A Fish Out of Water

Canada, week three

This week's park was Jack Darling, another Mississauga waterfront park. We really liked this place and again wished we'd brought a picnic, so we could join one of the many families who'd set up for the day on the grass. A lot of these people were serious picnickers, who'd brought a backyard's worth of outdoor furniture, gas grills and hibachis, parasols and tents, and even hammocks. We really have to do that someday.

There are also sandy beaches, some of them even swimmable, although the beach above was completely taken over by Canada geese.

The park is next to Rattray Marsh, a pretty wetland that can be explored from raised wooden boardwalks. The paths continue into a forest, which was very nice and cool on this hot day, and although it was a weekend and fairly crowded we managed to see some neat stuff, including a family of weasels. OK, I didn't actually see them myself, but everyone else did and seemed to think they were neat.

The visit ended in the traditional way, with sausages and pop from a hot dog stand. Hideaki was really impressed with the stand and wished we had them in Tokyo. I guess I'm lucky to have such an easy to impress husband.

My sister had recently arrived from Texas, making this a complete family reunion. She and my Mom had stayed behind while we went to the park, and when we got back there was a feast waiting for us. It started with the amazing appetizer above, which was prosciutto-wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese, broiled and topped with almonds and honey. This seems to be a popular recipe, judging by a search I just did, but I'd never heard of it before and was blown away. It was just amazing and very hard not to eat it all myself.

Then I put together some more traditional appetizers, and since this was Fathers' Day, these were Dad-oriented stinky canned and pickled things (and happily my Dad and I share similar tastes). Smoked oysters, smoked mussels, several kinds of sardines, pickled beets, pickled onions, dill pickles, plus crab dip and crackers. Most of this stuff can't be easily found in Japan, so I was probably even happier than Dad was.

After Fathers' Day festivities dinner was served. This was a whole salmon (head and tail cut off only because we didn't have a pan big enough for it) stuffed with spinach and baked. This is another dish I request often, and this might have been the best version ever (I think I say that every time, but this time I really mean it). The salmon came from Ocean's, the new(ish) Asian market in town, and seemed to be better than any we've bought in recent years. Great new Asian markets have popped up all over recently, making visits to the old dingy one unnecessary. Funny how things improve after I move away.

This is the salmon and its stuffing, served with new potatoes and green beans. I regretted eating all those appetizers, because I could have had three plates of this.

And more regret when dessert came: a fancy chocolate cake, apple tart, and fresh local strawberries (or what was left of them, for as soon as they hit the table hands were grabbing them).

Another night we went out for dinner, to Osso Bucco's, our local casual Italian place. Here Julie doles out the mussels for Zoe.

The mussels here are fantastic, but have a mysteriously Thai flavour. The sauce is billed as a spicy white wine cream sauce, and indeed it is, but there also seems to be coconut milk and curry. We always order these, and then everyone discusses what's in the recipe and we all vow to try making it ourselves. So far no one has, but one of these days...

Baked goat cheese, which you've all probably seen a million times but I can't get enough of it (goat cheese not being terribly popular in Japan).

I've always thought there's something wrong with people who order a soup or salad as their main dish at a nice restaurant. Why would anyone pass up delicious pastas, steaks, and other wonderful things for a boring dish that anyone can make at home? Well, something strange possessed me that night and I found myself ordering zuppa di pesce (seafood soup).

Possibly the giant servings at Osso Bucco had something to do with my odd behavior: I knew most of the main dishes would leave me stuffed beyond comfort, and I also knew that everyone else would have so much food that they'd be happy to share once I got tired of my soup. But there was no getting tired of this soup, it was fantastic. Yes, I did sample everyone else's dinners, but only to assure myself that I'd ordered the best thing on the menu. Bonus: I was able to finish it all and didn't feel like exploding afterward.

Another night it was Sherry's turn to cook dinner. She made a Korean feast of miso soup, bulgogi beef, rice, sauteed greens of some kind and garlicky broccoli. It was wonderful, and I was especially happy to eat white rice and miso soup as I was starting to miss Japanese food. But I got a shock when I tried the soup: it was spicy! It looked just like Japanese miso soup, with tofu and green onions floating around, but it turned out there were green chillies lurking at the bottom. Once I got over my surprise I realized it was delicious. Chilli goes really well with miso, and it's such a genius combination that I'll be making it myself soon.

Another day Hideaki and I hitched a ride into Toronto with my Dad. We all parted ways in the morning: Dad for an appointment, me to meet my friend Aspasia, and Hideaki to explore the city by himself. I had a great day roaming the city, doing stuff like eating the excellent pho above, lots of chatting over lots of coffee, spending my useless Canadian dollars on pretty clothes in Kensington market, and a fruitless search for a certain kind of tomato that apparently doesn't exist in Toronto.

Hideaki also had a good day, mostly, and upon looking at the hundreds of pictures he took (typical Japanese tourist, hehe) I realized he went to many of the same places we went, mostly at the same time. It's amazing we didn't bump into each other, and when I heard about his later misadventures I wished we had (or at least I wished we'd had cell phones).

His route took him from the Tourist Information office at Yonge and Dundas (where I set him up with a map and left him to it), over to Little Italy at College and Bathurst, where he had lunch, above.

Then he headed down to Kensington Market, then Chinatown, then along Queen Street West, then down to Front Street and on to the St. Lawrence Market.

And finally he ended up at Union Station. Not particularly impressive, except that it was all on foot, on one of the hottest days in June. I'd given him tokens for the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission, consisting of buses, streetcars and subways) but he hadn't used them for some reason.

Unfortunately I been told that the GO (Ontario public transit) trains to Brampton ran all day, and had supplied Hideaki with the same incorrect information. I had had a little trouble myself getting home, having just missed the last train but not knowing it until I was almost on the platforms. Funny how when I asked the teller for a one-way train ticket to Brampton she didn't tell me there were no trains. Of course there are buses, which cost the same, so it's all the same to her, but that (plus the typically Canadian lack of any kind of useful signage) led to some confusion and I barely managed to find and catch the right bus home.

And if I, as a native English speaker who actually used to live in Toronto, had trouble, I figured Hideaki would too. I hoped that he had gone home early and managed to catch a train like I told him.

But when I got home he wasn't there, and it was a suspenseful few hours until we heard from him. When he finally called I was ready to call the police to report him missing, but he was fine, having gone through nothing worse than falling victim to a couple of useless transport systems staffed by useless people.

Just like me, He'd bought a ticket to Brampton after the trains had stopped, and also not been told there were no trains. He'd also later been unable to find the (nonexistent) platform and asked a GO employee what to do, and was told to take the train to Bramalea (the stop before Brampton) and then take a Brampton Transit bus to Brampton station. A completely different (and completely asinine) answer to the same question I had asked.

So he did what he was told (having a snack of timbits and iced coffee first at his favourite place in the world, Tim Hortons), and at Bramalea tried to find a bus to take him to the Brampton GO station, but none of the maps and schedules could help. He did ask the teller at the terminal and two bus drivers, and was told by all three that there is no bus to downtown Brampton. True, and so far so good. But two of those three didn't know which combination of buses would get him there (and didn't bother to find out) and one of them did, but Hideaki couldn't understand and/or remember the instructions. I suppose he could have tried writing them down asked the driver to repeat the instructions or speak more slowly, but I'm just proud of him for overcoming his gender and asking for directions in the first place. He could also have called us at that point, but again: Y chromosome and all that.

So he just gave up and took a taxi to the downtown Brampton GO station, then called us for a ride home as planned. Little did he know that Bramalea is a 10-minute drive from our home and that he could have called us from there and saved himself the twenty-five dollar cab fare.

OK, a long, not very interesting story, but after over a decade of living in Japan I found it all shocking, as Tokyo and its suburbs have a transportation system that's a hundred times bigger and more complicated yet is far easier to navigate thanks to well-coordinated systems, sensible design, good signage, and employees who are generally very helpful and extremely knowledgeable. It's not perfect in Japan and I've gotten lost plenty of times or occasionally dealt with a nasty driver or teller, but every time I've asked a question to any kind of transportation official he's either immediately given me a clear and correct answer, or directed me to another who could do so.

I'm actually kind of glad it happened though, because Hideaki has fallen in love with Canada and I don't want him to be too impressed, lest he be disappointed later. Better to let him see the faults from the beginning.

Back at home we were keeping ourselves amused with Sorry, our favorite board game. Dad likes to keep it interesting by adding little extras to the board, but it soon became clear that Sorry wasn't going to be enough: it's made for four players but there were eight of us.

So I searched my Dad's office (which was doubling as our guest room) and found an old piece of poster board (with a chart on one side made by my Mom for a PTA meeting 30 years ago--Dad is quite the pack rat). After hours of excruciating mathematical calculations and several re-dos (I'm math-challenged) Zoe and I designed a bigger and better board with room for eight players. We all took turns decorating each player's home base, and then we gave the board a try.

Or rather, the board was put away and tried a week later, as nobody really seemed that impressed for some reason. I think it's pure genius, with extra slides that take players all the way to the other side of the board and certain places that allow you to trade positions with other players (without which the game would take longer than Monopoly to finish). When we finally got around to playing it, with clips, chopstick rests, erasers and other pieces we'd found around the house, I loved it. And although everyone else fell asleep at the table I think with a few refinements this could be a winner. I'll be contacting Parker Brothers soon, and within a year or two I'm quite sure I'll be retiring as a billionaire. Contact me if you're interested in a partnership.

Marufuku

I don't know quite what it is-- maybe we don't eat out often enough, or maybe our neighborhood just doesn't have enough good places to eat--but we don't really have any favourite restaurants. Sure, there's a fantastic sushi bar nearby but its high prices prevent us from become regulars; a local udon shop and Chinese restaurant serve good cheap food but nothing fantastic enough to consider them favourites; and there are a number of chain restaurants around here that have good food at good prices, but t doesn't feel right to have a chain shop as our favourite restaurant.

But that's all come to an end, because we've discovered Marufuku, a restaurant next to nearby Oizumigakuen station specializing in seafood. Very fresh seafood at very low prices, low enough for the place to be locally famous and get occasional mentions on TV. It was a recent TV appearance that inspired us to visit on a Sunday last month, and we weren't disappointed.

The lunch menu is six photocopied pages like the ones above, with a huge number of teishoku (set meals) priced between 680 yen and 980 (and one special of the day, Indian Ocean tuna for 1580 yen) and a handful of a la carte items, like oysters for 100 yen each. It took some time to decide, but I finally settled on the kanburi sashimi (winter yellowtail) teishoku while Hideaki ordered saba miso (mackerel simmered in miso sauce).

A cup of very good hojicha (roasted green tea) and hot towl had arrived as soon as we sat down, and within a minute of ordering we were given a bowl of chawan mushi (savoury egg custard) and a small salad, slightly unusual as a teishoku meal is usually served all at once. The salad was mostly iceburg lettuce but had a very nice oniony dressing, certainly better than the usual teishoku salad. The chawan mushi was made with very humble ingredients: shiitake and shimeji mushrooms, kamaboko (steamed fish paste) and a few chunks of fish of some sort. None of the typical shrimp, ginnan (ginkgo nuts) and other fancy ingredients, these were obiously ingredients that were bought cheaply or were trimmings and leftovers from the kitchen. Yet this was among the best chawan mushi I've had, flavoured with a good fish based stock the earthiness of the mushrooms. I was already sold on the place.

The rest of my meal arrived looking beautiful. I think my lunch was 780 yen, and for that price I definitely wasn't expecting this kind of presentation. The kanburi came with a bowl of rice topped with chopped shibazuke (cucumbers pickled with red shiso), homemade nukazuke (vegetables pickled in rice bran) of daikon, cucumber, carrot, and daikon greens, and miso soup.

The kanburi sashimi was just beautiful, as richly marbled as I've ever seen it. The seven large slices were presented like they were precious gems, on a sasa bamboo leaf set on a platter of crushed ice, along with a shiso leaf on a pile of finely sliced daikon held up buy a little twig fence. Finished off with a sprig of shiso buds and a pile of wasabi on a cucumber slice, this wouldn't be out of place in a kaiseki (haute cuisine) course priced at ten times the amount we paid.

It tasted as good as it looks, the fish being very fresh and having that rich, sweet flavour that only yellowtail caught at the peak of its season has. The whole meal was delicious, and I even enjoyed the pickles (I don't normally like the sharp fermented taste of nukazuke, but these were quickly pickled and not strongly flavour). For 780 yen it was an outstanding value, and I can see this meal--or even just the sashimi by itself--going for 2000 yen or more elsewhere.

Hideaki enjoyed his meal as well but was disappointed by the amount, as he only got two small pieces of fish. He was similarly impressed by the value but vowed to try something else on our next visit. I was happy to hear he wanted to come back--he's come a long way since I met him, and I remember I time he shunned fish and thought chili cheese dogs were the finest food in the world.

He was still so hungry we decided to have dessert at a nearby Mister Donuts. I ordered a chocolate dipped old-fashioned and their newest kind of donut, made with rice flower and topped with crunchy puffed rice, which supposedly make this a "Japanese style" donut (don't ask me what the other two donuts are: I'm not a fan of the fluffy and gooey kinds of donuts). I took one bite of the Japanese style dooughnut and liked it: it was much denser than regular wheat flour donuts, and both chewy and soft at the same time. But my eyes were bigger than my stomach, and the richness of the sashimi caught up with me and reminded me I was way too full to eat another bite. Hideaki was glad to help clean up.

Looking at Marufuku's business card along with a little internet searching showed that the place was owned, along with two local sushi bars, by a fishmonger. I've actually been to one of the sushi places a few years ago (and tried an alarming appetizer that I imagine only a well-connected fishmonger could obtain) and although liked it didn't knock my socks off like Marufuku did. Apparently at night the place is more of an izakaya, pairing the seafood with sake, and although it seems it's always a good value, their cheap lunches are what makes them famous. We vowed to go back for another lunch, and a few weeks ago we did.

This time I got the kaisendon (seafood bowl) teishoku, which seems to be what they are known for. It came with the same side dishes as before and cost 980 yen.

It was a large bowl of sumeshi (sushi rice) topped with sashimi and tamagoyaki (thick omelet). Unfortunately my sashimi-identifying skills aren't super but I think the fish included katsuo (skipjack), tuna, salmon belly, some kind of snapper, amaebi (sweet shrimp), scallops, and one more variety (under the wasabi) that I totally forget. It was all very good, and I even liked the scallops (I normally dislike raw shellfish), although I did give the amaebi to Hideaki. But somehow there were just too many different kinds of fish, and the variety overwhelmed me. I'd prefer larger amounts of just a few kinds of fish, something that I really liked. I think the kaisendon is for people who are a little less picky than I am.

Meanwhile, Hideaki was eating the kakiage (fried oyster) teishoku. The oysters were perfectly done and full of juice, and although it's hard to tell from the picture, they were huge--big enough for Hideaki to actually fill up on. No dessert necessary.

So Marufuku is now our favourite restaurant and I can't wait to get back. The best part is that their lunch prices stay the same all week, unlike many other restaurants that have cheap lunch specials during the week but higher prices on weekends. I'm not sure if it's worth going out of your way for, but if you find yourself in Oizumigakuen (or nearby on the Seibu Ikebukuro line) I highly recommend lunch at Marufuku.

Marufuku
03-3925-1345
4-2-2 Higashioizumi, Nerima-ku, Tokyo
Open weekdays 11:30am-12:00am, Sundays and holidays 11:30am-10:00om, closed Mondays

JapanSoc it!

35

I'm typing this on the brand-new keyboard Hideaki gave me for my birthday on Saturday (along with the wrist rest--is that what it's called?) . I've been after a new one for ages since our old one was so disgustingly dirty that there was actual mold growing in between the keys, but the real reason he got it was my recent back problems--he figures the ergonomic design will be better for me. I'm not sure if a keyboard and wrist rest will cure my back, but it's certainly a pleasure typing with them.

I suppose this means I'll have to stop eating and drinking in front of the computer, since food spills were a major contributing factor to the previously mention mold. Or maybe I'll just stop spilling.

My big day started off with the above breakfast, which would have been good no matter what simply because I wasn't the one who made it. But it was also tasty and a little bit decadent: whole wheat English muffins with butter (a real luxury since Japan is still experiencing a butter shortage), a perfectly fried egg, and potatoes sauteed with shishito sweet peppers.

We then headed out for lunch in Kichijoji, where I knew I'd be able to satisfy one of several cravings (pizza, Indian, yakitori) I've had recently. It was hard making up my mind, but I finally settled on pizza, so we tried La Befana. It was our first time, and I've seen mixed reviews of the place, but our favourite Italian place doesn't do pizza so we thought we'd give it a try. And we were pleasantly surprised: it may not have been the best pizza we've ever had, but it was tasty and the setting was nice.

Hideaki chose the 1200 yen lunch set, which came with salad and a drink, while I went with the 1700 lunch set that came with a small antipasto plate instead of salad. A typical lunch set in Japan usually comes with a pretty sorry excuse for salad, often just a few sad iceberg lettuce leaves and bottled dressing, and I thought I'd avoid that. And my antipasti (delicately braised winter melon, marinated kabocha squash, fried smelts dressed with tomato sauce, salami) were good, but it turns out the salad was good to, with an excellent dressing. I'll save my money and get the cheaper lunch next time.

My pizza was the Siciliana, a sauceless pizza topped with mozzarella, anchovies, tomato, olives and capers. It was good but the anchovy flavour was barely detectable, something I find common in Japan--as if restaurants are afraid of offending anchovy haters, which makes no sense at all since only anchovy lovers would order something with anchovies in it in the first place. But the crust was properly thin, bubbly and the tiniest bit burnt, with just the right soft but chewy texture. Next time I'll either go with a margherita or bring my own anchovies. Hideaki had the Panna with cream sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms and ham, which was fantastic. He definitely made the best choice.

Another loss for me in our ongoing competition over who makes the tastiest order, a game I am increasingly losing. Which only makes sense as with his new out-of-home job Hideaki eats out way more than I do, thus getting lots more practice. I'm pleased to report that he still sucks at picking movies, so I still have one champion title to cling to (do other couples have competitions like this, or is it just us?).

Anyway, it was a nice place. We sat on the sunny patio, which was pretty and comfortable, although the dog-friendly policy was taken a little too far (a girl beside us had her designer chihuahua on her lap during most of her meal, and she was letting it put its paws on the table and lick her cutlery--gross!). They do more than just pizza, but we were too stuffed to try any pasta or dessert, so we'll be going back to try more.

And that was pretty much it for my big birthday celebration. At my advanced age I'm no longer able to just hang out like I used to, and after a quick walk around Inokashira park and a bit of window shopping I was ready to go home. No hopping from restaurant to cafe to bar like the old days, and the desire to browse through clothing stores, bookshops, bead stores and the like is gone--when you know you won't find anything good/that fits/that you can afford, why bother. So like the couple of old farts that we are, we headed home while it was still daylight and spent the rest of my birthday on our living room sofa.

La Befana
0422-71-4800
1-10-11 Minamicho, Kichijoji, Musashino-shi, Tokyo
Open daily 11:30 to 2:30 and 5:00 to 10:30

Kurazushi

With both of us craving sushi but neither of us having enough yen to afford a meal at our regular kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi) place, we decided to give Kurazushi another try. Kurazushi is one of the most popular kaitenzushi chains in the country, due to its muten (no additives) claims, family-friendly atmosphere and low price: each plate of sushi is 100 yen.

We first tried Kurazushi several years ago after friends and students raved about it, and found it so awful it made us question their sanity. It was just wrong, in nearly every way a sushi restaurant can be wrong, and another visit a few weeks later (a student dragged me along) confirmed it.

The sushi doing the rounds on the conveyor belt looked old and unappetizing, which is usually not a big problem as we prefer to order directly from the chefs anyway. But at this place there were no chefs: the sushi was made by sushi robots in another room and sent out the dining room on the conveyor belt. To make an order you had to communicate with someone, possibly human, in the back room through a crappy microphone speaker thingy, with sound quality comparable to that of a Taco Bell drive-through speaker (only three times louder). The order would come down the belt a good 10 minutes later, sitting on a special red platform to identify it as a special order but with no indication of whose special order it was (I accidentally grabbed another table's order twice). The sushi itself wasn't so bad, but not good either, and the menu leaned heavily towards kid-friendly toppings that were cooked and mayonnaise-laden, like teriyaki chicken and corn salad. The bill was calculated, as is the norm, by the number of plates. But rather than have an actual human tally them up for you, the table was equipped with a little plate chute down which you slid the plates one by one, and a computer would spit out the bill at the end of the meal. The plate chute was dirty on the outside and I could only imagine how bad it was deep inside--not the kind of thoughts you want to have while eating. To make matters worse, every fifth plate down the chute would trigger an electric gumball machine at the table to play some very loud slot machine music and spit out an unsolicited plastic toy.

I could go on, but I think I've made my point--it was an awful place, with bad food and an atmosphere as pleasant as a pachinko parlour. But this time was different. We went to a different location that had opened near us a few years ago and was always busy (we've always been puzzled about that and wondered if maybe this place was different, so had actually been meaning to give it another try for some time).

The place was much nicer than the other location, with a spacious clean interior and not nearly as much noise. The customers were all types, including families, groups of young folk, couples and lone diners. The other place had been almost exclusively mothers and young children, and we took this mixed crowd as a good sign. We were prepared to order one plate each and bolt if we didn't like it, but we ended up not only staying, but ordering 26 plates between us, a new record.

We didn't even need to order for the first several plates, as the sushi on the conveyor belt looked fresh and represented a good variety. My first plate was iwashi (sardine, pictured above), and it was every bit as good as at our regular place, at about half the price (it was basically an entire fish for 100 yen).

 

When we were ready to order, we found the speaker system had been replaced by a small computer screen and were able to easily order from a computerized menu. You choose your sushi, then enter the number of plates, then choose if you want wasabi or not. In the picture above, Hideaki is ordering one plate of chuutoro (tuna belly)  with no wasabi (he doesn't like the stuff). The screen clearly says that his order is for hitokan (one piece)--since all plates are the same price, sushi with more expensive toppings will come with only one piece rather than the usual two.

The menu itself has pictures but they're a bit small and hard to make out, and the other steps are all in Japanese. So ordering might not be so easy for those who can't read Japanese, but it's a definite improvement over the old system.

When the order came we knew it was ours because our screen beeped and told us our order was there--just as it was coming by on the belt. Those robots have amazing timing. Note that Hideaki's toro has come on a kiddy plate, as anyone who can't handle wasabi is assumed to be a child.

There was still the same deal with every fifth plate giving you a chance to win junk, with the screen lighting up with pachinko-style animation and music. But the pachinko hijinks are considerably less noisy, and we won two toys:

I'm not thrilled about having unwanted plastic junk forced on me, but each one came with a coupon so I'm not too upset about it. The coupons are only good for weekdays at that particular location, so I'm not sure if we'll ever actually use them, but who knows. I may yet work up the courage to actually eat in a kaitenzushi restaurant alone.

Still, I wish they'd spare the toys and spend the money saved on proper soy sauce plates. To keep costs down there are no little plates for soy sauce or pickled ginger, so you have to turn your used plates into holders for both. Either that or pour a tiny bit of soy sauce directly on your sushi. A minor quibble, but kind of a hassle. I'm also not sure what to make of their claims to use no additives--are there really no additives in any of the ingredients, or just a select few? And are other kaitenzushi places dousing their wares with chemicals? I can't help but suspect that these claims are the same as slapping a "cholesterol-free" label on a carton of orange juice.

 

Above are two plates of gunkan-maki, one with poached quail eggs and chopped aji (horse mackerel) and the other with cucumber and shirasu (baby sardines).

Above, shime-saba (vinegar-dressed mackerel) and yaki-harasu (seared salmon belly).

The 26 plates we ordered seems like a lot, but many were just one piece, and the pieces themselves are quite small. I don't mind this at all, as I prefer smaller sushi--it's easier to eat and you can taste it better.

The 26 plates we ordered seems like a lot, but many were just one piece, and the pieces themselves are quite small. I don't mind this at all, as I prefer smaller sushi--it's easier to eat and you can taste it better. It was certainly enough food to stuff ourselves, and the grand total came to 2730 yen, quite a bit less than our usual kaitenzushi restaurant.

So we no longer hate Kurazushi. The sushi is not the best in the world, but it's good and definitely an excellent value. I imagine that the experience varies from location to location, and I'll never again go back to the old place, but I can see us becoming regulars at this one.

Kurazushi (Japanese page), Oizumi Interchange Shop
03-5933-3710
5-16-4 Oizumicho, Nerima-ku, Tokyo
Open daily 11 to 11
Other locations throughout Honshu, full list here

Kua'aina

Good burgers are hard to come by in Japan, a fact that rarely bothers me as I've never much of a hamburger lover. But once in a while I'm hit with a craving for a great big juicy hamburger, made with beef on a substantial bun and loaded with toppings. And regular fast-food hamburgers, with their soft puny little buns and paltry reconstituted toppings just won't cut it--and a hambaagu (Japanese style bunless burger made with pork, beef and plenty of filler) won't even come close.

One place that is sure to satisfy such a craving is Kua'aina, a burger joint originating in Hawaii. It's not cheap but it is good, and if you've been in Japan long enough you're probably willing to pay a bit extra for a taste of home. Kua'ana has a few branches in the Kanto area but the one easiest for us to get to is a newer one in the Marunouchi Building near Tokyo station.

Unfortunately they have a really annoying system for ordering: diners line up outside the restaurant and then one by one are allowed to go to the counter to order. Why you can't just line up at the counter like a normal fast food restaurant is beyond me, and I hope they don't do this at all of their branches.

But once you've ordered and payed it gets better. Our onion rings (560 for a large order, which is larger than shown as we'd already eaten a few before I remembered to take a picture) and drinks came first, which was nice as few restaurants here understand the concept of "starters" and tend to send out food either all at once or randomly. The onions rings are tasty and have just the right onion-to-batter ratio. Not the best ever but more than good enough.

The fries are equally impressive and rank among the best I've had in Japan. They came with Hideaki's cheeseburger (850 yen for a 1/3lb burger with choice of 5 cheeses, can't remember how much the fries and drink combo was) and we considered ordering more but by then the line outside the restaurant had grown quite a bit longer. I also wanted to order a bubble tea (this is the only place I've ever seen it sold in Tokyo) and/or a Kona beer, but my mahi mahi sandwich (980 yen, choice of 3 breads) filled me up enough that it wasn't worth waiting in line for more.

And that's the problem with this place: they seem to expect you to make up your mind while lining up outside, based on a little (incomplete) printed menu. So once you're actually at the counter you kind of feel pressured to order quickly, and only afterwards do you realize you really wanted something else. Or maybe that's just me.

Anyway, the food is good enough to keep bringing me back, so I'll just make sure to study the menu beforehand next time a craving hits. Or maybe try another branch. Either way I'm definitely getting the bubble tea.

The Kua'aina website's menu and shop list pages don't seem to be working, at least not on my computer, but a partial menu can be found on Guru-navi and a few pictures at Tabelog (all links Japanese)

Kua'aina Marubiru branch
03-5220-2400
Marunouchi Building 5th floor, Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku Tokyo
Open Monday to Saturday 11 to 11 (last order 10:30), Sunday and holidays 11 to 10 (last order 9:30)

つな八

On the weekend my husband had to be at Takashimaya to get measured for a shirt (his father game him a gift certificate for some tailer-made dress shirts), and since I had a few gift certificates of my own I came along and we had lunch afterwards. Called hyakkaten shouhin ken, these can be used at top-class department stores for almost any purchase, including food and meals, and are extremely popular gifts for any occasion. We are lucky to receive them from time to time but so rarely go to hyakkaten (fancy department stores like Takashimaya, Isetan and Mitsukoshi) that we have trouble using them. In fact, we couldn't even remember where we got these particular ones.

We had 10,000 yen worth, which is certainly a lot but rather hard to spend on clothes, since almost nothing is that cheap (at least not the clothes that I can fit into), and it seems silly to spend it on accessories or housewares that would be far cheaper elsewhere. So the logical thing to do was spend them on a meal, since hyakkaten often have very nice, but expensive, restaurants.

We decided on Tsunahachi, a tempura restaurant. We'd had a great meal years ago at the original shop in Shinjuku, which is over 80 years old--and shows it. The food was good and the atmosphere was cozy, but the interior was a bit dingy. It is so popular, though, that it now has branches all over, including a sleek modern one in Takashimaya. The prices seem a bit higher there than at the old place, but since it wasn't my actual money I didn't mind paying a little more for the location.

We chose the Edo-mae zencourse, one of the more expensive options. Sitting at the counter, we got to watch the chef cook our tempura and serve it to us straight from the pot, but unfortunately the lighting was a wee bit on the dark side and the pictures didn't turn out very well. So just try to imagine everything brighter, prettier and more delicious-looking.

The course started with kuruma ebi shrimp, the head (rendered light, crisp and fully edible) served first. The contrast of the plump, tender flesh and the crunchy exterior was wonderful. Not just with the shrimp, but every seafood item served for the rest of the meal; please tack the previous sentence onto all of the following descriptions.

Next was renkon (lotus root), then ika (squid). Some of the softest, most succulent squid I've ever had. The renkon was the only item of the meal that wasn't soft, but the root's own special kind of heavy crunchiness (think of a firmer, less watery water chestnut and you're close) did go nicely with the lighter crispness of the batter.

Myouga(ginger bud) was refreshingly myouga-ey (and if that doesn't make sense imagine the very freshest ginger you've had, refined and sweetened).

The cleverest dish was a large asari clam (the biggest I've seen) fried on the half shell. It was easier to eat than I thought it would be, as the clam had been cut up first. I'm not sure if being in the shell was the reason, but the flesh was incredibly plump and juicy, worlds apart from the rubbery fried clams we get back home.

Next, a refreshing orange jelly. I think. It wasn't on the menu and neither of us caught the description. Behind it are four different kinds of salt: regular sea salt, matcha (powdered green tea) salt, sanshou (prickly ash pepper) salt and yuzu citrus salt. It was fun trying all the different salts but, except for the squid and the scallop, the tempura tasted best in the traditional dipping sauce of soy-based broth (housed in the pitcher above) mixed with daikon oroshi (grated daikon radish).

I think this was my favourite of all: hotate (scallop). Cooked perfectly rare (this picture doesn't show the lovely pink centre), this was heavenly. It definitely went well with a squeeze of lemon and a tiny dip in plain salt.

Anago (sea eel), first its spine (very crunchy, I could eat these like potato chips) and then the flesh, cut in half. Very mild and tender.

The last tempura dish was ko-ebi kaki-age, a disc of small shrimp held loosely together by batter. This one had a mild taste and lots of crunch.

The course finished with rice, pickles and shijimi jiru(miso soup with tiny clams), or at least it did for me.

My husband got lucky: the chef overheard him saying he wished he could have his final piece of tempura as kaki-age don(a popular dish consisting of kaki-age over rice, with a slightly sweet soy-based sauce), so that's what got. Normally I don't like kaki-age don or tendon (the same but with regular tempura) as the sauce is usually too sweet and rich and tends to be poured on so heavily that the batter loses its crispness. But I regret not asking for this for myself as well, because the sauce was light and added with restraint.

The meal came to about 9000 yen (including two drinks), which is more than I'd want to pay for tempura, as good as this was. But we'll definitely be here again for one of the cheaper options.

Shinjuku Tsunahachi (English webpage here)
Takashimaya Branch
(03) 5361-1860
13th floor, Takashimaya Times Square
5-24-2 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Open daily 11 to 11

梅香家常菜

During our Golden Week visit to the in-laws in Osaka one of our many lavish meals was at Meishan Kajousai, a Chinese tofu restaurant in Senri Chuo run by the Ume no Hana chain. I've never been very impressed by the popular Ume no Hana, but this was our second time at Meishan Kajousai and both meals were fantastic.

Hideaki's parents treated us so I'm not exactly sure, but I think we had the Ah Lee course for 3500 yen. There are more expensive courses but this was such a huge amount of good food that I can't imagine wanting more. Unfortunately almost two weeks have passed since then so I may have misremembered some of the details, and the names of dishes and ingredients are an odd mix of Japanese, Chinese and English (how do you properly describe Chinese food eaten in Japan, in English?), but this is what we had:

The course began with an appetizer of tomato, kikurage (jellyfish) and yama-kikurage ("mountain jellyfish", a wild vegetable), and cold tofu topped with pitan (century egg).

Next came spring rolls with shrimp and green beans and a clever take on Thai shrimp toast: fried triangles of bread topped with tofu.

Then, har gow (shrimp dumplings) and tofu shiu mai dumplings.

Next up was a do-it-yourself wrap with savory ground pork and lettuce; it was fun to eat but also the weakest dish.

And then the best dish of all: a savory egg custard with shiro-kikurage (white cloud ear mushroom), very simple but perfectly flavoured.

We really enjoyed the ebi chili (shrimp in chili sauce) on our last visit, and this time it came with beans, nama-fu (chewy wheat gluten), and ginnan (ginkgo nuts) stuffed in little cups of fried bread.

One of the house specialties is mabou doufu (tofu with spicy pork sauce), and they offer three kinds: red, black and white. We chose black and white, with the black being a typical Japanese style mabou doufu, and the white a mild version with soy milk and more ginger than spice. By this time we were stuffed and sadly couldn't finish these.

Normally red rice and soup come at the end, but when we had ordered we were given a choice paying a bit more for fried rice or ramen. Had I known how stuffed I'd be I would have stuck with the regular rice, but I foolishly chose fried rice with takana (pickled greens). From the one bite I tried it was very good, but I just couldn't finish it. Likewise for the very nice egg drop corn soup.

The course was supposed to end with annin doufu (almond jelly) but we begged for mercy and were given a little scoop of ice cream. I wish I could remember what flavour it was and what it was topped with, but I do remember that I managed to finish it (there's always room for ice cream).

Meishan Kajousai
06-6873-8488
Senri Chuo Life Science Centre, 2nd floor
Shin Senri Higashi-machi, Toyonaka-shi, Osaka
Open daily for lunch from 11:00 to 4:00 (last order 3:00) and for dinner from 5:00 to 10:00 (last order 9:00)

Golden Week begins

Today was Showa no Hi, the birthday of the former emperor Showa (Hirohito's posthumous name). Why exactly we celebrate his birthday I'm not sure, but this was the first of four public holidays that make up Golden Week and I'm not about to complain.

Hideaki and I made a visit to Kichijoji to run some errands and while we were there had a quick lunch at a Chinese place called Kisshousaikan. We both had lunch specials, with me getting kurozu no subuta (sweet and sour pork with black vinegar) and my husband had pork stir-fried with matchstick potatoes. Both were excellent, and the potatoes were a surprise as I'd never had them cooked that way before, and had no idea what they were when I first tried them (I hadn't heard my husband's order), thinking maybe they were zasai pickles or bamboo shoots. They were soft and giving but had a slight bit of a firm crunch left: very nice. Both our lunches came with egg drop soup, zasai, salad, rice and annin-doufu (almond jelly) with mango sauce, all of which are surprisingly good, considering they are usually afterthoughts with this kind of set lunch.

On the way home we stopped at Planetes for a treat to bring home. My raspberry tart got banged up quite a bit on bumpy ride home but Hideaki's "chocolate royal", while arriving home a bit worse for the wear, stayed mostly intact. It contained three rich layers of chocolate, plus the chocolate fans and gold leaf on top: very decadent. My tart, while not much to look at, was super and had the perfect crust. Really, it's mostly the crusts that I buy tarts for--if they just sold empty crusts I'd buy them by the dozen. Not that I mind the filling though (and besides, if I only bought the crusts I'd miss out on the raspberries, and lord knows how hard they are to find in Tokyo).

So about this Golden Week. The holidays don't all run together, so unfortunate should like my husband are back to work tomorrow for three more days until the holidays resume, but a few lucky folks like myself have the whole week off. I'm headed tomorrow to the in-laws in Osaka, where I'll hopefully be able to keep you updated with a moblog post or two.

Wishing you all a week as golden as mine!

Kisshousaikan (Japanese link)
0422-41-0628
Uchida Building 3rd Floor, Kichijouji Minami-cho, Musashino-shi, Tokyo
Open daily 11:00 to midnight (last order 11:00)

Patisserie les Planetes (Japanese link)
03-5933-1233
5-8-20 Oizumigakuen-cho Nerima-ku Tokyo (Also outlets in Omiya and select Tokyo department stores)
Open 10:00 to 7:00, closed Wednesdays

eGullet get together

On Friday I met up with five other members of eGullet, an online food site with a very active forum. This was only the second time the Tokyo-based members had organized a get together and because I'd missed the first I was really glad to have been able to make it this time.

We ate lunch at Sasanoyuki, a famed tofu shop in Uguisudani that for 317 years has operated not only as a restaurant but as an official supplier to the Imperial Family. With such a pedigree you'd expect the place to be expensive, but the prices are surprisingly affordable, with courses running from 2000 yen to 6500 yen. All but one of us went with the cheapest option, which was this:

From bottom right: two dishes of ankake-doufu (tofu in a thick, sweet soy-based sauce garnished with mustard); a simmered dish of sweet black beans, koya-doufu (spongy freeze-dried tofu), and koma-toufu (a special kind of tofu that has been previously boiled to produce air bubbles); goma-doufu (sesame tofu); ganmodoki (deep fried tofu dumpling); momen-doufu (cotton tofu) with a dip of soy sauce, thinly sliced long onion and grated ginger; and a little dish of edamame-doufu (tofu made with fresh green soybeans), takenoko (bamboo shoot), ikura (salmon roe) with uni (sea urchin) sauce.

The meal finished with pickles and uzumi-doufu, which is a variation of ochazuke (rice with hot tea). Rice was topped with tofu resembling soboro (flavoured minced meat) and thinly sliced fuki (butterbur), and finished with thin strips of nori seaweed and hot dashi (Japanese stock). The 2600 yen course was the same, with one additional dish and dessert.

Next we took the subway to Ginza and had dessert at the Pierre Marcolini Cafe. The place is divided into two take-out shops and two sit-down cafes offering the famed Belgian chocolatier's chocolates and ice creams. We had wanted to sit in the chocolate cafe but ended up in the ice cream cafe as that was the only place our group would fit. I was hardly disappointed at loved my dessert: a scoop each of banana and caramel ice cream, topped with a chocolate decoration (which wilted by the time I got around to taking the picture) and two crunchy caramel decorations. This is not the kind of dessert I need to make a habit of, as it cost about 1300 yen. But for a special treat I'd gladly go back, and maybe even wait in line for the chocolate cafe.

Sasanoyuki (Japanese/English)
03-3873-1145
2-15-10 Negishi, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Open 11:30 to 9:15 Tuesday to Sunday (holiday Mondays are open, Tuesdays following holiday Mondays are closed)

Pierre Marcolini (Japanese only)
03-5537-2047
5-5-8 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Open Monday to Saturday 11:00 to 8:00 (last order 7:30), Sundays and holidays 11:00 to 7:00 (last order 6:30)

はん亭

This is Hantei, a famed restaurant in Nezu, a shitamachi (low town) neighborhood near Ueno. It serves kushi-age (deep-fried skewered food) but is known as much for the building it is housed in as for its food. The original building is a three-story wooden structure built around a kura (mud-walled storehouse), with the restaurant now extended across the block through adjoining buildings. The exterior was built in 1909 (the kura is older, but by how much I don't know) and has survived the Great Kanto Earthquake, the devastating WWII fire bombings of Tokyo, and the purge of old buildings that occurred during Japan's economic bubble era. Old buildings are rare enough in Tokyo, but buildings that have seen the Meiji, Taisho, Showa, and Heisei periods and are still in fine shape are something to be celebrated.

Seating inside the kura is reserved for groups, but the rest of the place has plenty of old-fashioned charm. Especially the second floor, all tatami mats and low tables and paper shoji screens that block the views of electric wires and let in a soft, muted light. Perfect for retaining that traditional Japanese atmosphere, but no so great for taking pictures-- apologies for the fuzzy photos that follow.

When ordering sake you are brought a basket of tiny sake cups, each one different, and allowed to choose which one you'd like to drink from. A tough choice as they are all beautiful.

The standard course starts off with a few bites of karei (flounder) sashimi with a soft mentaiko (spicy cod roe) coating, and a garnish of soy-simmered nanohana (rapini). At this time the accompaniments to the kushi-age are brought: vegetable sticks (carrot, cucumber and daikon), fresh cabbage, and three dips: akamiso (red miso), salt and sosu (a Worcestershire-like sauce) with mustard. The akamiso is mostly for the vegetables and the latter two are for the kushi-age. A lemon wedge is usually served along with the kushi-age as well.

The first two skewers arrive: shrimp wrapped in a shiso (perilla) leaf, and hajikami (ginger shoot) wrapped with thinly sliced pork. As with all kushi-age, they've been dipped in a batter, then panko breadcrumbs, and deep-fried until crisp. They are fried with such skill that they don't taste greasy at all (although the splotches left on the serving paper is evidence that they were fairly oily).

Next up was taranome (the young shoot of the taranoki tree) and nanohana wrapped with hirame (sole). These were followed by a lovely dish of crab-stuffed ganmodoki (deep-fried tofu) simmered in dashi stock and garnished with yuzu citrus, but I ate it up before I remembered to take a picture.

The next two were beef and gobou (burdock root), and squares of kyoninjin (a red type of carrot from Kyoto) and yuba (soy mild skin) topped with yomogi (mugwart) sauce.

The last two skewers were renkon no karashi niku-tsume (lotus root stuffed with a mixture of pork and mustard) and and a large plump hotate (scallop).

When the skewers were finished the shokuji (literally meal, it's the rice, pickles and soup that signal the end of the meal) was brought. I opted for ochazuke (rice with hot tea) and it came topped with iwanori seaweed, with kombu no tsukudani (kelp braised in soy sauce) and asasuke (salt-pickled cucumbers, eggplant and kabu turnip) on the side. The meal was finished with a tiny scoop of ume (Japanese apricot) sherbet.

Hantei
3828-1440
2-12-15 Nezu, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
Closed Mondays