PIERRE MARCOLINI Chocolatier

May13

I could not wait to share my newfound haven of chocolate dwellings. Pierre Marcolini is a tiny chocolate shop in one of the back streets of Ginza. I have passed it many times and simply dismissed it as a glamorous little chocolatier you go to when in need of gifts. I had no idea they had a small cafe on the second floor where you could order an array of heavenly chocolate desserts and pastries. Thank God I went in the other day and found the tiny cafe on the second floor.

These are the desserts we tried :

The chocolate gateau

Now this was good but somewhat heavy. I would recommend trying something else like the salty caramel eclair pictured below. This was exquisite.

The salty caramel eclair

The star of the show in my opinion was this Marcolini salty caramel waffle and caramel ice cream. This little waffle was absolutely heavenly, soft on the inside, slightly crunchy on the outside with the perfect amount of sweetness to it. And the sizing was just right. Not too big nor too small.

The Marcolini salt caramel waffle with caramel ice cream

I can’t wait to go back and try the chocolate eclairs and chocolate fondue. Will update !

Price: $

PIERRE MARCOLINI GINZA. 5-5-8 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo. Phone : 03-55370015.

YAMANOCHAYA (Unagi restaurant)

Apr20

You immediately forget you are in bustling Tokyo upon entering the bushy gate of Yamanochaya, a vintage restaurant specializing in unagi (eel) dishes. There aren’t that many restaurants in town that can boast such tranquility even if you can see a parking lot beyond the trees.

You will need to walk up a significant flight of stairs to get to this restaurants that’s been around for years and years. I tried googling and it says that they have been around since early 20th century and our hosts explained that the last time they ate at this restaurant was 30 years ago. So, Yamanochaya has been around for while.

Lovely ladies in beautiful kimonos guided us to a fake tatami room. The ones with holes under the tables to slide your legs in for comfort.

Now I might have mentioned that I am not actually crazy about unagi. I don’t mind eating it, but I won’t go out of my way to dine on it. Imagine the look on my face when this dish was placed in front of me.

I did not dare ask what it was until I gulped it all down and then discovered that it was the inner parts of the eel (whatever that is). Not the most delicious thing in the world. It had a nasty after-taste that I didn’t like but my husband loved it.

Before long, this dish came along….

Now this dish actually tastes better than it looks. It is called the shirayaki which is white eel grilled over charcoal with a little salt. I had to think of other things not snake related to gulp it down and then decided that it didn’t taste too bad.

A small bowl of miso soup came before the main course.

Followed by the main course which was some unagi grilled in a sweet sauce with rice and pickles on the side. This I loved. The unagi was tender and not as oily as others I’ve tried.

My husband is a big unagi fan and he thought this was one of the best unagi restaurants he had ever tried so if you are in for a challenge, I say give it a try too.

Prices are on the expensive side . Lunch is about 10.000 yen and up. Dinner is about 13.000 yen and up.

YAMANOCHAYA. 2-10-6 Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku. Phone : 03-3581-0585

ABURA SOBA

Apr16

Let me introduce you to my new favorite ramen!. I visited their tiny restaurant in Ginza and fell immediately in love. Abura soba’s noodles are different. They might call themselves soba but the noodles are actually from the ramen family and instead of the usual hot broth, they come lathered with different oils and sauces.

The restaurant only has a 10 seat bar counter so there is usually a line outside but the waiting time is very short. You order your noodles from the machine at the entrance. Of course everything is encrypted in kanji so ask for an english menu, it is available. You have a choice of salty or spicy miso. I love the spicy miso and I add an extra half boiled egg to it. I then mix the noodles until they look like this…

Absolutely delicious !!!.

Abura soba has a few outlets but the one in Ginza is 2 streets behind the Matsuzakaya department store and this is how the facade of the restaurant looks like.

A bowl of noodle with extra egg is about 1000 yen. I am so in loveeeeee….

Price : $

KEAT’S HOUSE CAFE

Apr10

After the endless stream of guests visiting Tokyo over cherry blossom season and nights of extensive dinners, I was so ready for some healthy food. A friend recommended this place called Keat’s House in Yutenji. I haven’t heard about this area not far from Nakameguro until today and thought it fun to do some exploring.

Named after the famous British poet John Keats , I was expecting a somewhat European decor with maybe a touch of aristocracy but was pleasantly surprised by the old Japanese timber lodge that greeted me in a corner of busy Komazawa-dori. The place had a cozy, rustic feel to it. The front of the cafe had two tables and a bakery.

The main dining area was at the patio with four rustic wooden tables. I imagine it to be chilly to dine there in the winter even with the portable heaters, but today it was perfect.

The lunch menu is simple, uncomplicated and very reasonable. A lunch set is around 1.000 yen. Keat’s house is not a vegan restaurant but most of its food are on the healthy side. They have a set menu of brown rice with assorted condiments on the side like some grilled fish or meat with vegetables. I tried the vegetarian bibimbap and it was flavorful.

My friend tried the eggs benedict.

What you definitely should not miss are the whole wheat waffles that come with whipped butter and honey. This was absolutely delicious.

The lovely lady who served us spoke excellent english and suggested that we tried their ‘misukara’ or wheat drink mixed with soy milk.

The drink had a very ‘interesting’ taste. I’m not sure it would be everyone’s cup of tea but I liked it.

I’ve never been that much into vegetarian and healthy food. I would pick meat over vegetables any day, yet I liked the bibimbap and I loved the waffles, and I loved Keat’s house atmosphere that I will definitely be back for more.

Price : $

KEAT’S HOUSE. 2-8-12 Yutenji, Meguro-ku. Phone : (03) 6312-2003

TAKUMI OKUMURA

Apr2

I am going to take yet another detour today and write about this lovely little restaurant in Kyoto where I had a uniquely wonderful lunch a few weeks ago. Everything about this restaurant from the adorable wooden building in the Gion district of Kyoto to the intricately prepared meal was absolutely breath-taking. I don’t say ‘breath-taking’ a lot in my reviews, but Takumi Okumura is in a class of its own. A friend recommended this French-Japanese style restaurant for my day trip to Kyoto and I will be forever grateful.

A most elaborate tray of tiny appetizers in various designs and colors was presented to us and I simply could not stop marveling over the creativeness of this display.

A sensational dish of seasonal fish with a crunchy freshness followed.

Then came a lovely cup of cawan mushi (egg custard) in delicate blue and white china.

Succeeded by another seafood dish of fish and clam.

And no, we are not done yet, another lovely cup of cream soup came afterward.

And no, we are still not done, the last and main course was some luscious beef accompanied with the most decent bowl of curry rice.

Our waitress then came with a wondrous tray of dessert from which we were supposed to pick our dessert of choice. When I told her I wanted everything, she offered to give me mini portions of everything to which I joyfully accepted.

Thus, our delicious meal ends and I have to say this splendor actually came at a somewhat reasonable price for Japan. Lunch for 4 was around 32,000 yen.

I hope you noticed the ever-changing exquisite plates in which our food was presented in. I loved them. I loved our meal and I love this restaurant.

Price : $$$

TAKUMI OKUMURA: 570-6 Gion Machi Minamigawa, Higashiyama-ku,Kyoto. Phone : 075-541 2205.

EZO SEAFOOD & OYSTER BAR in NISEKO

Mar14

I’m going to stray a little in my next few posts to write about some restaurants in Niseko, Hokkaido. I’m here for the weekend and I believe this little ski village has some of the best eateries in all of Japan.I’ve written about Kamimura in my previous posts and today I tried this little seafood place called Ezo Seafood that my friends have been raving about.

As you enter this little wooden restaurant, you are welcomed by a display of mouth-watering fresh seafood. Humongous oysters, vibrant hokkaido crabs and uni, sole fish, rock fish, scallops, asahi clams all await to be devoured in whatever way you choose. Raw, broiled or fried. We decided to leave our meal in the capable hands of James, the chef and owner of Ezo Seafood and this is what we had…

A plate of fresh oysters and super sweet hokkaido crab legs

A mixed platter of sashimi and abalone with butter sauce.

Now the abalone is a definite must. The butter sauce is sooo good.

Asahi clam soup

This clam soup is also uniquely wonderful. I loved the buttery taste of the broth mixed with fresh onion leaves.

Super fresh uni sashimi

Some crunchy fresh vegetable tempura

A delicious fried sole fish

A wonderful bowl of fried rice unlike any fried rice I’ve ever tasted before

James has asked me to acknowledge Keiko Takaoka, the chef and unseen hands of this plethora of deliciousness and I absolutely agree! . Bravo Maestro !

I have to say, this was one of the best meal I’ve ever had in this country. Everything was so fresh and delicious, especially the abalone with butter sauce and the asahi clam soup. Prices are also very reasonable. All this loveliness costs a mere 23.000 yen for 3 persons (including a large 5000 yen bottle of sake). If you ever find your way to Niseko then this restaurant is a definite must !

Price : $$

EZO SEAFOOD

170-165 Aza Yamada Kutchan Cho
Abuta Gun Hokkaido 044-0081 JAPAN

TEL: 0136 223019

HIYAMA Sukiyaki

Mar7

If you feel like dining on sukiyaki the traditional way and can stand sitting crossed leg on the floor for an hour or so, then Hiyama in Nihonbashi would be the perfect restaurant for you. I personally like the Nihonbashi area where you can still find many old traditional restaurants. Designed like an old tea house with many rooms of various sizes (most of them tatami ), Hiyama is one of those quaint, vintage Japanese restaurant with a Michelin star discreetly hidden under it’s sleeves.

I asked the lovely lady in a kimono who helped cook our sukiyaki dish about this Michelin star and she said she had no idea how, when and by whom her restaurant was rated. She did not mind the acknowledgement but explained that many Japanese restaurants didn’t really care that much about the little French star.

There are a variety of lunch menus at Hiyama with prices based on the quality of meat. Prices vary from about 7000 to 10.000 yen for about 200 grams of meat.

The meat and vegetables are cooked for you and then dipped into a bowl of raw egg. The taste of the raw egg mixed with the sweetness of the sukiyaki sauce is simply divine.

To end things, a very simple yet lovely dessert, a single deliciously sweet strawberry.

To summon things up, I think that price, taste and meat quality wise, Hiyama actually matches with my other favorite sukiyaki restaurant in town, Imafuku . I wrote about their shabu-shabu before but just realized I haven’t written about their sukiyaki which is excellent. It just depends now on what kind of experience you are looking for. Imafuku is more modern, Hiyama more traditional. Both are excellent.

Price : $$$

HIYAMA. 2-5-1 Nihonbashiningyocho, Chu0-ku, Tokyo. Phone : 03-3666-2901

Tokyo Food Diary

A journal of my journey through Tokyo's various eateries