The Kani Feast of The Lifetime

I wanted to end my (first) Hokkaido trip on a high note and decided that an extravagant kani (aka. crab) meal would be just perfect! Digging through my sources, there are many many crab restaurants in Sapporo to choose from.

While the more mainstream crab restaurants often occupy entire buildings topped with giant mechanical crab waving desperately for tourists’ attention; I was drawn to (as always) little restaurants way off the beaten path.  I found this crab restaurant 活カニの花咲 on Tabelog with a superb score and decided to give it a try.  And boy, ain’t I glad I did.

My friend H, kindly made the reservation for me and kindly picked the most filling course (about 23,000 yen per head) without consulting me.  The chef warned him to ensure that all of us enter the restaurant real hungry; read: do not eat a full bowl of miso ramen at 4pm when your meal starts at 8pm.  Anyway…

This restaurant is hidden on the 5th floor of an inconspicuous, restaurant-packed building, a few blocks away from the main street.  I would suggest having the cab driver call the place for direction because I got lost the second (yes I went twice!) time and took me a good half hour to look for the place.

So, our meal began with a few (too many?) appetizers.  The first plate shown above, can really only be described as a seafood platter since I didn’t know what half the plate was.  There was oyster, shrimp, some sort of fish liver, and fish roe.  This was just OK. 

Next came a little mountain of uni, grilling on konbu and sake.  This was interesting because I rarely eat uni cooked.  We had trouble knowing when was the appropriate time to eat because the initial taste was really strange and frankly kinda bad.  We kept tasting it at interval but couldn’t get over how uni tastes so much better RAW!  Anyway, in the end, when the sake all evaporated, with only 1/4 of the uni left, we realized that we have been eating it waaaay too early.  The final bits of uni, after absorbing the sake, tastes a little smokey, salty and aromatic and really quite delicious.  Well, now I know…

While we were picking at the uni, the live abalone are twisting and turning on the charcoal grill.  It was actually something that I would rather NOT witness.  At this point, I was really questioning “where are the crabs at?”

Guess what, we got even more uni next.  And two types even, one of which is soaked in seawater! While they are both delicious, I think I ODed on uni at that point and couldn’t eat much more.  The shrimp is also delicious, a little bigger than what we had at Ise Sushi but not as sweet.  Still, no crab in sight and I was a little worried about the rapidly shrinking stomach capacity of my companions.  I felt kind of full, too.  Options are quickly flashing through my mind; doggy bag the crab in ice and hand it over to J as souvenir?

AH! Like the light at the end of tunnel, the crab descends upon us.  A large, live king crab is showcased to us on a silver platter.  At this time, the Taisho (chef) walked in with a beer in his hand to cheer with us.  This friendly chef was super excited about our visit as we are the first foreigners to visit his restaurant. Although all of us were a little full at that point, his presence and high spirit restored our excitement for the crab.

What followed is an amazing performance by the chef, butchering the crab at the speed of light yet with surgical precision.  Using a long 16″ knife (or I would call it a samurai sword), he took the legs off swiftly, and shaved off the shell like he was slicing tofu.  The shell came off so clean, that no meat is stuck to it.  He then tossed the perfectly meaty legs into ice water and neatly sliced the exposed meat into a form of fluffy sashimi.

Note that only one segment of the crab leg is exposed for sashimi? What happened next was too fast for me to document with my camera because the chef left me no time.  Essentially, we ate the crab in progression.  After tasting the sashimi, the chef quickly recollected the legs, and shaved off the next segment of shell.  He then tossed the legs into a pot of boiling water and fished it out almost immediately and fed it to us.  We are supposed to taste the crab legs boiled in increments of time.  As the legs are boiled for 10, 20, 30  seconds, their taste and texture changes completely!  After a few crablegs-go-around session, we are presented with a grilled segment.  The grilled one is actually my favorite because you can taste the aroma of the charcoal and the sweetness of crab meat really accentuated.  Finally, the body of the crab is steamed and cut neatly into pieces.  The crab and all of its parts are so appropriately prepared and utterly delicious.  We were all painfully full but did not regret for a second that we not only tasted, but experienced a very unique crab meal.

The meal ended with ikura (fish roe) rice, melon, and matcha (green tea).  None of us were able to really eat the ikura rice, what a shame.  I never liked ikura until I visited Hokkaido and realized how yummy they are.  On my second visit, I bought an army of 7 hungry people so I was able to leave room for the ikura rice which was delicious 🙂

Needless to say, this restaurant is indeed so good that I have already been twice in 2 months.  The taisho, or should I call him Tai Chan, has a great personality and really warms the crowd with his smile.  I couldn’t resist to post his absolutely adorable business card below, with his portrait drawn by the maker of the classic video game – Mario.  Doesn’t it look just like him!

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Feel the Fiery Wok – Fried Rice at 大寶

I was having dinner with a couple friends last night in Nakameguro and naturally (for me especially) the conversation shifted to food!  Uh-oh, as soon as we hit that topic I could not shut up and was firing questions at my new (foodie?) acquittance non-stop.

“What’s your list of favorites in Tokyo?”

“Where’s the best Ramen?”

“What’s a good place for Italian?”

“What’s your pick for bistro style French?”

In return, I shared my short list of favorites with them.  When I talked about this amazing fried rice I had quite some time ago, my friends’ eyes lit up.  Clearly, fried rice is their thing.

“What’s the name of this place? Where is it? Is it in your blog?”

Um.  No.  It was not despite the fact that I had it over a month ago (thumbs twirling). But it is NOW.

J & I have known about this place through Dancyu, a Japanese gourmet magazine. This year’s May issue was on a collection of the most delicious food in ALL OF JAPAN.  For the fried rice category, 大寶 is their pick.  This pretty much means, that 大寶 has the best fried rice in ALL of Japan! Of course we have to try it out!

With heated excitement and zero planning, we cabbed to the shop on a Sunday night expecting a plate of perfect fried rice for dinner.  Bad call with no planning.  In fact, you must check the business hours very carefully with this place as they are closed on Saturday and Sunday, open for merely 1.5 hours for lunch and 2 hours for dinner on weekdays.  Oh, and fried rice is only served at dinner time.

With that cleared up, let’s look at the fried rice we finally got to eat (we stubbornly went for dinner again the next day).  It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  Having lived in Hong Kong I have had many many fried rice in all sorts of styles before.  The fried rice here is simple, with bits of pork, dried shrimp, scallion and egg.  Sometimes, simple is the best.  You can really taste the wok at work with the rice, as each rice grain is defined and evenly coated with the flavors, it is also served piping hot.  While I have not had many fried rice here in Japan, this place is no-joke goooood!

We also had other dishes like this vegetable stirfry with pig liver and dumplings and they are both delicious.

As soon as H, J and I set down at 大寶 and loudly ordered 3 fried rice with zero hesitation, we realized that everyone around us were having soup noodles (タンメン)! hmm, are we missing out on some super good soup noodles? But we are already committed to our perfect fried rice!  There was only one way.  We vowed to come back for the soup noodles faster than our beer reached table.  Yes, we shall be back.

大寶
東京都港區南麻布2-7-23
03-3452-5625

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The Ramen Quest: Afuri Ramen (阿夫利ラーメン)

I have been eating a lot of ramen lately. It is economical, delicious, and open at almost all hours of the day. We eat ramen at 3 or 4pm when nothing else is really open.  We eat ramen at 3 or 4am when a bowl of yummy ramen is just the perfect ending to a long night.

After numerous bowls of ramen, I noticed a steady shift in my ramen preference.  As a visitor, I fell in love with the thick, intensely flavored tonkotsu soup from places like Ippudo and Tsukumo.  After awhile however, the intense flavors of the soup become tremendously heavy and overwhelming.  They are still delicious but I probably only want to eat it once in a long while and preferably on a cold winter day.  As the temperature rises here in Tokyo, all I want is something light and refreshing.  Is it impossible to have a ramen that is light and refreshing?  Not at Afuri.

My favorite ramen at Afuri is the shio yuzu ramen with the special chewy noodle. Apparently this shop uses special mountain water for its noodle and broth, which makes quite a difference in the flavors.  This ramen is light (salt based) and refreshing (citrus-y yuzu) and you don’t feel like you weigh a ton after consumption (perfect!).

Another thing that I am beginning to embrace, though I wish I can stop, is eating double carb at ramen shops.  In the beginning, I stared with horror when my friend slurps a whole bowl of noodle, a full bowl of rice and often a side of dumplings at the same time.  However, after sampling some yummy rice bowls at ramen shops, I have this new found respect for them and I secretly wish that J would order it so I can just take a bite or two. The one shown here is the Afuri don with slow-simmered pork and scallion. Yum!

Tsukemen is also one of my favorite choices at ramen shop. Noodles and soup are served separately and you dip the noodles into the soup before slurping. The noodles are often cheweier and the soup stronger, a good alternative if you do not feel like eating something hot.  The one shown above is the current special at Afuri which they only serve 30 bowls a day – Chicken and hotate (huge scallop) Tsukemen.  After finishing the ramen, you can ask for extra soup and they will pour clear broth into your soup bowl so it is less salty and drinkable. If you want to try this special, I highly recommend getting the extra soup at the end because this broth deserves the merit of being consumed alone.

People often ask me about my favorite ramen joint and well, at this moment, Afuri is my fav.

Afuri Ramen (阿夫利ラーメン)

東京都渋谷区恵比寿1-1-7 １１７ビル　１Ｆ

03-5795-0750

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Yakitori Sasaya – 焼き鳥笹や

One of my favorite restaurant back in New York City is called Yakitori Totto.  In fact my friends and I went there so often that we became regulars and note all the chefs by nickname. It is also a cool, take-a-visitor kinda place because the vibe and space is just right (although the wait may be long!) and the food (especially the chicken meat ball) is really good for New York standard. Since yakitori Totto, I became an yakitori addict. In fact I will even say that my favorite type of Japanese food of all IS yakitori.  Unlike yakiniku (which of course is delicious here due to all the perfectly patterned fatty meats), you do not feel like you just chucked half a gallon of oil after eating the yakitori.  Yakitori is a relaxing, drink a few beers, nibble on one or two (or in my case too many) skewers and enjoy the time with your companions kind of cuisine.

I just realized that despite my love for yakitori, I have not blogged about a single one! This time, coming to yakitori Sasaya, I came prepared with a camera strapped to my wrist; Must-take-photo-before-eating!

This is not my first visit to Sasaya. It was introduced to us by, of course, our regular dining companion, H. After having been to several yakitori places around the Meguro, Ebisu area, I can say that this is by far my favorite yakitori spot. It seems that the crowd is catching on as well, since we sat down at 6pm on a Monday night, the place became completely full within minutes! I would suggest making a reservation prior to going.

What I love about this yakitori shop is the seasoning. The chef has it perfected, where the balance between the salt and pepper is just right. I suspect that they use a very special pepper as well, which really gives the skewers a distinct flavor. My favorite skewers here are: liver, chicken soft bone, shitake and the cheese! In the a la carte menu, the egg plant and the esophagus are both absolutely delicious. While I have always eaten yakitori with beer, this place taught me that pairing it with a white wine (Chablis) is actually a match made in heaven.  I would recommend this place to all yakitori lovers!
焼き鳥笹や

http://www.toriyaki-sasaya.com/

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Restaurant Quintessence

I apologize, my fellow readers, that my post on this 3 Michelin stars restaurant lacks any visual aids.  You know I would have jumped at every picture taking opportunity at this kind of place! Sadly, this restaurant bans all trigger happy unprofessional photographers like me. No-cameras-allowed.

Restaurant Quintessence is a place that I only discovered recently. Normally I would not be snooping around for fancy French restaurants because I prefer causal bistro French food and money in my wallet. However, J’s mom is in town and she is a faithful disciple to the Michelin guide.  Originally I just thought oh, it’s just another fancy French place,  however, this restaurant, after dozens of FAILED attempts at making a reservation, really (REALLY) sparked my interest.

I am used to getting busy signals when making reservations at restaurants. Back in New York City, there are plenty of restaurants where you must call 1-2 months in advance, and at the exact time when the phone operator start taking calls, to secure a reservation.  It felt almost like a lottery really, where the only prize is to make that reservation so you can pay your hard-earned cash for culinary satisfaction (and the trophy of having been to the IT restaurant in the city).

In Tokyo, however, I have never encountered a restaurant where I must book 1 month in advance. That is why when I called Quintessence and got the busy signal for an entire hour, I felt a most desperate urge to secure this reservation, the challenge is on!

OK, enough with the BS, ultimately by pure luck (and absolute diligence) I secured a reservation for 3 people on a Thursday night because someone (4 other  parties)  canceled.

This restaurant serves a prix fix menu, with 13 dishes (including dessert) for roughly 17000 yen per person. I am simply going to list the dishes we had the night we visited and remembered. In fact, at the beginning of our meal, we were presented with a menu which happened to be blank.  Yes, they gave us a menu, perfectly bounded in hard leather cover, only to explain that they don’t really have a menu because they choose the freshest ingredients and that it changes daily.  Now, I usually just laugh at gimmicks like that but I will let this one slip because they have an accurate translation in perfect English! (+10 points in my mind).

Amuse Bouche: Mushroom Pastry with shiitake mushroom pate and porcini dust

Appetizer: Chilled cappuccino of gazpacho, made with special tomato juice and diced cucumber

Appetizer: Goat milk pudding with organic olive oil, sea salt and macadamian nut & lily shavings (divine!)

Appetizer: Savory version of a French Fruit Tarte – Pastry, Fresh Creme and Braised Scallops in a progression from sweet to savory

Appetizer: White asparagus wrapped in fresh pasta sheet and hotaru squid

Appetizer: Grilled bamboo with seaweed butter and fleur de sel

Main: Grilled fish with lemon thyme sauce, and mushroom sauce (sorry for being so vague but I can’t remember the detail)

Main: Pan Seared, Oven Baked, Roasted Quail (best quail I have ever had)

Cheese: Melted Parasen with Toast and Fig

Dessert: Sponge cake with almond filling

Dessert: Chocolate hazelnut marshmallow

Dessert: Meringue ice-cream with sea water

With wine pairing the total for 3 was about 110,000 yen, half of what we paid for Joel Robuchon.  Frankly I prefer this place much more than Joel’s restaurant. It is a lot smaller, and less formal.  The food here was prepared minimally yet with superb care. Every dish was extremely refined in taste and presentation.  Though I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who fancy up-scale French cuisine, you should not go to this restaurant if you do not have the patience to sit at a 4 hours meal.  The waiters explained every dish meticulously. Every course was accompanied by a 5 minute explanation of the chef’s hopes and intentions.

At the very end of the meal, as we were leaving the restaurant, we asked the front desk if we could make our next reservation for May 16 (a month ahead). The answer was, no, they are already fully booked for the month of May. There are good and bad reasons for restaurants to be THAT popular in New York City.  They are either places that serve good food or places that serve a good vibe.  In the case of Quitessence, I believe they deliver both and they well deserved my non-stop calls for reservation. I am sure that both J & I will return to this restaurants again and again (if we get lucky at reservation again).

 

Restaurant Quintessence

http://www.quintessence.jp/

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AW Kitchen

I have been to AW Kitchen many times, and every time I go, there is always something new and absolutely delicious to be discovered. Not in picture above is their famous fresh vegetable and bagna cauda dipping sauce which-is- HEAVEN. The dish may give the visual illusion of being a very healthy appetizer, but the dip explodes with flavors that is oh so irresistable.

The highlight of this restaurant is its pasta. All the pasta I tried at AW are very yummy and they often incorporate seasonal Japanese ingredients into the pasta that makes it extra special.

The Aoyama location is more chic, while the Higashiyama location seems more private and is located on a quiet pedestrian street.

http://www.awkitchen.com/

 

Update: The Shirokane location is now our favorite because the chef that used to work at Aoyama moved to Shirokane and we can tell you, this chef, is very good.

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