RECESS ABROAD: TOKYO TASTER
Take a bite of these tasty treats from our trip to Tokyo. Itadakimasu!
by Erica Sanae
While Japanese designers are skilled at interpreting fashion through a distinctively Japanese lens, chefs in Japan are also successful at re-interpreting world cuisines using Japanese ingredients and techniques to create brand new genres. We enjoyed Japanese-Mediterranean carpaccio, the Japanese delicacy shirako as a gratin, purple risotto topped with shirasu (tiny whitebait fish), and pasta with Japanese sansho pepper. (PS Thank you Saori and Rickmond!)
KAIKAYA BY THE SEA
Modern Mediterranean-Japanese
23-7 Maruyamachō, Shibuya-ku, Tōkyō-to 150-0044
Google Map Link
CIURI CIURI
Pasta
107-0062 Tōkyō-to, Minato-ku, Minamiaoyama, 2 Chome−2−18−20, 南青山コンパウンド 1F
Google Map Link
JOUR DE MARCHE
Modern French-Japanese
東京都新宿区四谷坂町12-11
Google Map Link
CIGNALE ENOTECA
Modern Italian-Japanese
1 Chome-5-11 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tōkyō-to 153-0041
Google Map Link
Classic homestyle dishes like rice with tea and fish (ochazuke), and light dashi udon noodle soup with burdock root tempura (gobo ten udon), are warm and comforting on a cold day, and taste as though your Japanese grandmother spent all day making them.
OHITSUZEN TANBO
Ochazuke & Onigiri
151-0053 Tōkyō-to, Shibuya-ku, Yoyogi, 1 Chome−41−9
Google Map Link
UDON BUZEN
GoboTempura Udon
Ramen is always a good idea, especially in the winter, and during one of Tokyo's longest snow days on record! There's soy dashi broth, rich tonkotsu bone broth, seafood-spiked broth, chicken infused broth, and the list goes on- there's a ramen for every mood and every day. The only rule? That you eat it quickly! Nagi Ramen is as narrow little joint in the center of Golden Gai- perfect after (or during) a night of drinks. Try it with a few splashes of the house vinegar spiked with sardines to add acidity to the rich broth. Ichiran is a great place when you want to give in to your cravings in private. Individually partitioned booths let you slurp your ramen in (relative) solitude.
NAGI RAMEN
1 Chome-1-10 Kabukichō, Shinjuku-ku, Tōkyō-to 160-0021
Google Map Link
RAMEN HOPUKEN
2-33-9 Sendagaya Shibuya Tokyo
Google Map Link
ICHIRAN SHIBUYA
1 Chome-22-7 Jinnan, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0041
Google Map Link
Golden brown and deep fried foods are always a winner! Juicy tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) and kushikatsu (battered/breaded fried items usually on sticks) pair wonderfully with white rice to soak up the oil. Be sure to try the potato salad, one of Marie's favorite side dishes at these types of taverns- where we also had red ginger kakiage, a nest of fried red ginger matchsticks. For dessert, we even had tempura battered matcha white chocolate. Technically not deep fried, takoyaki (octopus balls) are cooked in a pan with spherical wells and shaped into round balls as they cook. These were the largest that we had ever seen- and straight off the griddle are like balls of molten lava! (Thank you to our consignor Kara for the Tonkatsu Maisen recommendation!)
TONKATSU MAISEN AOYAMA HONTEN
4 Chome-8-5 Jingūmae, Shibuya-ku, Tōkyō-to 150-0001
Google Map Link
KUSHIKATSU (TEMPURA STICKS)
Near Ebisu Station
TAKOYAKI STALL
Setagaya Boro Ichi Market
Google Map Link
