Can't stop eating in Tokyo

Like all trips to Tokyo, the eating is non-stop.  Well, it stops when you are so full that you walk it off and then you're ready to eat again.  There's so much to eat and not enough time.

With all our favorite cities, we go back to our favorite restaurants.  Ramen Street in Tokyo Station is a must for every trip.  Some ramen shops change while our favorites remain filled with lines.  The station always has new restaurants and food stalls, plus many food attractions for the kids from burgers to snacks both sweet and savory.

Convenience store eats are another fun place to stock up for breakfast.  I've been pretty obsessed with ikura (salmon roe) lately, so I really enjoyed the 7-11's ikura onigiris (rice balls) every morning.  On the other end of the eating and price range, our hotel Japanese restaurant at the Palace Hotel has such a great ambiance for tradition Japanese dining.

And just when you think you can stop eating, Haneda airport has such a quality selection of eats before getting on the plane.  You have a last chance for tsukemen and ramen; but my favorite is the Japanese curry in the ANA lounge.  It's better than a lot of restaurants.

I got full and hungry again from writing about these eats.  I can't wait to go back to Tokyo!

Shoyu Ramen with Handmade Noodles at Menya Shichisai

Izakaya at Teppen

The fun of staying at The Palace Hotel Tokyo is the constant discovery of Marunouchi's restaurants.  Up in the buildings, the ground floors, and countless establishments in the basements - you can't stop eating in this financial hub.

Most of Marunouchi's eats are casual, but casual among the suits from work.  After work restaurants are filled with drinking, smoking, and eating the day's stresses away.  It's a fun environment, and the more crowded the restaurant, the tastier the food.

In one of the many buildings, !iiyo! or the Eiraku building holds countless eats in a matter of meters.  In an attempt to find a smokefree environment for my nephews, we saw an table made of milk crates.  It seemed like decoration, but still function.  And the menu was filled with grilled and fried Japanese izakaya dishes.  Thankfully, the decorative table was indeed function.  So sitting on cushioned milk crates made for a fun night of eating at Teppen.

There are so many great eats in Tokyo.  I love that these restaurants are understated and low key, while shining with overwhelming plates and tastes.

Vegetables to start the meal.  Look at these beautiful colors!

More eating in Grand Front Osaka

My favorite kind of hotel has the conveniences of transportation, shopping, and eating all in a nice higher end area.  The Intercontinental Osaka fits my preferences for location, conveniences, and quality of hotel.

On the ground floor of the hotel is a mall entrance to Grand Front Osaka.  This mall has a few buildings, all with local and import shopping brands and a variety of endless eats.  Adjacent by a short walkway bridge is the Osaka Station, which also has two major department stores, Lucua and Daimaru - both with basement floor food halls, and restaurants on the upper levels.  There's soo much to eat that it keeps us coming back to Osaka for second servings.

One of the many views around Grand Front Osaka

Unagi set dinner at Bincho
Changed and elevated my standards for unagi

Food Chronicling around Japan

Japan is a country where the great eating and drinking never stops.  Something tasty is around every corner.  Some bites are better than others.  And some bites have been the best I've tasted in the course of my food travels.

Here's a look at some of the tastiest bites from my week in Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo:

Afternoon break on the hotel balcony
Palace Hotel Tokyo

Okonomiyaki and Monjayaki in Osaka

Back in Osaka and back to eating some of the city's specialties.  Okonomiyaki is a filling and satisfying meal that packs in flavors and textures.  Momojuu the second time around was just as fun as the first visit.  This time we learned more about monjayaki.

Originating from the Tokyo area, monjayaki is another savory "pancake".  The differences between okonomiyaki and monjayaki are the seasonings and cooking style.  Okonomiyaki is a firmer pancake form, while monjayaki is softer, spread throughout the iron cooktop, and eaten straight from that heat source.

I love both dishes, but if I had a choice I would go for the monjayaki.  It's lighter and more fun to eat because of its interactivity right in front of you on the cooktop.

The table

My best tempura experience to date

At a reputable luxury hotel, it is almost guaranteed that the food will be enjoyable.  The setting, the service, and the quality of food are all top notch.  The Ritz Carlton Kyoto's dining selection is no different.

Below the lobby, the hotel's Japanese restaurant, Mizuki, features 4 kinds of Japanese specialty cuisines: kaiseki, sushi, teppan, and tempura.  You can sit at eat specialized station or in the main dining area to eat a little of everything.

When in Japan and there's a beautiful tempura bar, you must go there.  At these bars, each piece is fried at your eating pace.  I thought my tempura experience in Tokyo was amazing, and this just brought up the bar.  Mizuki's tempura has been my best experience to date.

The seafood and vegetables were all local and seasonal.  The chef, who is a humble genius at the fryer and with his tempura artistry, watches as you dine and eat.  He paces your next bites, fries them according to your pace, and explains how each bite will be best enhanced with sauce, lemon, or salt.  The batter was perfection and paper thin while perfectly fried inside.  So amazing.

Steps down to the Japanese restaurant

Tempura bar

Robata in Santa Clara

After the first two visits to Sumika (within the same week), I was curious about the owner's third restaurant (the first being Orenchi).

Iroriya is located in the same strip mall as Orenchi in Santa Clara.  It's actually right next door.  To the right of the ramen shop's entrance is an unmarked wooden door.  If it wasn't for reviews and blogs, new customers would have no idea about Iroriya.  Word of mouth works.

Robata is grilled foods over a special Japanese white charcoal, binchotan.  The proteins are primarily seafood as this kind of cooking originated from Japanese fisherman.  Reservations are highly recommended for this place.  When you do get seated, first check out the daily and seasonal specials.

Diners come here ready to spend.  The seafood selections are premium fishes and shellfish.  And a great pairing with this kind of food is sake and sochu, which you see many bottles around the tables.

This is a great, authentic robata experience for seafood lovers.  If I had to choose between the two, I readily go back to Sumika because of the variety of the menu, the meat options, and the fact that it's a bit more affordable so that eating there often won't hurt your wallet as much.

Robata counter

Cold mug of Sapporo draft beer

Sumika Grill in Los Altos. My new favorite restaurant in the Bay Area.

After these past several years of living and traveling throughout Asia, my expectations for Asian food has new standards.  I'm looking for vibrancy and the flavors you get when you eat these dishes in their home countries.

There are certain US cities that do well overall in re-creating the authenticity.  There are also too many restaurants in the US that have Americanized the cuisine for acceptance or cost reasons.  And that changes the experience if you really want that type of cuisine.  Sure, there are time you want Americanized Chinese food or Japanese sushi rolls.  But for the most part, I look for the real stuff in hopes of re-living my food travel experiences.

Japanese yakitori and izakaya are meals I can have as often as Spanish tapas - which I can eat every day.  It's all about taking your time to eat and drink with a variety of food.

I found my new favorite restaurant, which actually opened back in 2008, in the San Francisco Peninsula, and it's as authentic and vibrant as any yakitori restaurant in Japan.  And it's just in Los Altos - a town that is predominantly Caucasian, where I grew up occasionally dining on overpriced Americanized Chinese and Japanese meals with my high school friends.

Sumika is a Japanese grill specializing in yakitori.  Why trust this place?  Because of their reputation.  They are also the owners of the ever busy Orenchi Ramen in Santa Clara, and now San Francisco as well.  Orenchi's ramen is also on par to some of Japan's better bowls.

In the course of our 5 week stay in the Bay Area, we dined at Sumika at least twice a week.  We tried almost everything on the lunch and dinner menus, and it was consistent every time.  Aside from their grilled selections, the donburis are also so comforting and remarkable.  Plus, they have a good selection of sakes and sochus, as well as draft beers to make the night of eating even more fun.

Just writing about this and looking back at the pictures makes me excited for my next Bay Area visit.

Open kitchen

Gogyo: A "ramen dining" experience

Ramen is a food I cannot go without.  At least one bowl a month brings balance into my food life.  But, it has to be good ramen because average and mediocre ramen just makes you hungrier for better broth and better noodles.

Hong Kong always has new restaurants every time we revisit.  In IFC, restaurants and stores constantly change or revamp.  Where one ramen shop used to be, another one opened up earlier this year.

Gogyo comes from the creator of the Ippudo Ramen.  Gogyo's concept is "Ramen Dining". It's sort of a higher end ramen dining experience, away from the rush of traditional ramen stalls.  Started in Kyoto, the ramen shop became known for it's burnt ramen, Kogashi.  Here in Hong Kong, there are also a few other bowls, including those similar to Ippudo.  I actually find the broth here cleaner tasting.  Plus, I lean toward places that have clean atmospheres and are relaxed for the diners to eat and drink.  Aside from ramen, there are also artful skewers and yakitori, all made with quality ingredients.  Another fun selling point are the selection of alcohols, as well as craft beer pairings with the ramen bowls and skewers.

Good ramen and good beer!  That's the perfect combination.

Mini Aka Ramen

Eating and drinking the night away in Ichiza in Las Vegas

Thanks to The Strip, Las Vegas has solidified a place as one of America's best food cities.  But not all the best eats are on The Strip.  There are a good number that are not only Off The Strip, but also so deliciously affordable.

Ichiza in Las Vegas is one of my favorite restaurants.  There are so many well-rated restaurants on Yelp, but few are actually as good as reviewed.  Ichiza is better than good.  Even in an area full of Asian eats, this establishment is as great as places in Tokyo.

Every night the restaurant is full of locals and Japanese both young and in town for business.  There's always a wait and line, but it's worth it.  The place is boisterous for a reason.  And it's a reason your palate and stomach will happily understand at the end of the night.

There's a standard menu that doesn't change, and written all throughout the walls are the ever-changing daily specials.  The perfection of the regular menu and the constant introduction of new items brings you back again and again.  Plus, to make it more fun all this food is perfect for a long night of eating and drinking.  If you want to keep drinking, you can also keep ordering.  The plates come out in nice small portions for variety.  But save room for dessert!  Ichiza serves one of the best honey toasts around.  It's simple but so memorably good.

Toro sashimi

Toro salad

Kyoto's Kitchen in Nishiki Market

Kyoto bound from Osaka.  And it's so easy by train.  Depending on the train you take, the ride from Osaka station to Kyoto Station can range from 20-45 minutes.

In planning the day trip to Kyoto, temples and shrines were naturally on the itinerary as this is the city to take in the sights and nature's beauty.  When the day arrived, it was soo cold.  We decided to focus on our main purpose, the food market.  The other sights in Kyoto will have to wait for our next visit.

The Nishiki Market is a five block long shopping street filled with over a hundred shops and restaurants.  It's known as "Kyoto's Kitchen," as the shops specialize in everything food related.  Generations of families have been running these shops since it first opened in 1310 when it started as a fish wholesale district.  Today, they sell fresh seafood, produce, snacks, kitchenware, and all these local specialities.  It's a place for locals to shop for their meals, and for tourists to taken in the local foods and atmosphere.

The market is almost ridiculously crowded with people.  There were a number of times when I felt like a was floating in a sea of people who were crammed to every inch of my body.  But as crowded as it was, it was almost...pleasant.  Strange, right?  But I think that's just Japan for you.  The people aren't as rude, they don't smell..and maybe the cold air helped to filter out the potential grossness from the crowds.  In any case, this is definitely a market to check out if you have interest in local culture and food.

The start of Nishiki Market

Hands down the best pizza I've eaten to date, in Osaka

If there's one food I can't do without, it's pizza.  Well, actually I can do without pizza if it's average or mediocre.  What I'm talking about is the Neapolitan pizza.  That slightly charred chewy crust made from quality flour, tomatoes, and mozzarella.  Yeah, I can't get enough of that good stuff.

Last time in Osaka, my brother kept raving about this pizza place called Echi Ponte Vecchio which he claimed to be the best he's eaten.  This time around, I was not going to miss out.  And, boy, did we get our fill of it.

It is, hands down, the best pizza I've eaten to date.  The Japanese have mastered Italian food and made it their own in the best way possible.  These pizzas were flawless and our stomachs were bottomless.

Here's just a sample of the pizzas we had in the two times we were able to eat here.  I think we ordered the margherita pizza at least 4 times...

Margherita pizza

Osaka's Okonomiyaki

The beauty of traveling with a food focus is that you travel to eat every town and city's specialties.  In college, the big traveling dream was to roadtrip around the US to all the ballparks and watch a baseball game in each of those cities.  These days, the big traveling dream is actually two dreams: 1) A wine roadtrip around the old world of wine, and 2) A expedition around Japan discovering the all their ramen origins.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying eating my knowledge around the regional foods of these current cities visited.  Osaka has a few known specialties.  One is the filling and flavor-filled okonomiyaki.  Okonomiyaki is a savory pan-fried pancake consisting of batter and cabbage.  The toppings vary to your preference, as "okonomi" translates to "to one's liking."  It is said that this dish originated in Osaka.  Other parts of Japan have variants of using noodles in the batter.

In Grand Front Osaka Mall, there are a few okonomiyaki restaurants.  Momojuu is a great place to discover the dish or the eat it again in a fun, casual setting.  The pancakes are cooked at your table so you get to enjoy the presentation and the heat of the food.  If you're in Osaka, you have to try out okonomiyaki in a restaurant to fully appreciate the dish and the experience.

The tables

Back for the Beef at M Yakiniku in Osaka

If there's one thing my family loves, it's steak night at home.  It's so hard to eat beef and steak just anywhere.  But when you find that restaurant that serves beautifully marbled, quality cuts of beef and can grill it to the point of slightly charred and glistening, you go back as often as you can.. well, as often as your heart and pocket can take it..

In 2012, I had one of the best meal's of the year in Osaka.  Since we were back in the city, we naturally had to re-live the meal.  Matsusakagyu Yakiniku has a a few locations around the city.  We went to the same location because of the great service of Kuni-san.  He's great with visitors to the city and remembers who you are when you come back.  Food and service, they always go hand in hand.

The beef was just as beautiful as ever.  Complemented with grilled vegetables and kimchee, this was again one of the highlight meals of the trip.  If you like beer, you should also try out Osaka's local bottles of pilsner, pale ale, and double IPA.  All locally crafted and pairs perfectly with the grilled meat.

Plates of meat

Plates and plates of meat

Chicken and more chicken in Tori Kansuke

There is way too much to eat in Tokyo.  And it seems like every time we go back, even if it was just a few months ago, there are so many new restaurants and buildings popping up.

Because of the cold winter weather, we opted to spend some meals underground so we wouldn't freeze walking around outside.  Marunouchi is one of those places in Tokyo which is perfect for underground walking.  It's a whole city down there that connects to most of the buildings in the area.

The new Otemachi Tower (Ootemori) has a great selection of restaurants with varying cuisines for varying budgets.

For a fun yakitori meal, Tori Kansuke is the spot.  It's a corner restaurant with tables low and high.  The restaurant serves specializes in classic yakitori dishes, like grilled chicken parts and karaage, as well as kamameshi rice.  Plus the drink selection has something for everyone - wine, Japanese craft beer, sakes, sochus, etc.

This is a great place to check out if you're looking for a light meal, or an epic meal where keep ordering and drinking as the night goes on.

Karaage - Japanese style fried chicken

Grilled chicken wings

Japan for the Holidays

Back in Tokyo!  This time, it was for the holidays.  The last time our family celebrated a winter-cold holiday was in New York City right in the middle of Snowpocalypse.  While snow didn't hit the cities we visited this time around, it was definitely a chilly trip.  But, Tokyo is the perfect place for any weather because of it's amazing underground world.

We stayed at the Palace Hotel Tokyo again.  It's the perfect location if you want to be based in Marunouchi and near the Tokyo Station.  Like with all our favorite cities, we revisited restaurants we enjoyed in previous visits.  Some were consistent, and others like Birdland were unfortunately inconsistent with it's quality of food.

We also discovered new eats in our vicinity.  For breakfast I was hooked on 7-11's hardboiled eggs.  It's perfectly cooked and beautifully orange.  Japanese convenience stores serve some incredible food, no joke.  And sometimes there's nothing more comforting and clean than a good plate of soba.  It's so refreshing and satisfying all at the same time.  And because it was winter, we found comfort in hot meals like Japanese curries and tsukemen.  Filling and warms you right up.

The best part about eating in Tokyo is that you walk so much everyday.  My fitness band logged in an average of 20,000 steps each day.  It makes eating all those carbs a reward.

Back in Tokyo!
View of Marunouchi from our balcony in the Palace Hotel Tokyo

Ippudo Ramen, Hong Kong

While I do love all kinds of foods and cuisines, I have my favorites.  Ramen is totally one of my favorites.

After strolling around Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong and touring the museums in that area, I ready for a late lunch.  When I'm by myself and looking for a place to eat, I tend to look for either cafes or ramen places.  Both are comfortable for lone diners.  Lately, ramen has been my craving.  So it was finally time to try out Ippudo Hong Kong.

Ippudo is a Japanese ramen chain from Fukuoka - the home of tonkotsu ramens.  It has several branches around Asia and a couple in New York City.  The reviews in NYC are always raving with the lines out of the door.

Does it live up to it's hype in Hong Kong?  Yes, it completely does.  This is a chain establishment that does not at all feel like a cheap chain establishment.  Milky, deep broth, chewy noodles, and a contemporary setting make a fantastic ramen experience.  There's additional toppings to order, such as vegetables or eggs, as well as an a la carte menu if you're hungry for more than just ramen.  Plus, the drinks selection with sakes and beers perfectly complement the ramen.  I can't wait to go back for more bowls.

If you can't see the slide show here, check out my Flickr album: Ippudo HK

Eating my way through Tokyo

When I travel I tend to let go of my health conscious eating.  I eat more salads than usual and workout double time prior to these trips.  As a result, I fly into the city a couple pounds lighter just so I can freely gain a few pounds over the next days of travel.  All to I eat carbs, fats, and sugars with no abandon.

Tokyo was certainly no exception.  I felt like I ate 5 meals a day, including soba for breakfast from 7-11 (it's so fresh and a clean way to start the day).   Every one of these "nibblings" are still ingrained in my head as some fantastically memorable bites.

The handmade ramen noodles from Ramen Street in the Tokyo Station, the tonkatsu and katsudons, curry over rice, fresh sushi and seafood from the department store grocery, a huge piece of karaage from the department store food hall, Korean food with loads of vegetables, Japanese Italian pizza done to perfection, beer beer and more beer, convenience store soba, the tastiest salted caramel crepe, the fluffiest cheesecake, and sinful croissants that are worth all the butter intake.

Whew, I cannot wait to go back to Japan and eat all this and more finds.  In the meantime I'll look fondly at these photos and workout for the next big weight-gaining trip.

If you can't see the slide show here, check out my Flickr album: Tokyo Nibblings

Yakitori at Birdland, Tokyo

Japanese cuisine has so much to offer that every restaurant focuses on its specialty.  By doing that, the specialty is of a higher quality and close to perfection.  That's the beauty of eating in Japan.

Walking from the Tokyo Station back to the Palace Hotel Tokyo, there's an "underground world" in Marunouchi.  Almost all these financial buildings have a sort of restaurant row in their basement floors. The Marunouchi Eiraku Building has a great selection of the world's cuisine on one floor.

What looked like an unassuming yakitori restaurant from the facade actually turned out to be one of our best meals in the trip and in Japan.  Birdland is one of two restaurants.  The other in Ginza has held its Michelin stars consistently.  Here at Marunouchi, the food and service are equally Michelin worthy.

Even though we waited for our table, the service from pre-beginning to end was impeccable.  The waiter spoke to my dad in Japanese apologizing for the wait and even made sure we found a comfortable waiting area.  Suddenly his limited English ability turned flawless when he and the rest of the staff served our courses with an excellent range of English describing the dishes as though we were celebrity judges on a food show.

The service was so excellent that at the end of the meal with our last course, my mom was about to take her vitamins with the cold water.  Our waiter suddenly ran by us and yelled, "Wait!"  I stopped my chopsticks thinking he meant, "Wait, there's more food or a condiment coming."  Of course that's where my mind went.  He came back in a hurry with room temperature water, explaining it's better for my mom to take her vitamins with that degree of water.  Wow, what detail and care!

Aside from the amazing service, the atmosphere (a casual but clean wooden set up) and the food were so memorable.  All 13 courses with some of the cleanest and tastiest chicken I have ever encountered.  Each course and its progression is so well thought out and detailed.  This is a meal worth paying for and worth waiting for.

If you can't see the slide show here, check out my Flickr album: Tokyo Birdland

Tempura at its best in a tempura bar

Tempura is one of those classic Japanese dishes.  In my experience, it's either been done well or mediocre.  When it's done well, the crispy batter shines with the freshness of the seafood and vegetables.  When it's done mediocre, the batter is heavy and too oily - it becomes a heavy, guilty meal.

With all the tempura I've eaten, I can really only count a handful of restaurants that do it really well.  These days, I tend not to order tempura unless I can properly guess that it'll be done well, usually in higher end restaurants where they change the frying oil more often.

I've had two amazingly memorable experiences with tempura.  One was well over 10 years ago in Japan at an ordinary tempura bar.  I can still remember each course freshly fried as we ate and savored the lightly battered fishes and vegetables.

The second time was this most recent trip back to Tokyo.  Again at a tempura bar - that seems to be the only way to go when you want tempura done the real way.

Tatsumi is the tempura bar in the Japanese restaurant in the Palace Hotel Tokyo.  It is an exclusive six-seater bar.  You definitely have to book ahead for a seat.  The whole meal is like edible performance art.  Watching the chef's artistry and craftsmanship while he plates the raw ingredients in preparation for the frying.  You're pampered with leisure as you eat one dish at a time.

Lightly battered, piping hot, and crispy while showing off the fresh taste of the seasonal vegetables and fishes.  This is another tempura bar meal for the books.

If you can't see the slide show here, check out my Flickr album: Tokyo Tempura