Metropolis - Dining & Drinking

Fair

daviatrix — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:00:26 +0000

Fancy dining company Simplicity is celebrating its 15th anniversary with an orgiastic four-part food fair. The second installment of Food Nippon 2013 runs from July 1-13 and its theme is the cuisine of Iki, an island off Nagasaki. Try the fatty Iki beef, which comes from cows that graze on mineral-rich grass and scoff seaweed powder. Also for the tasting is the local shochu, oval squid, sea urchin, and island veggies. Hasami-yaki pottery from the region will be on display and on sale. Reserve ahead for the set lunch (¥3,800) or dinner (¥7,800), hosted at fancy resto Higashi-yama Tokyo (1-21-25 Higashiyama, Meguro-ku; nearest stn: Nakameguro).

Beer

daviatrix — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:25:46 +0000

Courtesy of Sankt Gallen Brewery

The owner of Sankt Gallen used to brew his ale in San Francisco until Japan relaxed regulations on microbrewing. And he continues to show his passion and skill through the winning of a host of awards, including the fruit-beer gong at the International Beer Competition for four recent years running.

Quaff gold like the limited Pineapple Ale (¥1,980 for 3 x 330ml bottles) or buy a tasting pack like the Kanagawa Set (including two bottles of Shonan Gold and two of Yokohama XPA) for ¥2,430 including delivery.

If you want to splash out on your own custom-made beer, order a 1,000-liter tank of it, ready in two months, for ¥1,700,000, including original recipe, ingredients, label design, delivery, and a large belly. Or slap your own label on 1,000 bottles of an already existing brew for ¥50,000.

Order all this and more online, or buy the brews at select shops and restaurants.

D’oh Nuts

daviatrix — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:00:36 +0000

Courtesy Flickr StickerEsq

With a name reminiscent of bovine urine, Calpis is a hard drink to swallow for many Anglophones in Japan. But Japanese folks have been quaffing it since way back in 1919, when the cultured milk drink was sold only as a concentrate. Now it has gone the route of every other drink in the conbini, appearing in a multitude of varieties to satisfy the hyperactive urges of your modern consumer. That’s where Mister Donut comes in. We’re not exactly sure what the connection is between a cloudy yogurty beverage and a ring of sugary carbs, but the Calpis x Mister Donut (¥136-147), available in soda and strawberry flavors, has to be worth a try. Doesn’t it?

Glasses

daviatrix — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 15:01:27 +0000

Courtesy of Sugahara Glassworks Inc

When you hear of Mount Fuji beer glasses you might imagine a box of kitsch gifts on sale at one of Narita Airport’s souvenir shops. But these tasteful drinking vessels were garlanded with the Tokyo Midtown Award in 2008 for their design. Fill them up in the Japanese style of frothy pouring and behold as the sacred mountain appears before you (as it might look after a sandstorm). Made by Sugahara, the glasses (¥3,776 each, in a nod to the metric height of the peak) come in a wooden box and are gift-wrappable for free with a colored ribbon or a noshi commemorative attachment for special occasions. Add a gift card with a message of 100 characters, and shipping is ¥600 unless your order tops ¥15,000.

Kyoto

daviatrix — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 15:00:57 +0000

Courtesy of Acecook

For a cup of soup with a twist, food company Acecook (eisukoku) has teamed up with groovy travel guide Co-Trip for an aesthetically pleasing package. A striking red wagasa (Japanese-style oil-paper umbrella) adorns the cover of Co-Trip’s latest guide to Kyoto—a far cry from the usual content overload found on tourism magazines here. The same design appears on the exterior of this instant dashi-based tofu soup with soy and green onions—reminiscent of the ancient capital’s cuisine. The cup includes a sachet of spice from a venerable Kyoto store founded in 1932.

¥150 at stores nationwide.

Buffet

daviatrix — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:00:21 +0000

Courtesy of Yokohama Bayside Hotel Tokyo

The problem with all-you-can-eat buffets is pacing yourself. After stuffing your face with delicious appetizers and good-looking mains, there’s nary a cubic centimeter of stomach space left for dessert. Those with a sweet tooth, then, should head to the Somer House restaurant’s Nighttime Dessert Buffet at the Yokohama Bay Hotel Tokyu. Fill up on ten different cakes, including seasonal fruit tarts, five different puddings served in wine glasses, and the proud pastries of the pâtissier en résidence. A few other foods—like antipasti; soup and sandwiches—are available for a rounder meal. But why carb-load on anything but an ice cream sandwich with hotel-baked bread and homemade ice cream?

¥3,150 (adults), ¥1,995 (kids aged 6-12), ¥1,050 (kids aged 3-5). Every Thu-Fri until Jun 28, 7:30-10:30pm. Reserve via tel: 045-682-2219 or online http://ybht.co.jp/en

Wedding

daviatrix — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 15:00:44 +0000

Photo by Jeff W. Richards

Considering the principal fear of most wedding planners in the West is a downpour, getting married in June in Japan—during tsuyu, the rainy season—seems a little risky. Which is why people don’t usually do it. However, there is a new trend of rokugatsu no hanayome (June brides), encouraged by goods such as this wedding cake topper from Nut2KK. Far from the Grecian tradition, rooted in a bid for a blessing from the god Juno, the “tradition” on these shores seems more a bid for commerce during a usually slow season. So spend a little more on this cake topper and aid a flagging industry. Considering the Japanese fondness for themed accessories, there may well be a whole line of marital raingear in the offing. Waterproof veil anyone?

¥5,460 online at www.nut2deco.com

Cause

daviatrix — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 15:01:40 +0000

Support refugees in Japan by learning to prepare their home country’s cuisine with this wholesome cookbook from the Japan Association for Refugees. Full color and bilingual, Flavours Without Borders presents about 45 recipes from 15 cultures around the world—along with the human stories of the people who provide them. Learn how to cook omelette with Chinese chives from Azerbaijan, Kurdish cucumber and yoghurt salad, Burmese-style noodles with kinako, and plenty more diverse dishes, with recipes adapted to the ingredients available in the stores on these shores. The book is targeted at raising awareness about the small number of asylum seekers permitted into Japan, and at raising money for the community, with all proceeds going to the cause. Now available from Amazon (¥1,575).

Celebrate

daviatrix — Fri, 31 May 2013 15:00:57 +0000

Break out the champers for a special occasion (like the 1,000th issue of Metropolis, for example), and do so in super splashy summer style with a new seasonal offering. Bubbly boffins Moet & Chandon have owned the Yarra Valley winery in Victoria, Australia since 1986, and that is the origin of the newly designed bottle of Chandon Brut (¥2,415). The marine-design bottle will prompt the urge to shower yourself with the stuff under the spring sunshine. But it might be even better to imbibe this sparkling Chardonnay with astringent citrus base, softened on top with pear and nectarine, and finished with roasted nuts and delicate spices. Available from June until the end of summer at liquor stores around the country.

Spiky

daviatrix — Wed, 29 May 2013 15:00:34 +0000

Photo by Jeff W. Richards

Snack-loving street urchins take note, uni-flavored chips (¥126) are in town. Made by Ozack, these fried potato discs can’t be said to taste a great deal like the spiky marine animals—perhaps good news for some of the more particular gaikokujin—but they do carry a distinct taste of fresh sea spray. Or maybe we just left the window open. The first echinoderm-flavored bar snack we’ve come across, which doesn’t actually include any real sea urchin, is clearly striking a chord with the public. Our local conbini has been sold out of the product every morning—and they can’t refill the shelves fast enough.

Buffet

daviatrix — Sun, 26 May 2013 15:00:25 +0000

Hilton Tokyo has teamed up with the South African Embassy to provide The Essence of South Africa, a lunch buffet from June 5-9 in the first-floor Marble Lounge (6-6-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku; http://tokyo.hilton.com). For ¥4,600 per person (¥2,500 per child) sample the dishes of Lindsay Venn, the executive chef of Cape Town hotel Southern Sun The Cullinan, while your heart pulses to the live performance of percussive troupe Drum Café. The multicultural culinary offerings of the republic are referred to as “rainbow cuisine,” as you’ll appreciate with dishes such as grilled crocodile with dried cranberries, spiced ostrich carpaccio with kumquat relish, and superlative sweets like koeksisters, or braided, syrup-coated doughnuts. South African wines are offered for an additional charge.

Harukor

daviatrix — Sun, 26 May 2013 15:00:14 +0000

Photo by Jessica Kozuka

Most Tokyo residents are familiar with Okinawan flavors, from goya champuru to awamori. But Ainu cuisine—from Hokkaido’s native culture—is less well known. Harukor, the only Ainu restaurant in the Tokyo area, offers an insight.

In honor of the International Year of the World’s Indigenous People in 1993, an Ainu association in Tokyo collected donations to open Rera-Cise, a café-restaurant and performance space offering Ainu cooking and cultural offerings to the public. Sadly, Rera-Cise closed a few years ago, but the manager inherited the recipes and opened Harukor to keep the community flame burning.

When we stopped in on a Saturday night it was a full house, and everyone seemed to know everyone else. People came and went, joining parties with cheerful greetings and passing seats on to others as they arrived. Yet despite the busy atmosphere and cramped space, the waiter took time to answer our questions and explain the dishes. The menu is posted on the wall, much of it only in Ainu, and daily specials are written on a whiteboard. Those who don’t speak Japanese should bring a friend—or be comfortable with ordering blindly.

According to the staff, Ainu people brew a traditional liquor in small batches, but Japanese law prevents them selling it at the restaurant. We opted for Sapporo draft beer (¥400). They also offer simple cocktails, sake and shochu (from ¥350).

We started off with ohaw (¥300), a simple fish soup packed with vegetables, strips of konbu and salmon. The interesting kampoca rataskep (¥500) is a dry mash that starts out with the sweetness of squash and corn and finishes with an astringent, almost medicinal flavor from its Amur cork nuts.

Ainu cooking uses a lot of game. House specialty venison can be had in a variety of ways, even in dumplings, but purists should opt for the venison steak (¥1,300). Lightly seared with a perfect rare center, the meat’s natural taste is complimented by the acidic flavor of the side salad’s dressing.

A common ingredient which might be new to most diners is kitopiro, a wild leek with a strong garlic flavor sometimes called Ainu onion in Japan. We tried it in some dumplings (¥550), and found them so filling and complex, it was hard to believe they had no meat.

While we couldn’t work up the courage to try mefun (¥600), a traditional dish with salted fish entrails, we felt we had tasted something unique and somehow elemental. The game and wild veggies harked back to a time when the human diet was more closely tied to the environment. You won’t find many deer to hunt or herbs to forage in Tokyo—but you can still eat them at Harukor.

Note: Harukor is relocating. No address news as yet, but it’s reportedly just 300m away.

Custom

daviatrix — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:00:20 +0000

Shortcake, long possibilities, with Afternoon Tea Tearoom’s Customized Cake, available at any Afternoon Tea Tearoom across Tokyo—locations in Atré and that sort of station-enveloping mall. For ¥1,470 buy a shortcake and a drink, but get this: your cake has three stages of customization. Choose one of three marinated fruit selections, sauces, and toppings—then decorate. Thus could you wind up (for example) with a mango cream shortcake topped with berries, drenched in peach sauce and sided by roast almonds. Finally, submit a photo of your cakey creation to their photo contest, and you’ll be in the running for one of ten “Tea Free Passes,” which will get you free cuppas at any Afternoon Tea Tearoom from August 1 until December 31. Garner the most “likes” on the site for some cartons of premixed tea.

Old School Ramen

daviatrix — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:00:34 +0000

Modern trends in ramen are all the rage these days. Young, French-trained chefs using certified organic ingredients in new and exciting ways could, though, just be the latest trend. But what about shops around long before anyone ever grabbed a copy of Metropolis?

Eifukucho Taishoken

Photos by Brian MacDuckston

Eifukucho Taishoken (ET for short; 3-5-3 Izumi, Suginami-ku. Open daily 11am-1am. Tel: 03-3321-5048) is one of those shops. Back in 1955 you could get a steaming hot bowl of their excellent niboshi-rich ramen for a paltry ¥35. Times were tough back then, and ET may have inadvertently created the first round-the-block ramen line for their affordable, comforting bowl. These days, the price my have gone up with the times (chukamen is ¥1,050), but the line is still persistent. A word of warning: the layer of oil on top is near scalding—be very careful!

Sabuchan

Eating at Sabuchan (2024 Kandajinbocho, Chiyoda-ku. Open Mon-Sat 11:30am-3pm & 4:20pm-7:30pm, closed Sun. Tel: 03-3230-1252) is like taking a time machine to a Showa-era eatery. Opened in 1967, we wouldn’t be surprised if they were still using the same pots and pans. One thing is for sure—the ramen master, Mr. Sabuchan, is like a character out of an old black-and-white movie, noir-ishly chain-smoking out the back door between filling ramen bowls and frying rice. The concept of a bowl of simple shoyu ramen with fried rice on the side? Invented here. The half-fried rice with ramen is ¥720.

Hope-ken

Imagine a 20-year-old kid dragging a ramen cart around Kabukicho in the ’60s. This is what the founder did for 15 years before finally moving in to the Hope-ken shop (2-33-9 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku. Open 24/7. Tel: 03-3405-4249) in Setagaya. A landmark in the area, this bright yellow building is impossible to miss. Just follow your nose. The ramen here is intense. Half pure pork bliss and half hot oil. Go for the one with the wonton (wontonmen ¥950). Open 24/7/365.

Lolly

daviatrix — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:00:32 +0000

You can’t tell his age with that mask on, but Ultraman is turning 50. Still, his appeal to children is to be further cemented by a collaboration with Akagi Nyugyo Corporation’s ice popsicle character Gari-Gari-kun—the one with the beads of sweat and toothy grin. The limited-release-only Rich! Strawberry Au Lait and Jelly (¥126) is on sale at conbini around the land and comes in three different wrappers featuring Ultraman, Ultra Seven and Ultraman Zero. Look out for the kanji 当り(atari) which means you have won an exclusive Gari-Gari x Ultraman T-shirt (S/M/L/XL). Other wacky Gari-Gari-kun flavors out at the moment include spring-like honey and lemon squash, and hard-to-comprehend corn potage.

Bread

daviatrix — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:00:52 +0000

Missing mama’s breadbasket? Longing for a decent bowl of hearty soup that doesn’t come from a certain overpriced chain? Then hit up the recently opened Eat More Soup and Bread (7F Lumine Est, 3-38-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku). Choose from soup, salad or pasta as the main dish in their lunch set (from ¥1,080), and get a mini-salad or soup, mini-dessert, drink and—wait for it—all-you-can-eat bread. Which could be a major shock to the carb-deprived system. Tea time involves parfaits (matcha, mixed berries, caramel nuts) and cakes from ¥680 (¥880 with a drink), and dinner offers a wider range including clam chowder (¥1,000) and bouillabaisse (¥1,100).

Drink

daviatrix — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:00:45 +0000

Get a jump on the barrage of novelty drinks set to fill up convenience store shelves over the summer months by partaking of a different class of fancy beverage now. For those who can’t decide between a sugary drink or a sweet snack, Asahi Soft Drinks has launched a tie-up with French fine-foods company Fauchon to combine the both in one heady swig. The consequent entity is the Fauchon Éclair Tea (¥115), guaranteed to dilate your pupils and fill your body with a surging rush of energy, followed by a descent into a comatose state from which you can only be wakened with a Pocari Sweat and a large electric shock.

Fare

daviatrix — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:00:38 +0000

Courtesy of Rockin’ on Japan

Tachikawa’s spacious Showa Kinen Park is the venue for a yearly extravaganza that pulled in some 191,000 punters last year. The purpose of Manpaku is found in its name, which has elements of full stomach (manpuku) and wide knowledge (hakuran). There are seven themed areas to eat your way around—world, curry, ramen, gyoza, karaage, sweets, and gotochi (Japanese regional food). Look out in the sweets zone for the eye-catching Melon Maru Goto Cream Soda (¥800; pictured). At night Manpaku transforms into a humongous beer garden, with locally brewed beers like Shonan Gold and Yokohama XPA alongside all the faves. Showa Kinen Park, Tachikawa, May 18-Jun 3, entry ¥500/day.

Veg

daviatrix — Sun, 12 May 2013 15:00:30 +0000

Courtesy of Sazaby League, Ltd

Japan’s historic staple got a shake-up last month with the opening of Akomeya Tokyo (2-2-6 Ginza, Chuo-ku), a “rice lifestyle design store.” While the shop sells rice (18 different types to be exact), it also houses a restaurant serving dishes using its goods (inari-zushi, ohagi and warabi-mochi) and a bar serving cocktails based on nihonshu (sake mojito, anyone?). Modern rice totes (instead of sacks) are offered, along with wooden rice chests and masu (those square cedar boxes you’ll remember from drinking sake—or maybe not). In collaboration with the opening, Finnish designer Mina Perhonen has created a rice pouch and a stylish apron. Ask about joining the regular tasting event Kiki no Kai.

Turtle

daviatrix — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:00:09 +0000

If your idea of Hawaiian fare in Japan stops at loco moco, you’re missing out. Honolulu Sweets Factory (1F Lumine Kitasenju, 42-2 Senju Asahi-cho, Adachi-ku) produces the stellar Honu Cookies [pictured]. Named after the Hawaiian word for turtle, the biccies (¥1,050/8pcs) are tastefully amphibian-shaped with a heart-shaped dollop of filling to make your mouth melt. Choose from the creamily refreshing mango choco, white choco, strawberry choco and dark choco. Hua’ai (fruit) Cheesecake Bars are among the other irresistible delights (¥1,260/5 sticks).

Metropolis is giving away five boxes of Honu Cookies. To win, email giveaways@metropolis.co.jp with your postal details and tell us your favorite imaginary snack.