A meal that will leave you speechless

Many people have seen the documentary ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi’. And doubtless that many of these people will have been inspired to eat at the restaurant of the oldest man to hold three Michelin stars. I was tempted but my friend recommended that I try somewhere else: Sushi Imamura. As you can tell from the title, it was one truly inspired recommendation.

Traditional sushi meals are in my view the highest level of theatre. Firstly, a sense of anticipation and suspense is created in the room as you keenly gaze upon the box to see what fish or sea dweller the sushi master will bring out next. You then watch and admire his skill in preparing the sushi with immense precision, before getting a tad excited as he places it in front of you. You then proceed to eat each piece of fish/seafood and rice in a graceful or otherwise manner. Finally, you enjoy a speechless moment, often asking your co-diners not to speak to you in order for you to reach a meditative state of food nirvana.

Such speechless moments during this meal included (in order, from top to bottom):

-          Shirako: If you don’t know what its is, I won’t tell you what this is in case it puts you off eating it. But it tastes like a cloud. Just eat it

-          Seared saba: smokey, meaty perfection

-          Squid: Unbelievably fresh, silky and sweet

-          Chu-toro: They didn’t have o-toro, probably because the quality wasn’t up to scratch. But the chu-toro was so damn good.

-          Large shrimp: Supremely sweet, unbelievably fresh

-          Uni: Creamy, velvety, sweet… some of the best uni I’ve had

-          Anago: Cooked, in a slightly sweet soy-based reduction. Melt in your mouth

-          Black sesame ice cream: a universal crowd pleaser but this is the best I’ve ever had

The price per head, including a small amount of sake, was approximately 14000 yen, which, for such quality, is a steal in my view. Needless to say, reservations required.

http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1316/A131602/13096905/

Address: 5-8-13 Shirokane, Minato-ku, Tokyo

+81 (3) 5789-3637

Open Tuesday – Sunday. Closed Mondays. Call ahead to reserve

Sumptuously superheated seafood

Burning straw instead of charcoal gives a far higher temperature for cooking whatever you desire, 900 degrees Celsius to be precise. And high temperature for short durations in the culinary world pretty much imparts smoky deliciousness upon anything the flame is unleashed upon.

Warayakiya is an izakaya in Roppongi specialises in the fine art of burning straw to sear your food, a practice from the Kouchi prefecture in south-west Japan. This video depicts this fine art in action:

Cutting to the chase: go for their house speciality of seared bonito. Tender and medium rare on the inside, smoky and charred on the outside, this is something truly special. And the charred flavour is different to that of charcoal; it is more woody, and earthy, as one would expect from straw.

Also indulge in the seared unagi. Again, even though it looks like the chefs have burnt the food to a crisp whilst cooking it, the result is again spectacular. Tender unagi, marinated in a slightly sweet sauce, seared to perfection in that smoky straw-based flame.

Again, not cheap but definitely not unaffordable. Reservations recommended.

http://metropolis.co.jp/dining/restaurant-reviews/warayakiya-2/

http://www.diamond-dining.com/shop_info/warayakiya/

Address: 6-8-8 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
3-4 minutes from Roppongi station
Budget: JPY 3,500-5,000
Mon-Fri 17:00-5:00 (L.O. 4:00)
Sun 17:00-23:00

+81 (0) 3 5410 5560

Beef. On the barbeque

Japan has some of the world’s best beef. The Japanese do love a good yakiniku (barbequed meat) session from time to time. Basically, the net product of these two factors means that you need to get yourself down to a yakiniku eatery when in Tokyo.

I was lucky enough to be taken to Ushigoro Kan by my friend, where melt in your mouth beef on a DIY- charcoal barbeque is the name of the game. Like several restaurants on this trip, there were too many highlights to name, but my favourites were undoubtedly the beef tartare with raw egg (above, top), and the shoulder of beef which you grill, dip in soy and sesame based sauce, plunge into egg yolk, wrap around a rice ball (below, top left and right) and finally proceed to place in your mouth in anticipation of a flavour runaway reaction. And I forgot to add the beef tongue (below, bottom). 

The desserts are pretty handy here too, the yuzu sorbet (below, bottom) and green tea pudding (below, middle) were more than worthy of their place with the top quality beef consumed during this meal.

http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1303/A130302/13160330/
http://ushigoro-kan.com/
+ 8150-5872-3765
Address: 1-8-1 Ebisuminami, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (1 minute from Ebisu station)
Budget: JPY 5,000-6,000
Open: 17:00-24:00（Last Orders 23:00）

Ramen as healthy as it is godly

Probably the most popular ramen outside Japan is tonkotsu ramen, whose fatty, creamy pork-bone based broth is understandably a universal crowd pleaser. I used to believe this was the only way to go with ramen, until I visited Afuri (Ebisu branch), who specialise in yuzu-shio (citrus-salt) ramen.

Line up, curiously gaze at the ramen ‘vending machine’ ordering system, press the button with the big sticker next to it (though good to check with a local that it is indeed the yuzu-shio ramen that you are coming here to eat), pay, and wait for your turn at the counter.

Then the bowl of precision and deliciousness shall arrive in front of you. Upon first sip of the soup, you probably won’t be blown away. But have patience. Sip more soup, slurp more perfectly springy noodles, chew on delicious grilled belly pork. At this point, around a minute into your degustation, you will realize what I’m talking about. Ever so slightly tangy and salty, the broth has a lip smacking taste sensation which truly does excel. A steal at 850 yen. I easily could’ve ordered two.

+81 3-5795-0750

Address: 117 Bldg. 1F, 1-1-7 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (東京都渋谷区恵比寿1-1-7 １１７ビル１Ｆ)

Hour: 11:00 am - 05:00 am