June 28, 2007
勝博殿
We were tempted by the restaurant when we went by on Mother's Day but it was overflowing with a long line for the occasion. Did note it for future reference and it was no problem to get a table on a normal weekday evening.
Missed out on katsu while we were in Japan, but to be honest we can do frying in Taiwan just as good anyway. The restaurant in the XinYi Mitsukoshi A9 building is important from Japan, complete with the the bowl of toasted sesame seeds which you grind up yourself and mix with their special BBQ sauce. The different pork cuts are moist and not too oily after the breading-and-frying. The katsu-asparagus roll was good, too. I think I prefer tempura-fried shrimp over the katsu-shop version, though.
The unlimited shredded cabbage is standard issue for a katsu shop but they also had a nice light dressing which gave it a bit more flavor than usual. Found the egg a bit overcooked in the SIL's egg+katsu combo. I think it would work better being runny like in an oyakodon.
About 350NTD per head after service charge isn't super-cheap, but it's not bad for a nicely decorated space in a fancy department store. A good mid-range option to keep in mind as they expand with more branches in Taipei.
勝博殿日式餐廳
110台北市信義區松壽路9號6樓
(新光三越百貨A9館)
XinYi Shinkong Mitsukoshi A9, 6F
02-27255829
June 18, 2007
Jojoen BBQ (叙々苑 焼肉)
Sushi and seafood are nice and all but I have equal love for the red meat. Japanese aren't into big thick steaks like the Americans, but yakiniku is fun and tasty, too. I've actually been to this location at the Odakyu Dept. Store before when our Japan manager took us after a long day at the electronics show. SO's Nippon-phile cousin also recommended it highly as a must-go, so it seemed like a good choice for our last dinner in Japan. It is a chain and not inexpensive, but the meat was top-notch and if it's overcooked that's your own damn fault.
The brought us to a long bar-like table set against the big windows overlooking Shinjuku Station West, split into individual booths around the grills. Each table is also segregated for privacy, perfect for a post-shopping date or co-workers coming in from the Shinjuku office towers. Except the ceiling is covered with mirrors so a peek upwards lets you see exactly what the nearby tables are doing (mostly eating and drinking).
The simply salted cow tongue requires just a few seconds on the hot grill, then a quick dip in the lemon juice. You can also get marinated or salted meats of cow, pig, or lamb and there are a couple of other dipping sauces to go with them. A sparkling lemon sawa (freshly squeezed fruit juice added to club soda and soju) drink is a perfectly refreshing antidote to the heavy meat. The salad's great, too, with really fresh greens dressed with a flavorful sesame-based Japanese dressing.
Didn't get a chance to try the famously sweet and juicy Japanese peaches on our trip, so I figured a frozen peach sorbet held in a hollowed out peach would make an interesting alternative. Found that it didn't match up to the real thing, though, as I found the sorbet a bit too sweet and the round peach container made it hard to scoop. The Italians definitely do the best fruit sorbets, where they somehow manage to make it taste even more flavorful and refreshing than the actual fruit.
叙々苑 (Jojoen)
東京都新宿区西新宿1-5-1
小田急新宿西口駅前ビル8階
(8th floor of Odakyu Halc department store outside Shinjuku Station west exit)
03-3340-8989
Many other locations
June 17, 2007
湯葉井
There was a line out the door so we figured the unassuming little restaurant near the Hakone-Yumoto station was the way to go for lunch. The signature dish is yuba-donburi. A bubbling-hot pot of chicken broth, egg, and fresh yuba accompanies the obligatory big bowl of perfectly-cooked Japanese rice. A fast, light meal just before we head out to explore Hakone.
湯葉丼 直吉
神奈川県足柄下郡箱根町湯本702
0460-85-5148
June 16, 2007
兔屋烏龍麵
Hungry after a long day of walking we stumbled into the little shop in a Ginza side-street. I didn't realize the specialty was hand-made udon and ordered sukiyaki rice like an idiot. It was still pretty good but nothing special. At least it still came with a bowl of udon soup.
SO was smarter and ordered the summer special of cold veggie udon. Grilled vegetables and a shoyu broth complimented the QQ udon on a warm summer day.
Other people's pictures:
手打うどん銀座兎屋
東京都中央区銀座3-4-19 大倉別館 １Ｆ
03-3561-1698
June 15, 2007
L'Atelier de Joel Robüchon
We hit the ground running in Tokyo. We hit Harajuku, Omotesando, and Roppongi Hills right after landing. Unfortunately most of the shops were near closing by the time we got to Roppongi, but the main attraction Tokyo CityView stayed open late, so we had time to get something to eat before going up. I'm normally all for experiencing the local cuisines, but L'Atelier is right next to CityView, the big name is attractive, and the Japanese are perfectly capable of producing high-end Western food.
Thankfully no reservations were necessary at the deliberately informal bistro. The interior in black and red is dominated by a long bar surrounding the impeccable open kitchen populated by eager young Japanese chefs. The prix fixe menu offered just enough variety for two at a fair (but high, yes) price. The amuse set the tone, a shot glass of custard with a purple dollop of port sauce topped off with parmesan foam. The foam offered the character and flavor of the cheese without the hard saltiness to overwhelm the soft richness of the custard.
My appetizer was a lobster mousse on top of a crepe cracker with some avocado bits underneath. The basket of different mini-rolls went nicely with the smooth spread. SO gets the tomato salad with greens and fresh tomatoes on a bed of tomato jelly. My richer morsels was concentrated umami goodness, but the salad had its own simple Californian-style appeal. For the soup/fish course I had a perfectly soft-poached egg in a martini glass topped with foamed champignon soup. The soft egg took the creaminess of the cream-of-mushroom soup over the top. Fresh scallops don't need to be embellished much, and SO's big, pan-fried scallops were very fresh and very tasty sitting on a pool of herb-oil for some variety.
I ponied up the supplement for the fois gras main. Yeah, it's duck not goose, but it was still full of livery goodness. The bed of risotto soaked up the leaking fat and I wiped up any leftover juices with a Japanese-soft mini-roll. SO had pan-fried herb fish fillet on a pool of clam-based jus. Felt the herbal flavors was a bit strong for the fish, but that's a bit of East vs. West attitude toward how fish should be treated.
Desserts were simple affairs. Mine was vanilla ice cream on wine-simmered cherries, hers was tangy yogurt ice cream on cranberry gelatin garnished with fresh cranberries. A light way to close out a satisfying but not gut-busting meal. The room was about half foreigners/tourists, which was fine with me in this case. Foams and jellies and such things may no longer be El Bulli material but coming from the gastronomic backwater of Taipei seeing and tasting the basic techniques done well was almost enough to bring a tear. The cool but unpretentious atmosphere was the perfect way to celebrate the start of our trip.
L'Atelier de Joel Robüchon
Roppongi Hills Hillside 2F
6-10-1 Roppongi Minato-ku
Tokyo 106-0032
03-5772-7500