Jump to content

  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Analysis paralysis: a week in Tokyo in November

chefmd

By chefmd
in Japan: Dining

 Share

Recommended Posts

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.  

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
barolo

barolo

Posted
Posted

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. 

  • Like 1

Cheers,

Anne

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Amy D.

Amy D.

Posted
Posted

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. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
chefmd

chefmd

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

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.

 

A29D93AC-545D-4456-A1D1-A952896E198B.thumb.jpeg.e131b46d290287492ee5a8b29c1dc01f.jpeg

 

  • Like 12
  • Delicious 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
chefmd

chefmd

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

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.

66228706-E945-4DDA-A2B8-E7D729114F18.thumb.jpeg.6326d536bda15e3bf5d273cbec0369e3.jpeg

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites
chefmd

chefmd

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

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.

11F047D2-8203-4C7E-8F0E-E67254E1D823.thumb.jpeg.a24e49abd4736929c3f0c5c57e243420.jpeg

CC0DAF7E-3845-4BEF-BA8B-931CE0D186BC.thumb.jpeg.bbff4c2ba0ee2b3370885f9aa056f5e7.jpeg

2C9C58FF-8091-41EC-8DF6-F1E21C9FC035.thumb.jpeg.670bea601f6b2cf77b6825418725d7c3.jpeg

 

 

  • Like 11
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
chefmd

chefmd

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

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.

 

EB6C6FC2-60BA-41FF-9BDE-90E2286B1F9D.thumb.jpeg.ee8a9040a6d84929f28c1de562fab1b4.jpeg

  • Like 9
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
kayb

kayb

Posted
Posted
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.

11F047D2-8203-4C7E-8F0E-E67254E1D823.thumb.jpeg.a24e49abd4736929c3f0c5c57e243420.jpeg

CC0DAF7E-3845-4BEF-BA8B-931CE0D186BC.thumb.jpeg.bbff4c2ba0ee2b3370885f9aa056f5e7.jpeg

2C9C58FF-8091-41EC-8DF6-F1E21C9FC035.thumb.jpeg.670bea601f6b2cf77b6825418725d7c3.jpeg

 

 

 

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!

 

 

  • Like 2

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites
chefmd

chefmd

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

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.

CF2BD63C-5BFB-414B-852D-34750FD0B8CC.thumb.jpeg.9c2e71c15aa60e7689c684cf83938e31.jpeg

25FD95DD-906B-446F-9EE0-B07C71DBBFF9.thumb.jpeg.ac09cb5915967d0577ce8c9bd3951de5.jpeg

335FA5CC-135C-4134-BC75-CF2B6289CB73.thumb.jpeg.3de5a794ad6168b30c75c707fd18196d.jpeg

 

  • Like 8
  • Thanks 1
  • Delicious 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
chefmd

chefmd

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
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.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
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.

50E66C2E-F902-4E53-869A-2207013FFBC5.thumb.jpeg.a540ec2a304652e4e7a78a3f8949e61b.jpeg

 

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites
chefmd

chefmd

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
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.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
chefmd

chefmd

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

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.

 

 

8D44A2B2-F961-499A-B127-0614B214461A.thumb.jpeg.8edef467d029283dca85e6acf12ee6dc.jpeg

0BDEA632-40F8-45B7-AB22-A1B3E2A8ECE3.thumb.jpeg.4837f87c9ebf1ebf4685dec0ee2aa2a0.jpeg

F2C1BE4D-F011-42C8-AA6E-9A9552CCB230.thumb.jpeg.48d31c69d73de39c002cc68febf55726.jpeg

339321A1-499D-4D29-A167-B090E5845A66.thumb.jpeg.9b5f0451a9fb183bbee0e964c44bf646.jpeg

F97AF46C-D763-4137-9F30-8D0B034F2BF5.thumb.jpeg.d9b4ca3b4f1b9512dbca9abf941fff0e.jpeg

 

9728FBE5-4F14-456F-90B2-33B0E4EA1726.thumb.jpeg.f8d5bcc8d3d520b5ba4ef39e22309864.jpeg

6CF6B050-B7F8-406F-B890-E242082266C5.thumb.jpeg.8c0026a79d9294929a0f67386039d64f.jpeg

055BE11D-C58B-4767-A1EA-E2BB82338CC0.thumb.jpeg.e17350cd5e68e2071df01d6c98bd437b.jpeg

94FA441A-C199-44DA-A7C0-EC2AD084A8D0.thumb.jpeg.0beec4078aa5d0fe67a07fc72e83268a.jpeg

09903326-5CA6-4749-8E9F-D4017EB91E11.thumb.jpeg.7080ec2089a861db5c7d320cd7e58b8c.jpeg

80A0A717-55BB-42EF-9AEB-C736307A3605.thumb.jpeg.64815e071a65904801a4d43e9d483b56.jpeg

CE16019B-8A2B-4163-A527-54BB73BFDB99.thumb.jpeg.97a1fbab1e2916b80b5df6f93093c79a.jpeg

CF906E13-90F4-432C-9518-E1CA5606C164.thumb.jpeg.946357462d7a1b003860e13fc66a296f.jpeg

  • Like 9
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...