the South, on their farm in Shikoku.

I have to ask this before I go to bed: Is this koshihikari by any chance?? It's a specialty of my former town!

←

It could very well be. Can you tell me a bit more about it?

My note taking legibility seems to have a very direct inverse correlation to the time of the night and how much fun I've been having, and I could easily have dropped or messed up a syllable or two!

The rice had such a nice feel to it. Like I said, we went through seconds on this (we have no shame) and I didn't want to lose that flavour.