Umami Bomb

Tsukemen hasn’t quite taken off in the West in quite the same fashion as conventional ramen; but if tsukemen was done in the same way as at Tsukemen Tetsu, I’d put some money on it gaining siginificant popularity.

Looking at the picture will immediately tell those of you familiar to making sauces and stocks that this tsukemen broth possesses intense flavour. Made from pork bones and bonito, the flavour is different to your average tonkotsu ramen broth: the fish adds another umami dimension, not to mention that it’s highly concentrated in comparison with conventional broths. Basically it’s an umami overload: sheer deliciousness: perhaps too intense to drink on its own: hence the need for noodles.

Tetsu’s tsukemen noodles are in my mind a hybrid of an udon and a conventional ramen noodle: chewy and slippery like normal udon but thinner and with enough texture to allow the broth the cling on.

How to eat tsukemen: Dip these noodles in the broth, and slurp away, and eventually, you will reach umami nirvana. Add to that meltingly tender cha-shu pork belly pieces and an expertly cooked “onsen” egg, and that, as you can imagine, is an irresistible preposition.

I went to the branch next to Shinagawa JR train station: probably a good bet if you need to fill up before a long Shinkansen train ride.

Tsukemen TETSU (Shinagawa branch)

Shinatatsu Ramen Mentatsu Shichininshu

3-26—20 Takanawa Minato-ku Tokyo

Opening hours: 11am – 11pm (Ramen plaza opening hours)

Price: Around 900 – 1000 yen

http://houseofhaos.com/2014/02/04/tsukemen-tetsu-shinatatsu-ramen-plaza-tokyo/

Hunter Gatherer Cuisine

Deer sashimi? Wild boar yakitori? Probably not the first thing that comes to mind when looking for food in Kyoto. But a visit to a hunter’s izakaya by the name of Okariba might make you change your mind. Outside the restaurant you are greeted by a humourous sign which sets the tone for the rest of the evening:

The interior is most definitely something straight out of the forest: it looks like a wooden hut, with dim, incandescent lighting to give you that in-the-middle of nowhere feel. 

Needless to say, the food here is an honest, hearty affair: strong flavours, almost unapologetic in its robustness. I’d strongly recommend you try the wild boar yakitori skewers – moist meat, with just the right amount of charred-ness, topped with a salty-sweet sauce.

The deer sashimi – melt in your mouth, fatty deer whose fat is slightly nutty and sweet – it tastes like a gamey cross between beef carpaccio and iberico ham. When dipped in the sweet soy and ginger dip – it is a mouthwatering preposition.

To counter-act all the meatiness, a hoba-yaki is highly recommended. Basiscally, vegetables and mushrooms, mixed with a sweet miso sauce, gently grilled atop a hoba leaf. The result is a smokey-sweet moreishly additctive vegetable medley. Just try it for yourself.

Tasty but not as spectacular was the grilled salmon-trout but a good fish option nethertheless. Actually, both the fish and hoba-yaki get an added taste dimension when mixed with each other.

Prices are very reasonable, especially considering how unique this place is and the quality of the food: when all this is washed down with some beer, your bill will only come up to around 2000 - 2500 yen per person.

Obarika

43-3 Okazaki Higashitenno-cho, Sakyo-ku, Residence Okazaki 1F, Kyoto

+81757517790

Opening hours: Tues – Sun 17:00 – 22:00. Closed Mondays

http://r.gnavi.co.jp/kby6200/lang/en/

Affordably awesome sushi

Not many words for this recommendation. Come here. Queue for a bit (remember to get a queueing ticket). Get the chef’s special set (the one with loads of different kinds of sushi, chawanmushi, crab salad), a steal at just under 3000 yen. Eat all and be happy.

Best items: O-toro (fatty tuna belly) sushi, hotate (scallop) sushi – highly recommend to ask them to ‘aburi’ (flame sear) it, large prawn sushi, anago (conger eel) sushi, crab roe salad. Also order a portion of mackerel sashimi, which is also sublime.

Umegaoka Sushi no Midori Sohonten

7 – 108 Ginza, Chuo, Tokyo, 104-0061

+81355681212

http://www.sushinomidori.co.jp/ginza.html 

Miso + katsu = Miso katsu

When I see a restaurant whose logo looks like the following, I have no choice but to peer inside and have a look.

And when I realised they were serving miso katsu, a special type of katsu from Nagoya, I was only left with one choice: eat here.

The food is simple: juicy, deep fried breaded cutlets of various parts of a pig, doused in a what could be one of the most umami-intense sauces I have ever had: red miso sauce. And it’s not just made of red miso, there’s a pretty notable amount of pork bone based broth in there, just to up the umami factor. Served with some simple steamed rice and cabbage, and some miso soup or tonjiru on the side, and it’s an addictively moreish meal.

It’s pretty hard to go wrong here no matter which part of the pig you choose (my personal favourite was the hire (fillet) tonkatsu - see below); prices are good too. They also have a souvenir shop at this (Ginza) branch, definitely worth perusing if you like interesting depictions of pigs on mugs or T-shirts.

Yabaton (Ginza branch)

2-11-2 Ginza, Ginza Daisaku Building, Chuo, Tokyo 104 0061

Opening hours: Tues – Sun 11am – 10pm (closed Mondays)

http://www.english.yabaton.com/

Price: Around 1500 JPY per person

Sinful Steak

Again, I’m not gonna write much here. Come to Asakusa Tsutsui for what I guess is Western-Japanese fusion: expertly marinated and cooked sirloin wagyu steak on rice.

I got the steak don set: mouth-wateringly tender wagyu atop rice smothered in a slightly salty soy-based sauce: made even more delectable with a touch of butter. Whilst the portion size is extremely generous, the unctuous taste of that beef will leave even those with the smallest of appetites wanting more.

Akasaka Tsutsui

Izumi-Akasaka Building, 2-22-24 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Open Weekdays 11.30am – 3pm, 5- 10pm; Weekends 12- 3pm, 4.30-10pm, closed on punlic holidays that fall on Monday

Price: 2000 – 3000 JPY per person

http://www.akasakatsutsui.com/