Month: September 2018

Sampling traditional food in Hong Kong diners (cha chaan teng)

Every country has its own brand of casual restaurants. US generated the fast food concept. in Japan you have ramen shops. In Hong Kong you have cha chaan teng.

The official website of Hong Kong tourism office described cha chaan teng as follows:

Hong Kong-style diners, or cha chaan teng, are a unique result of city’s modern history. After the Second World War, Western food became increasingly popular in Hong Kong. Nonetheless, it remained beyond the financial reach of many people. Local diners started offering dishes with Western influences and, more important, reasonable prices and the trend took off.
Today cha chann teng far from being outmoded by modern quick-serving restaurants remain a fixture in the city of Hong Kong and answer multiple needs: they are the place where many Hong Kong dwellers have breakfast; they are busy at lunch hours with seniors and office workers as well; many of them attract people from the neighborhood as a place where to socialize till late at night.
This article describes some of the traditional food that you can find in these establishments.

Macaroni and ham soup

This is really a Hong Kong classic. A soup with macaroni instead of common noodles and some Westerner ingredients such as ham or even spam. Variations on the menu included having eggs, pork chop, beef, sausage and son on.
They suggest to add some chili paste:
I had the one pictured for breakfast at China Cafe in Mong Kok and I really enjoyed it. Eating macaroni instead of swirling noodles is much more practical.
I also had a drink made of Horlicks, a British drink based on milk powder that in Hong Kong is drunk as it was coffee. In this case it was served cold and sweetened.
The total check was 36 HKD (4,60 USD) to be paid at the cashier. I should mention that this particular diner was featured in one of Anthony Bourdain’s shows about Hong Kong. This was my silly trigger to visit it and you can clearly see other tourists there on pilgrimage.

Deep fried pork, ramen noodles and french toast

My next stop was in a non descript diner in Quarry Bay (located on 981 King’s Road next to my next entry).
I had one deep fried pork chop and some ramen noodles with egg. The deep fried pork is not a cutlet, it lacks the batter. I was not particularly impressed by this one, the frying made it too stiff.
Also the ramen noodles were not great… but I feel a bit bad as the staff there was super nice.
In this diner finally I had a sweet treat: a Hong Kong style French Toast. This was not really like a regular French toast and had a nutty backtaste.
Total check for 68 HKD (8.70 USD) including a coke.

Roast Meat

The reason I went to Quarry Bay was to try this roast meat shop mentioned by Mark Wiens in one of his trips: Yau Wun Roast Meat. The shop is indicated with this English name on Google Maps. It is clearly a very successful shop as even in the middle of the afternoon there was a solid line. The shop is also a licensed restaurant and while they did not have an English menu and did not really speak any English in the end they were able to accommodate me in one of the tables inside the small shop.
For 38 HKD (4.86 USD) I got this substantial serving of roast pork meat. I need to say that I was disappointed, I tasted better ones. But I guess that my limited ability to interact with the staff may have prevented me from ordering something more interesting.
Roast meat is a different game and the shops serving this kind of food may not have on the menu anything from the previous entries.

Eating sushi at Yamataka Seafood Market in Hong Kong

Yamakata Seafood Market in Wan Chai is touted to bring the Tsukiji market experience to Hong Kong… well, I beg to disagree, it has really little to share with Tsukiji or any other Japanese market. Actually, it looks like a small-scale clone of Taipei’s Addiction Aquatic Development. I would describe it as a multifunction dining and shopping space.

The visit

I easily reached the venue by ferry (see the tips at the end of the review) from TST. It was around 2pm and there were relatively few customers. That was a relief because it is not a spacious place. With a lot of people it can really get overpowering.

I went past the supermarket area where seafood and Japanese products are for sale.

In the supermarket area you can find deluxe sets like the one pictured above including a small lobster.

They have quite a few fun Japanese soft drinks.

Past the supermarket area there are a number of individual dining spaces, each one specializing in a different type of Japanese food. They also have an area for lectures and demonstrations. Time to time they organize tuna cutting shows.

At this counter they were serving among other things lobster rolls. Other stations serve donburi, oysters, various cooked foods, and so on. All based on fresh seafood of course.

Finally, at the end of the pier you get to the sushi bar. They do not offer the most comfortable seating arrangements, but the view of the harbor is great. You are given a menu where you can tick off the items you want to order.

I had my unmissable serving of tuna sashimi.

Then I had a tuna mixed platter including fatty and medium fatty tuna.

Then I also ordered some additional pairs of nigiri: scallops, mackerel, amberjack and hammachi.

Overall the sushi was good and fresh, but there was really nothing that made wish to be back soon.

This was the menu available on June 2018:

The check

The check came to 430 HKD (55 USD) for 12 pieces of sushi and a portion of sashimi. Not cheap at all, but being Hong Kong not outrageous either.

Overall it was fun to eat there; I definitely would recommend to go during off peak hours to avoid crowds. Also, they may have other dishes worth trying apart from classic sushi and sashimi (those lobster rolls…). The variety of available seafood is another plus.

Where in Hong Kong:
2/F, Wan Chai Ferry Pier
Pro-tip: it may sound counter-intuitive, but the best way to get there is from Kowloon (the opposite side of the harbor). Take the Star Ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier to Wan Chai Ferry Pier. Upon disembarkation the seafood market is just around the corner. Super easy. Going there from Wan Chai station is a painfully long walk dodging footbridges and construction areas.
Visit their website for more information. Have a look at their seasonal offerings.

Trying Kyoto traditional sushi at Izuju

Kyoto is an inland city. You can imagine that when modern refrigeration was unknown dealing with seafood safely in an area far from the sea was extremely difficult. As a result, chefs in Kyoto developed their own approach to sushi, using mostly fish with longer shelf-life and/or marinated to make it last longer. This style is called Kyozushi.

I tried this kind of traditional sushi at Izuju, one of the most popular sushi restaurants in located in Gion district. The restaurant faces the entrance to the Yasaka Shrine.

The visit

I arrived at the restaurant quite early and at that time there was no line. In fact, I was the first customer of the day.

The door is easy to miss…

Inside they have a small dining room with wooden furniture.

I had one of their hako sets (the deluxe one), a sort of checkered sushi composition. It included prawns (cooked), omelette, anago (sweet sea-water eel), and sea bream. The dish was both pleasant for the eye and the palate.

Then I had a combo dish with some of their other traditional dishes: mackerel (saba), hamo and a grilled sweetfish called ayu.

They have signs everywhere explaining how to properly eat these dishes. No soy sauce and wasabi are required since the fish on the sushi is already marinated. Also, the mackerel sushi comes with a piece of kelp to protect the fish flavor and the kelp must be removed! The flavor of the mackerel is quite strong; honestly there is not much of it to taste…

Hamo is a typical Kansai fish, a type of eel called pike conger and it is usually found from summer to autumn. It is a rich flavor.

Finally, the ayu grilled in salt is a simple dish very popular in the summer.

All the sushi was great, even if the flavors were more muted than traditional Edo style sushi.

Miso soup.

Green tea.

Most of the dishes are also available for purchase as take-out. Among tourists and locals this seems a pretty big part of their business.

The check

The total was 5,103 yen (around 45 USD) for a meal that could have satisfied two people. Some of the traditional dishes such as hamo and mackerel sushi are quite expensive, but I guess they require long preparation.

While I prefer the raw flavors of Edo style sushi, this was a very interesting and satisfying culinary experience. If you are in Kyoto, be aware of their special style of sushi.

Where in Kyoto:
292-1 Gionmachi, Kitagawa, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto
Address in Japanese: 京都府京都市東山区祇園町北側292-1
Pro-tip: in Gion there are a lot of dessert places. After sushi, have a Japanese style dessert.

 

 

 

Baka Damon, a meat-heavy izakaya in central Sapporo

There is nothing like trying a Japanese restaurant without an English menu and without knowledge of Japanese. Luckily, pictures can help. In this case, overall it went well. (To get an English menu see my notes at the end of the post.)

The visit

I came across an izakaya located next to Mistukoshi, in a very central location dominated by retail outlets. The izakaya is located in a basement and in English is called Baka Damon (it is the only English term on the sign).

I was welcomed with a compulsory appetizer: two pieces of radish oden style.

I wanted to have some skewers.

I had skewers with pork belly, beef and mutton.

I particularly enjoyed their meatballs.

They also had chicken fried in a number of ways. I went for the dish pictured above using only wing tips.

They had ankimo sashimi. This dish is rarely seen outside Japan and it is basically marinated monk-fish liver. To me, it is the seafood equivalent of foie gras. It is an incredibly delicious seafood dish.

They also had a very attractive all you can drink option (you pay a flat price and for a fixed amount of time, like 2 hours, you can drink all the beer you wish; it is a format quite common in izakayas) and they were surprised that I was not interested.

The check

The damage for all of these izakaya delicacies was 4,330 yen (38.5 USD). When in an izakaya I rarely spend less than that.

This izakaya experience overall was interesting and a nice departure from menu more heavily based on seafood. This was clearly an izakaya focusing on meat, including less common types of meat (duck, gizzards, and more). The skewers were good. Among the delicacies I did not try there was horse meat sashimi that seemed to be their signature dish.

This is an address to keep in mind if you are hanging out around Mitsukoshi department store in Sapporo.

Where in Sapporo:
3-8-11, Minami 1 Jo Nishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido, 060-0063
See this website for details and menu in English (I wish I had known this link before the visit…).

Eating at the two major fish markets in Sapporo

Sapporo has two major fish markets that are open to tourists: the Nijo Fish Market and the Central Wholesale Market. In both markets restaurants where to have fresh seafood, especially donburi, abound.

Central Wholesale Market

The stores of the Central Wholesale Market occupy the two sides of a street in the North-Western part of the city. I got there by taxi (not the cheaper way), otherwise it is a 10-15 walk from the nearest metro station.

The stores are one another’s copy… they have an area where they sell seafood and usually have a section for the restaurant. I checked in in a restaurant located in the building pictured above at the very start (or end?) of the street. It was called Kita No Ryouba that had a nice air-conditioned section for non smokers.

The piece of resistance of my meal was a donburi with tuna and fatty tuna. I enjoyed it.

I also had a grilled squid hat was very good.

The donburi cost me 2,480 yen before tax (around 22 USD). The total check, including a drink, the squid, and taxes, was 3,623 yen (32 USD). Not wholesale prices, but elsewhere in Asia the same amount of fatty tuna would have cost much more.

The Nijo Fish Market

The Nijo Fish Market occupies two blocks in downtown Sapporo. It is very easy to reach from Odori metro station and a favorite among tourists.

I had lunch at Donbori Chaya Nijo Fish Market.

I had fatty tuna again!

Then I had a miso soup that was particularly rich:

Finally, I had two grilled scallops:

The restaurant was tourist-friendly with payment systems catering to Chinese customers and exhibiting a halal notice.

Total check: 2,780 yen (around 25 USD). The fatty tuna was particularly well priced.

The verdict

Fish markets are a must-go attraction in Japan. The two Sapporo markets that I visited were a bit disappointing. Hokkaido is the seafood hot spot of Japan and I was expecting something more (in terms of variety and possibility to get fresh seafood on the go).

The Central Wholesale Market is not worth the trip. If back, I might visit Nijo Fish Market again since it is so conveniently located and fatty tuna seems to be so reasonably priced.

 

 

 

Uni galore at Tsukiji outer market in Tokyo

I was escorted to this restaurant by a friend during a visit in Tokyo in June 2018 and we had an excellent dinner. If you like uni (sea urchin) this is a great place. Uni has become a fashion for fine dining establishments. It is difficult to find any upscale restaurant that ignores it nowadays. I even had a burger with uni once in Hong Kong! It is a fancy ingredient. But to taste the real deal you need to be in Japan. Hokkaido is perfect, but Tokyo is supplied with all the uni you might ever fancy.

The visit

The place, located in the so called Tsukiji outer market, specializes in sea urchin. At the entrance they have a sign indicating from which regions in Hokkaido they have fresh uni available for the day. The sea urchin from different regions varies greatly in taste and texture.

This is a casual place. We were escorted in a air-conditioned room with counter seats and we were promptly handed wet towels and an appetizer. This is the kind of compulsory appetizer you get in some Japanese restaurants to justify the cover charge (better than in other restaurants where the cover charge is levied with nothing in return; worse than in those restaurants that do not ask you for this… Japan is not consistent).

The appetizer was smoked duck meat and uni. I must say it was delicious, a very creative and thoughtful combination. Worth the 500 yen I guess.

Their signature dish is a rice bowl (donburi) with five varieties of uni that may change daily.

The picture above shows the varieties that were available for the day.

And this was the majestic bowl with uni. I could taste the different textures and slightly different levels of sweetness in the different types of uni. A very delicious dish. The dish also came with a piece of nori (dried seaweed) that could be used to prepare a hand roll filled with rice and uni of course; a couple of pieces of cucumber, some shreds of nori and a couple of pieces of pickles were also provided to help modulate the flavor. Personally I did not add any soy sauce, I just wanted to enjoy the original unadulterated flavor.

I also made sure to order some tuna sashimi, two pieces of medium fatty tuna (my favorite) and two pieces of regular lean tuna. This was some of the best tuna sashimi I ever had: fresh, big meaty pieces and absolutely tasty. Worth the hefty price tag.

The check

We spent around 8,000 yen each (around 71 USD). That’s not a cheap meal by any standard, but fresh uni is expensive and the prices were in line with other establishments. I would say that the sashimi was also not absurdly priced given the size of the pieces. Actually, I might go back just to eat sashimi next time.

It is not clear what will happen to this part of Tokyo now that the Tsukiji market is relocating for good, but I am pretty sure these restaurants will stand, at least in the short term.

Where in Tokyo:
Tsukiji Itadori Uni Tora Naka-dori Branch
1F, Kaneshin Suisan Bldg., 4-10-5, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Restaurant information in Japanese.
At the moment open daily from 7am to 11pm (last order by 10pm).

An izakaya in Higashi-Nihombashi, Tokyo, where to try tuna dishes

I love tuna. When I saw an izakaya specializing in tuna and seafood near my hotel I decided to try it for a late night snack.

The visit

The place was still open at 10pm, I believe it is open till midnight.

It was a very spartan place with stools. I think they wanted to reproduce the feeling of a place inside a fish market.

First I was handed some boiled tuna as a compulsory appetizer.

For less than 8 USD I got three nigiri with lean, medium-fatty and fatty tuna. No complaints about the freshness of the tuna.

But the highlight of my visit was this tuna cutlet… It reminded me a gyukatsu because the tuna was, as expected, raw inside. It was much better than the deep fried version I had at Sushi Zan Mai a few evenings earlier. I loved this dish.

The menu was only in Japanese and they had some other dishes I would not mind to try in the future, such as deep fried fish, fire grilled scallops, tuna donburi and such.

The check

Appetizer, two dishes and a soft drink came to 2,754 yen (around 25 USD). Mid-range prices, but the tuna cutlet alone was worth the visit.

I wound NOT recommend anyone to travel to Higashi-Nihombashi just to visit this izakaya, it was nothing special. But if you are in the area, this can be a great place for a late night snack or meal (not so many places are open till late in this area). It is next to a yakiniku restaurants I have also reviewed. Both the yakiniku restaurant and this izakaya belong to a group called Vitality that operates multiple restaurants and brands across Japan and overseas.

Where in Tokyo:
Japanese name: 魚党 東日本橋店
3 Chome-11-5 Higashinihonbashi, Chūō-ku, Tōkyō-to 103-0004, Japan
Address in Japanese: 〒103-0004 東京都中央区東日本橋３丁目１１−5
Tip: Tip: take the Asakusa line and if your coming from South (i.e. Ginza, Haneda) take the B4 exit of Higashi-Nihombashi station. If you are travelling from north (i.e. from Asakusa or Narita) take the B3 exit and cross the street.

Good, but expensive, gyukatsu in Ginza, Tokyo

The Japanese pork cutlet, called tonkatsu, is quite popular even outside Japan. Fewer people know about another marvelous battered and deep fried goodie from Japan: the beef cutlet, gyukatsu. The main feature of this type of cutlet is that the beef inside is kept rare, making it very juicy. It is one of my favorite Japanese dishes. In this post I will share one gyukatsu I had in Ginza, not the best ever, but a good introduction to this type of cutlet.

The visit

I found a self-styled Korean BBQ called World Diner offering a gyukatsu lunch set in Ginza. Above you can see the view from my seat.

I had a 100 gram gyukatsu (but it looked quite small…) and for 300 yen I also had access to a salad “buffet”. Actually the buffet was a joke, they just had a few items that are usually provided with a lunch set anyway such as rice, cabbage and salad. The only advantage was the unlimited drink.

From the picture above you can see that the heart of the beef is almost rare.

While the whole experience was nothing special, the beef was very juicy and overall the cutlet was good. The restaurant claims to deal with top wagyu.

The check

I was about to throw the receipt away… I did not think of writing a review, but I guess sometimes it is also useful to share so so experiences.

The lunch set came to 2,246 yen (around 20 USD). It was expensive, normally a gyukatsu set would cost around 1,500 yen. However, the quality of the meat was good and, after all, it was Ginza.

I do NOT recommend this place, however I do recommend trying a beef cutlet if you travel to Japan. For a review of a good gyukatsu see this post from Nagasaki.

Where in Tokyo:
7th floor of Kirarito mall in Ginza.
1-8-19 Ginza, Ginza, Chuo 104-0061, Tokyo Prefecture.
See their website for more details.

A Yakiniku with Yamagata beef in Higashi-Nihombashi, Tokyo

When in Tokyo, sometime I choose to stay around the Higashi-Nihnombashi station; it is a strategic point for transportation; from there, it is easy to get the Asakusa line to Narita or Haneda airport and it is just one stop away from Tokyo station. In fact, the area is served by three stations. I can be in Ginza in less than 10 minutes. I love this kind of convenience.

That’s why I came across a few interesting restaurants in the area. One of these is a yakiniku restaurant just outside the B4 exit of Higashi-Nihombashi station. I am not sure about the English name; at the end of the review I have provided what I found on Google Maps, while on the sign it reads “Shinihon Yakinikutou”.

The visit

I am reporting from my visit in September 2018 (the day of the big typhoon in Central Japan; another time I took refuge here during the big snow day of January 2018). The place fills with salaryman and group of friends pretty early.

I got as usual a seat at the counter and I was handed the English menu.

Being an yakiniku, most of the dishes are served raw ready to be grilled by the customer on a charcoal grill.

With my first order – a set of Yamagata beef – they brought the grill. It did not look precisely clean… but let’s say that it was well-lived.

Yamagata prefecture is home to one of the three most sought-after types of Japanese wagyu along with the well-known Kobe and Matsusaka. It is not clear to me if this was the Yonezawagyu, the top brand coming from Yamagata, or some other brand from the same region. Either way the marbling was evident and the beef tender and tasty.

I also ordered a set of home-made sausages. They also came raw to cook on my mini-grill. They were quite good.

Finally I had a fantastic wagyu hamburger. Probably the best dish of the evening.

The check

The three dishes plus a coke came to around 5,000 yen (45 USD). I had also to pay a 324 yen (before tax) cover charge. Yakiniky with quality beef is not cheap and this can be regarded as a mid-range place.

I really liked the hamburger and I could be back in the future.

Where in Tokyo:
New Japan Yakiniku Higashinihonbashi store
Name in Japanese: 新日本焼肉党 東日本橋店
3 Chome-11-6 Higashinihonbashi, Chūō-ku, Tōkyō-to 103-0004, Japan
Address in Japanese: 〒103-0004 東京都中央区東日本橋３丁目１１−6
There is a Facebook page.
Tip: take the Asakusa line and if your coming from South (i.e. Ginza, Haneda) take the B4 exit of Higashi-Nihombashi station. If you are travelling from north (i.e. from Asakusa or Narita) take the B3 exit and cross the street.

 

A classic at Tsukiji outer market: Sushi Zanmai

Eating sushi at Tsukiji market, a classic Tokyo adventure. Tsukiji has been the main Tokyo fish market for decades and now is finally slated to move to a new location. I was in Tokyo in September 2018, just days before they would host the last tuna auction open to tourists. I never made it to one of these auctions or in the inner market, just I cannot imagine myself awake at 4am in the morning.

But I did visit several restaurants in the so called outer market, a web of alleys full of sushi restaurants. One of the most famous is Sushi Zanmai. Here’s how a dinner in September 2018 went.

The visit

Sushi Zanmai is a popular sushi chain in Tokyo. The locations in Tsukiji are open 24 hour a day at the time of this post (who knows… things may change now that the market is closing). Statues and posters of the flamboyant owner makes the place easy to spot.

The second distinctive feature of Sushi Zanmai is the incredibly over the top noise made by the cooks to greet every new customer stepping in.

The best is to seat at the counter and order sushi directly from the cook, but they also have table seats.

The restaurant has a focus on tuna, but serves all kind of sushi.

I had one of their tuna sushi sets:

The set consisted of eight nigiri sushi (two with regular sushi, two with fatty tuna, two with medium fatty tuna, and two seared), plus three small rolls (maki) and two battleship rolls (gunkan maki) with minced tuna. I calculated that by ordering the set basically you get the three small rolls for free plus the miso soup.

The miso soup comes in an oversize bowl. It is one of their signature dishes so to speak.

The set was very good, all super fresh. The sushi cook added maybe too much wasabi to the rice for my taste, but it was easy to remove.

I also ordered some deep fried tuna (picture above) and two amberjack nigiri and two tomago nigiri (omelette) to close the dinner (picture below).

The check

Overall I spent 5,045 yen (45 USD). Not cheap, but reasonable for the amount and quality of seafood. Honestly, I find the tuna set offered by Itamae Sushi better value for money (it costs 1000 yen less and the only difference is one fewer piece of fatty tuna replaced by regular tuna and one fewer gunkan roll). Having said so, I looked around and 3000 yen (before 8% tax) seemed to be the standard price for this tuna set in the area.

In general, I am not particularly enthused by the eating options at Tsukiji, but Sushi Zan Mai does the job.

Where in Tokyo:
The location visited is in: 4 Chome-11-9 Tsukiji, Chūō, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
They have several locations in Tokyo: check their website or even better this review.
They have another location equipped with a conveyor belt just next door in an alley.