Tofu Lover Heaven: Sorano

Do you love tofu? Its soft, silky texture, its versatility as it changes forms and absorbs different flavors? If so, Japan is for you. For tofu lovers, there are restaurants dedicated to the stuff. This is not the rough and ready way tofu is prepared for salads in the West. Along an unassuming street along the train tracks at Shibuya, white noran curtains reveal Sorano. A tofu restaurant dedicated to illustrating how incredible tofu can be. We got the most basic tasting menu which was priced at a very reasonable JPY3,500.

Our amuse-bouche was an entry into how tofu can take on other flavors. This was "tomato" tofu - cold square of silky tofu infused with the tangy flavor of tomato juice. Note the strategic insertion of a green maple leaf - tofu masquerading as a tomato!

This was followed by a little hammo (dagger tooth pike eel) on a bed of crunchy summer cucumber and a piquant sauce.

Excitedly, a cooking vessel was brought out next to our table. A tray of fresh tofu was being cooked in front of us! It would take 15 minutes, we were told.

While the fresh tofu was cooking, we were brought more dishes to sample. This was a tofu puff cake smeared with some savory sauce with some shavings of japanese negi (similar to scallion but not as strong).

We also enjoyed some deep-fried prawn meat wrapped in yuba and deep-fried. Yuba is the thin tofu sheet which we often use to make Chinese sweet soup "tong shiu".

By now, the tofu cooking at our table was ready. Opening the lid was a tofu lover's dream. The tofu was silky, hot and fresh. Some soy sauce as well as sea salt and lime was also offered. We ate the tofu on its own - so good!

Taking a break from the tofu, we were given a manageable piece of grilled white fish with daikon. The fish was marinated in soy sauce and mirin so was a little sweet.

The rice dish was in a light broth with soft yuba (tofu sheet) and pickles.

Finally, we finished with dessert! This was a tofu(?) cake rolled in some finely-chopped nuts. It was sweet and a little chewy - almost like a soft nougat. I'm not sure how successful this dish was but it was certainly a fitting end to the meal.

A great choice for tofu lovers. The two stand-out dishes was the tomato-infused tofu and the fresh tofu that was cooked at our table. More details including its location with a map can be found at: http://www.timeout.com/tokyo/restaurants/sorano

Tamasaka: Modern Kaiseki

Tamasaka is a modern, airy restaurant located in the Marunouchi business district. The highlight here is the counter seating where you can view the kitchen staff painstakingly preparing and garnishing the dishes. Not much English is spoken and there is no English menu. However, if you can pretty much eat anything and are up for a taste adventure, you should be fine.

 We started with a summery appetizer consisting of cold winter melon and eel.

 Next course was a light consommé of fish tofu with vegetables - perfect to build up the appetite.

  This was followed by a small selection of sashimi - squid, tuna, yellowtail and prawn in a beautiful plate.

Next came a plate of various seasonal delicacies - sweet potato, tofu, grilled white fish and a whelk perched on a round of daikon. The green maple leaves were a nice touch  - highlighting that these were the bounty from the sea and land in early summer.

We then received another broth dish  with freshly-made soba and clams.

The next dish was a few slices of quality beef with salad. This was delicious.

Nearing the end, this was a fun dish and tasted great. They gave us raw scallop and a hot plate so that we could cook our own scallop.

By this time, I was quite full but we still had the requisite rice, miso soup and pickles. The rice was very delicately flavored with fish and peppers - a good counter-balance to the richer dishes that came before. 

Every dish was delicious - there was nothing that missed its mark. All in all, a reliable choice for an elegant kaiseki meal. Website is www.tamasaka.com and the place is easy to find in the Maronouchi Brick Square complex. 

Wadakura: Lunch Bento Present

I had stayed at the Palace Hotel prior to its renovation and although it was a little faded in its grandeur, its location overlooking the Imperial Palace complex cannot be beat.

Room with a View - Imperial Palace complex and moat with Shinjuku in the background

After its renovation in 2012 though, the new Palace Hotel was modern and luxurious, with custom artwork conveying various aspects of nature.

Little thoughtful touches were everywhere in the room - from the cast iron teapot to the monogrammed cotton nightshirt. I especially liked the mysterious pink welcome box when I first entered the room.

 The box is a little off-kilter as I moved it but rest assured the box and piece of paper was placed perfectly symmetrical on the wooden tray. This is what I love about Japan! The minimalistic beauty in small things.  The contrast between the round tray and a square box with a rectangular piece of paper. The contrast in 3 colors. The box was lifted to reveal some savory peanuts coated in a crunchy soy coating. Note how the sides of the bottom box opened up like a flower.

The breakfast was ridiculously expensive and did not seem worth it for coffee and pastries - JPY4,000 for a continental breakfast! However, lunch was another matter and I had the good fortune of having a kaiseki set lunch at Wadakura, the Palace Hotel's Japanese restaurant. Like the hotel, the surroundings were modern. The lunch was an absolute delight.

We started with a delicate stewed egg dish - chawanmushi with a little unagi (eel) and jizu-na (a gel-like seaweed) on top. It's been a long time since I enjoyed jizu-na and I must admit I love the gelatinous texture.

Next was a stack of bento boxes for each individual. Everyone loves getting presents. Half of the fun of opening boxes is the anticipation and excitement as you pull the ribbon and lift the lid.

Once the ribbon is pulled and you lay out your lunch boxes, it looks like this:

I'm not sure if there was an order but I started with the cold dish on the right which was silky tofu and asparagus. I then moved on to the fried karaage as it was piping hot. The top left dish was an assortment of fish and vegetables - all prepared slightly differently at room temperature. We were also given a side dish of sashimi:

The flowers are shiso flowers so I copied my colleagues who used their chopsticks to remove the flower buds off the stem to enjoy with the tuna sashimi. To finish, dessert was a creamy blancmange with a cup of matcha green tea.

This was an incredible lunch - the food presentation was impeccable but more importantly, everything tasted wonderful. Wadakura is located at The Palace Hotel in Marunouchi - http://www.palacehotel.co.jp/english/

Sakontaro: Slice of Kyoto in Tokyo

Paul and I lived in Japan from 2002-2004. We haven't been back since and I've been expectantly waiting for the opportunity. 12 years later, the chance finally emerged and I gladly made plans to meet up with old friends/colleagues, to eat the food I never stopped enjoying. Although I like many different types of Japanese food, ramen and sushi are more readily available outside of Japan. It made sense to focus on cuisine that is harder to come by such as kaiseki or tofu cuisine.

 Kaiseki is a traditional Japanese multi-course dinner that aims to highlight the food of the season. The way the ingredients are put together, the choice of dish ware and the cooking styles are all meant to express the season at that very moment. Dishes are usually elaborate and are painstakingly put together.

Mayumi had booked a table at Sakontaro -  which specialized in Kyoto cuisine with some Western fusion. As we walked through the noren curtains, we were greeted by staff on their knees with a deep bow. We took off our shoes and stepped onto the tatami mat. We were shown to a long bar table which overlooked a rock garden.

First order of business - ordering sake. Once Mayumi saw Dassai 39 on the sake menu, it was obvious what we should order. Dassai 39 is extremely popular in Japan right now and is not always to be found. It is a highly-polished sake which means it was incredibly smooth, round, very low acidity and fruity. The 39 in its name means that the rice was polished down to 39% of its original size. Sadly, I couldn't find this sake at the airport duty-free at all.

Bottle of Dassai 39 - we only had the small carafe

Mayumi had already ordered the set kaiseki dinner menu in advance. We started with some small bites - a cold silky tofu shaped like a flower and a couple of slices of pork.

The next dish was unexpectedly one of my favorites - 3 slices of duck prepared Western style. The greens was mizu-na - a peppery, piquant lettuce that is not as strong as arugula.

Next came a very refined chicken karaage - the food was not especially memorable but the dishware was beautiful!

Oddly, the next course was a cold but creamy potato soup with a few fried onion shavings. The dish was perfectly fine and it was only a few spoonfuls. It just felt a little out of kilter. The dish ware was incredible though - it looked like a sakura (cherry blossom) petal.

By now, I was getting a little full. Again, this dish was beautifully-presented but perhaps looked better than it tasted. I liked the individual ingredients - the aubergine, pepper and young ginger stalk. However, the meat inside the hollowed-out aubergine seemed too rich for the dish.

The next dish was the clear Japanese consommé - for me, always a highlight of kaiseki set dinners. First, a photo of the lacquer bowl itself.

For me, this is one of the more successful dishes since I like winter melon soup. The fish is hamo or dagger tooth pike conger which is a small bony fish. It often features in Kyoto menus in June since this is its season. The white fish was pepped up considerably by the addition of ume (sour plum).

Similar to Chinese banquets, the carbs come at the end. Our sweetcorn rice had been cooking in its pot for the last few courses and was finally ready. Unfortunately, I got the burnt bits at the bottom of the pot which I don't care for. The red miso soup was amazing! It is really hard to get good miso soup outside of Japan! It must be the quality of the miso and the dashi. Mayumi said helpfully(?) that she makes her own miso via fermentation and this is the only way to get good-quality miso.

Dessert time! By this time, I was really full but of course, there is a separate stomach for a few mouthfuls of dessert. The cake was moist but the standout here was the tofu ice cream. Less sweet and cloying than vanilla, it was a good ending.

All in all, there were some pleasant dishes but some misses too. The stand-out was the Dassai 39 sake and I thank Mayumi again and again for introducing me to an amazing sake. Bonus picture - the toilets were exquisite - a little Japanese garden where you had to wear wooden clogs on a pebblestone  floor. There was a goldfish in the bowl at the corner of the toilet.

Sakontaro is on a side street in Ginza, near the Shiseido building. Website is www.sakontaro.co.jp/ginza

Rokurinsha

I queued for 35 minutes to get this bowl of noodles! Down in the rabbit warren that is Tokyo Station, Ramen Street hosts a number of well-known ramen joints. The one with the longest line is Rokurinsha, known for its thicker al-dente noodle and dipping broth.

Looking down Ramen Street

Determined to taste what all the fuss was about, I settled down to wait in line. Obviously, Rokurinsha is a destination for foodies worldwide as this helpful notice in Japanese, English and Korean can attest to.

Luckily, 35 minutes passed by relatively quickly as I soaked in the sights and sounds of the Tokyo Station underbelly. Once I got to the front of the line, I was escorted to the vending machine where I chose my ramen - the popular "special" that seemed to have a bit of everything. A seat at the bar came soon after that. I just had time to ask for a bib (to catch the oily splashes) and voila, my ramen was set in front of me.

I was given two bowls - the noodles were room temperature but the broth was hot. The broth was incredibly complex - porky but also seafood undertones as well. It was a little too complex for my liking and also quite salty. There is no doubt though that a lot of ingredients went into making the broth. It was confusingly complex though and it made me realize that I prefer a simpler, focused broth that brings out the flavor of one thing - whether that be pork, chicken or seafood. The noodles was exactly how I liked them though - and reminded me of sanuki udon. All in all, it was a serviceable lunch and Rokurinsha is definitely a favorite for many. It was not my preferred ramen house though.

Once your belly is full, consider walking through Ramen Street to explore Character Street - lots of exciting shops here! Ramen Street is found in the basement of Tokyo Station, near the Yaesu entrance.

Bar/S: Drinking Your Shampoo?!

I didn't have time to explore the retail delights of the Shiseido flagship building in Ginza - which features a salon de cafe as well as a parlour. However, I did get to enjoy a cocktail at their top-floor Bar/S - replete with the refined air and feel of an exclusive private bar.There were a few patrons but not too many, speaking in hushed tones. The jazz soundtrack and the service was suitably unobtrusive. The enormous red maple chandelier casted beautiful grey "leafy tree" shadows across the room as if we were in a forest glen.

Tsubaki is Shiseido's well-known shampoo brand and happens to be the shampoo I'm using at the moment. Due to some anniversary, there was a limited-edition cocktail menu in homage of Tsubaki. We both ordered drinks from this menu and it was the Red Tsubaki which really shone. The flute was extremely delicate, the gold leaf a totally useless but decadent touch.

The cover charge is JPY20,000 and so total bill came to JPY50,000 for two cocktails with bar snacks. Bar/S is located on the top floor of the Shiseido HQ in Ginza. Check out the professional photos which show off the decor better at  http://www.timeout.com/tokyo/bars-and-pubs/bar-s