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Analysis paralysis: a week in Tokyo in November

chefmd

By chefmd
in Japan: Dining

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chefmd

chefmd

Posted
Posted

My husband and I are going to spend a week in Tokyo in November.  The problem is, I have difficulty choosing places to eat.  So many Michelin stars.  So many iconic dishes that I want to try.  Or I can eat sushi all day.  Or noodles.  Or tempura.  Please help.  High end and cheap places.  Lunch option would be great.  

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KennethT

KennethT

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I can't help you any with your problem, but I am crossing my fingers hoping to see some photos of where you wind up going!

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chefmd

chefmd

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We are renting an apartment in Shinjuku.  I don’t think there willl be a problem getting around by Metro.

barolo

barolo

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I’ll be in Tokyo later this month, so recommendations would be welcomed by me as well.  I am also staying in Shinjuku when in Tokyo. Lunch and inexpensive places are my main interest. I have high end pretty well covered because it will be very limited. 

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Cheers,

Anne

Amy D.

Amy D.

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No actual recommendations but when we went 7 years ago we found the metro and trains really easy to use. We were on a budget and didn't really plan any meals (just went for what looked good). We had lots of udon, ramen and visited the department store food courts near closing time for sashimi. 

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chefmd

chefmd

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We arrived to Tokyo last night and had no problem getting to our apartment in Shinjuku by Skyline and Metro.  A ‘quick” nap took a few hours and we woke up feeling very hungry.  There were recommendations for restaurants left by landlord. We went to Hakata Furyu ramen place.  I don’t know how good the best Ramen places are in Tokyo, this small chain Ramen tasted divine to me.  And they would give up to two free noodles refills.   Less than 8 dollars a bowl!  Condiments include pickled ginger, pickled mustard greens, garlic, “soup sauce”,  red pepper, sesame oil.

 

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chefmd

chefmd

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Okonomiyaki for breakfast.  My first time trying it and it’s delicious.

 

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kayb

kayb

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I LOVE okonomiyaki! Easy to make at home, too. There's a great recipe on Food 52.

 

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

chefmd

chefmd

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Tempura Donburi was not what I expected.  It was not crispy.  The place where we had it was full of Japanese people so may be it is just a different style.  Here is description from the web.

“Daikokuya tempura Honten” has tempura that you might want to eat in Asakusa. They have established more than 100 years but you can visit this place without being too elegant. Their tempura that fried with only sesame oil has the pride original delicious taste.

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chefmd

chefmd

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The real reason we went to Asakusa was to buy me a knife on their famous Kappabashi street that has multiple kitchen related stores that cater to restaurants and also are open to general public.  And now I am a proud owner of hand finished Santoku!  And they engraved my name in Japanese characters for free, it took only couple of minutes.

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chefmd

chefmd

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And if one takes nap in the evening, they can walk the streets of Tokyo at night and end up at New York bar at Park Hyatt.  “For good times, make it Sunttory times”.   Bill Murray was not there to my disappointment.

 

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kayb

kayb

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2 hours ago, chefmd said:

The real reason we went to Asakusa was to buy me a knife on their famous Kappabashi street that has multiple kitchen related stores that cater to restaurants and also are open to general public.  And now I am a proud owner of hand finished Santoku!  And they engraved my name in Japanese characters for free, it took only couple of minutes.

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I LOVED Kappabashi Street! Bought my Misonos there. 

 

If you have the chance, go to the Imperial Hotel and have a drink in the Old Imperial Bar. Only portion of the Frank Lloyd Wright version of the hotel that's still extant. And they have a marvelous selection of Cuban cigars and Scotch!

 

 

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

chefmd

chefmd

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Random sushi at 1 AM.  Insanely delicious.  We have a fancy sushi dinner planned on Thursday, how much better can it be?  Love that sake set.  You pour sake into a larger container until it fills up a serving cup.

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chefmd

chefmd

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14 minutes ago, rotuts said:

what a shop !

 

I found this

 

http://www.kap-kam.com/index_en.html

 

is that the shop ?

 

I should have been in there for hours.

 

 

Yes, it is the shop where I bought the knife.  There is another one right next to it where the photo was taken, it is called Kama-Asa.

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chefmd

chefmd

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Yakisoba for breakfast.  Drunk salaryman at 8:30 AM did not seem to pique locals’ interest but was very entertaining to us.

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chefmd

chefmd

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Don’t think we are going here but there is cat cafe where you can play with assorted felines.

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MelissaH

MelissaH

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, chefmd said:

Yakisoba for breakfast.  Drunk salaryman at 8:30 AM did not seem to pique locals’ interest but was very entertaining to us.

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Was this egg intended to be eaten raw, or was the rest of the dish hot enough to cook the egg?

MelissaH

Oswego, NY

Chemist, writer, hired gun

Say this five times fast: "A big blue bucket of blue blueberries."

foodblog1 | kitchen reno | foodblog2

chefmd

chefmd

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3 hours ago, MelissaH said:

Was this egg intended to be eaten raw, or was the rest of the dish hot enough to cook the egg?

The egg was intended to be cooked by the residual heat of the dish but only barely.  It remained silky and essentially became a sauce.  They did offer to cook egg separately but we declined.  There was also a small dish with extra eggs on the table.

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chefmd

chefmd

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First of the two fancy dinners planned on this trip.

http://kabi.tokyo/

At Kabi we focus on Japanese ingredients.
But we are not a Japanese restaurant.

Chef spent time in France and at Noma and it shows.  Also very friendly to English speakers.  I will post all photos, not sure about dish details (no menu at the end) but I also wanted to share their amazing ceramics collection.

 

 

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chefmd

chefmd

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One of beverage pairing was gin and tonic that also included turnip juice.  Let’s say there should be more gin and less turnip juice in my future G&T :)

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