Tag: o-toro

A 60 USD tuna steak at Obihiro Hagaten, Hong Kong

From continental China I usually reach Hong Kong by lunch time… kind of a tradition. Looking for a place where to eat upon my arrival I ended up at Obihiro Hagaten in Elements Mall that is connected to the Kowloon stop of the Airport Express. It was the summer of 2018.

The visit

Obihiro Hagaten is yet another Japanese restaurant, supposedly hailing from Hokkaido. Their specialty should be robatayaki, but actually they have a little bit of everything Japanese.

At lunch time, I found it relatively packed. I sat at the counter and I examined the extensive menu. In the end I went for one of their lunch sets plus a special dish: a o-toro tuna steak cooked in two ways.

First I was served a couple of negligible appetizers (okra natto?).

The lunch set was not bad (but also not cheap). It had some tempura, sashimi (tuna, a scallop, a small prawn), and some excellent Japanese pork. The set also included the mandatory bowls of rice, miso soup, chawanmushi (egg custard) and some pickles. Apart from the pork, it was all very ordinary.

The fatty tuna platter included twelve slices of the prized o-toro. Half was left raw and half lightly cooked. It was a substantial dish to the point to be difficult to finish (the fatty tuna was really fatty and quickly instilled a sense of satiety).

The check

Total check was 734.8 HKD (or 93.5 USD). The steak was the big ticket item costing alone almost 60 USD. The set lunch was also quite pricey.
Too much for essentially another cookie cutter Japanese restaurant.

While not a disappointment, I find difficult to find value for money in a restaurant like this. Having said so, they had an extensive menu and it would be relatively easy to splurge even more.

Where in Hong Kong:
Shop 2103-04, 2/F, Elements, 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui.

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.

 

 

 

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.

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.

Exploring the Donburi Alley in Hakodate

Donburi is a simple Japanese dish consisting in a bowl of rice and something on top. That “something” can be beef, pork, even a cutlet and, of course, seafood. Donburi restaurants specializing in seafood are usually found inside fish markets around Japan. This post is about what you can find in the Donburi Alley (Yokocho) in the Hakodate Morning Market.

The Hakodate Morning Market is located next to the Hakodate railway station and is a very popular touristic spot. All around there are seafood restaurants, but one entire alley inside the market is dedicated to donburi.

The doburi sets available are displayed on the shop windows through plastic models. It is a cornucopia of seafood.

The visit

When I visited the market I realized that the offering across the restaurants was quite similar. I settled for the diner on the right of the entrance because they had a massive tuna bowl.

Above how the bowl appeared on the menu and below what I got.

The rice bowl came with 10 slides of tuna sashimi and four additional slices of the sought-after o-toro, the fatty part of the tuna. And finally, on top some minced tuna (negitoro) with what I believe was a quail egg yolk.

The donburi came with miso soup and some pickles.

It was delicious.

I also had four boiled Hokkaido oysters. These were excellent, are very meaty, not usually found outside Japan. For 250 yen each, they were a bargain.

The check

The doburi set was 3,000 yen plus taxes. You can spend more maybe if you add sea urchin (uni). Including the oysters and the 8% tax I spent 4,320 yen (39 USD), not cheap, but this was one of the most expensive donburi sets available in the alley, because of the o-toro. Yet, in Hong Kong or elsewhere I could have easily spent twice as much for that quantity of tuna sashimi including the prized o-toro. On the other hand, the oysters were a bargain and I would certainly recommend anyone to stoke up on oysters when in Hakodate.

Where in Hakodate:
Michishige – Donburi Alley
No. 9-15 Wakamatsu
Address in Japanese: 北海道函館市若松町９番15号

See this brochure in English from the official Donburi Yokocho website.

See also the map below.

My favorite sushi restaurant chain in Tokyo: Itamae Sushi

On a very famous review website that I shall not name there are over 97,000 restaurants listed in Tokyo. 97,000! Not a typo. Eating options are certainly not lacking in Tokyo, but finding a good place may be sometimes a challenge. Tokyo is the only city in Japan where, times to times, when I had not done enough research, I ended up with a less than satisfactory meal. For this reason let me share one everyday sushi eatery that has never let me down: Itamae Sushi. It is a chain, but they do not compromise on quality. It is well-known in Tokyo as, among other things, in the early 2000s they would systematically win the first tuna auction of the year at Tsukiji fish market (that is kind of a big deal as it is thought to bring good luck to the restaurant and it is widely reported by the media); in 2011 they were in the news again as they offered a sushi meal to over 1300 volunteers that were working in the aftermath of the devastating Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

For me they have two big pluses. First, they buy tuna and seafood directly from the auctions in Tokyo Fish Market and that’s great (sure, you can have comparably fresh seafood from a distributor, but I like when the supply chain is shortened). The other big plus for me is that they have a special focus on tuna (maguro), my favorite fish!

The visit

I usually go to Itamae Sushi in their Ginza Corridor branch. This post in based on a visit at the end of June 2018. Ginza Corridor is a foodie destination, in the South-West area of Ginza, hosting countless izakayas and Japanese and Westerner restaurants, pubs and cafes. Once I had a fugu dinner there! The restaurant is small, with counter seats and some additional table seats. It is ideal for a quick lunch.

The photo above showing their tuna mix sushi is the main reason why I go. For less than 20 USD I can get this amazing tuna platter, including regular tuna, two pieces of medium-fatty tuna (chu-toro) and one piece of the prized o-toro (fatty tuna). By the way, I am not that big on o-toro: yes, it melts in your mouth, but it is quite heavy to the point to be difficult to digest… the best for me is chu-toro.

The set also includes three rolls and an additional piece of negitori sushi, that is minced tuna in this case with scallions.

Coming with a complimentary miso soup (for lunch only), this is a very satisfactory lunch set and a great way to sample tuna. By the way, for dinner they keep the same menu, just not the free miso soup and a few other lunch set options.

The check

This great lunch cost me only 1,980 yen, that is around 18 USD. Tax included and no additional service charge. Great value for money and one of my go-to places for a quick but fresh and satisfactory lunch when in Tokyo.

PS: Of course they have much more on the menu. You can find all the typical sushi types and order single pieces or sushi combinations.

Where in Tokyo:
8-2-13 Ginza, J bldg 1F, Ginza, Chuo 104-0061
See their website for further addresses in Tokyo.
Pro-tip: time to time in some branches they have tuna cutting events where you can observe a chef skillfully cutting an entire tuna.