Latest posts from our Tokyo expert:
Gonpachi, a taste of Edo
Rumoured to be the filming location for the famous fight scene involving Uma Thurman and the Japanese actress Chiaki Kuriyama in the Quentin Tarantino movie Kill Bill (it wasn't but the two places look almost identical), Gonpachi is a Japanese restaurant serving up equal parts atmosphere and delicious izakaya-inspired dishes. From the outside, this restaurant in Tokyo's Roppongi district, close to the Roppongi Hills business/shopping complex, is hard to miss. It is designed to look like a kura (a traditional Japanese storehouse) with its imposing stone base, yellow plastered walls and attractive lighting. Inside continues with the Edo-era Japan theme. There is a huge open area containing both the kitchen and dining space with a fantastic counter space facing the kitchen. The second floor has a balcony wrapping all the way around overlooking the kitchen and off to the sides on the first and second floors are quiet wooden booth areas covered by sloping tile roofs. Most of the restaurant was built using dark wood and stone accented by soft lighting from paper lanterns. The taiko drumming you hear and the costumed waiters who offer a hearty irrashaimase to everyone that walks in the door all add to the experience. If the whole thing sounds a tad artificial, well it is, but considering the extent to which the owners have gone, it is kind of easy to overlook and simply enjoy the atmosphere. Plus, the food is delicious.
The menu includes classics like negima (chicken and green onion yakitori), soft zaru tofu, really excellent soba noodles and nicely prepared tempura. There are also some more unusual items like grilled duck served with wasabi and gindara (cod glazed with a miso-based sauce). The drink menu is extensive and there are pretty of offerings from Japanese breweries and distilleries.
The third floor, which has private rooms, is more expensive the each dining room also look out over a small garden and, when the weather is nice, the roof is uncovered allowing for a pleasant open-air dining experience. Actually, a few years ago, this is where ex-Prime Minister Koizumi brought George Bush for a private dinner meeting.
Gonpachi has built a solid reputation and so most nights are crowded with reservations recommended. The restaurant also has a reasonably priced lunch menu (under 3,000 yen for 2), which is also popular. Lunchtimes lines tend to move fairly quickly so it should never be too hard to get a table soon after arriving.
Thank God for Hallelujah
While the simplicity and subtleness of Japanese food is often appealing, there are times when you just want something bolder, brasher; something that takes your senses for a bit of a spin. Some of the best food for offering a full-on taste experience is undoubtly Korean food. The oftentimes bold, but delicious tastes and smells makes it a favorite for many, and, in winter particularly, it is just the thing to chase away the chills.
One of the largest Korean neighborhoods in Tokyo is in Okubo, which sits right next to Kabukicho in Shinjuku, the slightly sleazy but popular bar and nightclub district. Up until a couple years ago Okubo also had a reputation as a dodgy, somewhat seedy area, however, with a Korean boom that has seen the popularity of Korean music, movies, dramas and travel increase dramatically in Japan, there has been a subsequent transformation in Okubo.
Of all the Korean restaurants in Okubo, it is hard to find a more genuine place than Hallelujah, located on a small side street just off of Shokuan dori, near the big Don Quijote store. Hallelujah has long been a legend in the area, and it's easy to see why. On entering, you're hit with the smells that best represent Korean cooking: red pepper, garlic, sesame, and of course, the smell of beef barbeque. Most of the tables are low to the ground with the center cut out to hold the grill, where guests cook the meat dishes themselves. The kalbi and bulgogi are always good as is the beef tongue, very thinly sliced with lemon and garlic. Other delicious dishes include the chijimi, and the soups, especially the samgaetang, and kimchi chigae, plus dolsot bibimbap, rice and vegetables cooked in a hot stone bowl. Hallelujah also has a fish and noodle dishes as well as a good selection of spicy Korean pickled vegetables. Korean food is very well suited to the Hite beer that the restaurant offers or soju (rice liquor).
Although Hallelujah fills up most nights, a reservation is not usually necessary. And, a wait provides the opportunity to look around the neighborhood, which is definitely a bit more edgy and less placid than other areas of the city.
For those unable to go to Okubo, Hallelujah has opened another restaurant near Gaienmae station in Aoyama and it too has the same great homestyle dishes and atmosphere as the original.
Above it all
There is something compelling about watching the sun set on a city as you’re perched high above, high enough to enjoy a panoramic view of streets, neighborhoods and buildings as they stretch out to the horizon. Once the transformation from daylight to darkness is complete and the city below has puts on a new skin you get a much different perspective.
There are a number of bars and restaurants in Tokyo that offer a bird’s eye view of the metropolis, however, it is difficult to find a better place than so/ra/si/o, 46 floors up at the top of the Caretta building in Shiodome, near Shimbashi and Ginza. Looking out over the city, with its bright lights and neon, toward the Rainbow Bridge and Odaiba, including the colorful Ferris wheel, there is a certain undeniable wow factor. This is accented by so/ra/si/o itself an attractively laid out restaurant, classy in an understated kind of way, with high ceilings and a raised bar area, which is a popular spot from 5 to 7 when the happy hour special means that you can get drinks—and there is a wide selection—for half price. Sipping on some champagne or a cocktail while admiring the view is a seductive combination, consequently you won’t often find that you have the place to yourself. But even with a crowd, the ambience is usually quite relaxed with many people winding down instead of up.
After drinks, the dinner menu is an attractive, albeit expensive choice with dishes like lightly grilled abalone, and Wagyu steak from Yamagata prefecture. Shiodome is also very close to Tsukiji Fish Market, with a large number of good seafood restaurants in the area.
The best time to go is when the bar opens (5 pm on weekdays; 4 pm on weekends), as it gives you a better opportunity to get a good seat. The restaurant is also open for lunch from 11 am.
Whether you stay for a full dinner or to enjoy a few drinks, a visit to
so/ra/si/o offers a superb way to catch a glimpse of the city.
so/ra/si/o
Dentsu Headquarters, Caretta Building, 46f
1-8-1 Minato ku, Higashi Shinbashi
Tokyo
http://www.sorasio.jp
Tel. 3-6215-8055
Award-winning sushi
A small restaurant with a giant reputation for serving some of the highest quality sushi, Umi sushi is a high-end establishment with a very well-respected third-generation chef whose fresh, constantly changing menu selections are not available at other places.
The restaurant itself, like many sushi places at this level, is a model in minimalist thinking and simplicity. There are a couple tables and seats that go the length of a plain wooden counter made of Japanese cedar, the interior is bright and open and the customers are essentially devotees who savor every bite and wait in a state of subdued excitement for the next offering.
Dinner, and that is the only time they are open, is priced at what you’d expect for a place like this at about 20,000 yen or more per person. The omakase—chef’s choice menu—is the best opportunity to judge ability of the itamae san (chef). The omakase experience is well worth it and when you watch the chef working diligently, deeply serious about his vocation, it is hard not to respect his dedication. No detail is too small. The rice is carefully chosen and produced by just one or two farms, the wasabi is grated right in front of you and served fresh, and the presentation of each item a short study in the meticulousness that has made Umi famous.
Eating at Umi is a rare opportunity to experience sushi at a level matched only by very, very few places. Reservations are always necessary and must be booked well in advance.
Umi
3-2-8 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
3401-3368
Eating out in Tennoz Isle
This Tokyo restaurant/micro brewery is more like something you would expect to find in a North American city like Vancouver or San Francisco. Converted from an old warehouse, it is located in the recently redeveloped Tennoz Isle district, right alongside a canal that connects to Tokyo Bay.
The restaurant is quite stylish with high vaulted ceilings and a surprisingly large patio rea that attracts the crowds on weekends, especially in spring and autumn. There is a fairly large bar area where various beer offerings, like Tennoz Ale, are on tap, and an attractive lounge in a converted barge on water.
For people staying either in Shinagawa at the Le Meridean, for example, or at the Dai Ichi Hotel in Tennoz Isle, the restaurant is one of the better eating places in the area. The only consideration being that you pay for the location, and style as well as the quality food. A night out at TY Harbor can easily run about 10,000 yen per person. The menu is categorized as "Californian cuisine" with a focus on fresh, seasonal foods and vegetables. The service is good with English-speaking waiters and an English menu and the staff are quite friendly.
Often people will meet and relax in the bar area before heading out on to the comfortable patio or into the wide-open dining area. Waterline, the lounge, is a well-known romantic spot full of couples chatting quietly, watching the brightly lit tour boats as they go out to the bay.
For dinner or lunch, TY Harbor is a solid choice in a good location.
Dai Ichi Hotel Tokyo
1-2-6 Shimbashi, Tokyo, JP, 105-8621
81-3-350-14411
One of Tokyo clubland's best
The city has a thriving music scene, surprisingly diverse with some genres of music enjoying very high levels of popularity, think of the huge numbers of Ska and Rockabilly fans here. Of course J-Pop is probably the most popular, however, Tokyo is also considered a major center for electronic music. With many clubs, DJs and record labels, there is no shortage of places to find and enjoy good music. Liquid Room in Ebisu, and Womb in Shibuya are just two clubs that draw crowds on the weekend. One club that has been bringing some of the best artists from Europe, the U.S., and South America is known simply as Yellow. Located in on a non-descript street in Nishi Azabu, marked with a simple yellow neon sign, not far from Roppongi Hills this medium-sized club is extremely well-regarded as a House music venue. A night at Yellow is often a fun-filled, music-fueled highlight of the weekend that can last well into the early morning. People are here for the music and to have a really good time. The focus is pure enjoyment and there is a dearth of loud, obnoxious loutish behaviour that can mar a night out. With fans out to simply relax and dance to their favorite DJs, parties here often generate a friendly, open atmosphere conducive to meeting people and making new friends. It’s easy to let your guard down, to chat, to smile and to stay out on the dancefloor for hours.
The venue is on the lower level with a winding, circular staircase and a different rooms off the main dance floor. The sound system is fairly new and more than adequate to showcase DJs, like Friday night in-house DJ Ko Kimura. The entry fee depends on the artist, usually somewhere around 4,500 yen. Space is quite limited so bringing anything more than absolutely necessary is not a good idea. Thinking of a night out? Then make your way to one of clubland’s best party spots at Yellow in Nishi Azabu.
Yellow
Cesaurus Nishiazabu B1-B2F 1-10-11, Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo
03-3479-0690
Web Site
An izakaya overlooking Tokyo
Specializing in fresh food and ingredients from Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island known for its seafood and farms, this izakaya chain goes by the exact same name and is famous for its crab dishes, shellfish and noodles. With about 20 locations around Tokyo, restaurants can be found near most major railway stations, although perhaps one of the best is on the 39F of Ebisu Garden Place, right next to the Westin Hotel and Ebisu station. The restaurant is an ideal spot for looking out over the city at night, with a number of window tables offering magnificent views. The lights of Tokyo spread out below almost as far as the eye can see and are a wonderful complement to dinner.
The restaurant is well laid out with tables for couples, small groups as well as counter seating facing the open kitchen. The service is generally reliable and fairly good, unfortunately, it can be slow when busy.
There are many local dishes from Hokkaido and most seafood is taken from the surrounding ocean. The “kani cream” crab croquette, for example, is very nice. There is also a good selection of shochu from the island, which goes well with the izakaya-style foods.
When it comes to izakaya chains, the food quality here is better than most, but the price is higher too. Be prepared to pay around 4,000 to 5,000 yen per person including drinks.
If dining at the top of Ebisu Garden Place sounds interesting, but premium pricing isn’t, then lunch at next-door Yakitori Ebisu is a good option. Open for lunch 7 days a week, this restaurant offers simple lunchtime sets, which usually include fish or meat, rice, a vegetable and miso soup for under 1,000 yen. In terms of location and price, the lunches here are very reasonable. The website for Yakitori Ebisu is: yakitoriebisu.co.jp.
Hokkaido
Ebisu Garden Place 39F, 4-20 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
03-5448-9521