虎白 (Kohaku)

Japanese Kaiseki at Kohaku

The weather is really warming up nicely, had a nice walk in 北の丸公園 (Kita-no-maru park) today.

Kita-no-maru Park

*Update February 17th 2015: well well, 3 Michelin Stars now....
*Update June 9th 2015: well what do you know, this place has 2 Michelin Stars...


Anyway, I had a chance to try out the course dinner at Kohaku this weekend. 

Initially, we had wanted to book either Den (in Jimbocho) or Ishikawa (in Kagurazaka) but unfortunately, they were all fully booked. 

Some searching later, we managed to get a booking at Kohaku, but only barely - they could only seat us a 9:00pm. (Lesson learned, reserve your dinners early folks!)

Located off the main street of Kagurazaka, the facade of Kohaku is simple and not difficult to find. The dining room is well lit and the atmosphere is subdued, but in a welcoming way. When we first entered, we were greeted by our waitress who proceeded to seat us after a short wait. The service was friendly and the staff were able to explain the dishes in English and Japanese with no problem.

Now, onto the food:

Our dinner

1. Sesame Tofu with Sea Urchin and wasabi flowers in dashi
I really liked this dish, the sesame and sea urchin balanced out really nicely and the dashi pulled everything together. The addition of the wasabi leaves and baby perilla added a nice shot of flavor as well.
2. Broad Beans and Hamaguri with Star Anise Salt
Beans and Hamaguri were lightly powdered then deep fried (Potato starch?) Served with a salt which has star anise ground in it. Since it is not traditionally used in Japanese cooking, I am glad that there was only a slight hint of star anise - which played well with the sweetness of the clams and beans.
3. Fugu with truffles, sticky rice and cream
This dish was okay for me, everything came together nicely and it could have been a spectacular dish, but it was missing that last "push". I felt it needed a bit more body from something like some white miso or yuzu kosho to add a touch more saltiness and body to the entire dish.  Also, this tasted decidedly more "western" in comparison to the other dishes of the evening.
4. Conger eel cake with baby turnips in broth
This was nice to have after the creaminess of the last dish. The cake was light and springy, the radish picked early enough so it was sweet rather than peppery and the light seafood broth really help to clean the palate of any residual flavors. Lovely dish. 
5. Torched red snapper with dashi jelly
 Another delicious dish. The snapper skin was broiled with a blowtorch to impart a smokey char to the entire filet before it was sliced and topped with jelly scallions and myoga. Simple clean flavors which went down very nicely.
6. Kinki on a bed of brocolli rabe, myoga and seri
Grilled Kinki was served warm while the brocolli rab, myoga and seri wer poached in some broth and served cold. Since kinki has a firm, sweet white flesh, this simple preparation was more than enough. The vegetables were refreshing with no hints of bitterness.
7. Deep Fried Sea Bream with spring bamboo shoots, celery and grated radishes. (Not Pictured)
This dish was a good combination of textures and flavor. Not much else to say about it.
8. Abalone with a sauce of its innards, umeboshi and wasabi flowers. 
I love abalone. Especially when it is steamed slowly then sliced like this. The sweetness and tenderness only needs to be accented by a touch of acidity to brighten the dish up, which was superbly done with the umeboshi and innards sauce. I honestly wish I had a trough full of this to snack on.
9. Rice that was made with roasted black rockfish, scallions and mitsuba. Seaweed and mushroom soup.
This was the closing dish to our meal before dessert and it did not disappoint. The rice was cooked with the roasted rockfish and a savory broth, imparting it with a wonderful aroma and flavor. Fresh scallions and mitsuba were scattered gernerously on top and mixed in at the last minute adding a wonderful grassy and fresh aroma to the entire dish. This was served with a side of Japanese pickles and a briny seaweed and mushroom soup.
The rice definitely was a wonderful closure to a stellar meal.
10.Soy Sauce ice cream with jelly and yuba chips, almonds and sherry sauce.
To be honest, I could have done without the ice cream, but that is purely for personal reasons.
The ice cream was nice, not overly sweet and had a nice variety of flavors and textures. Who knew soy and sherry would work out pretty well. It was small enough to be a nice cooling dessert after the meal.

 
The total came out to about 20,000 Yen per person including alcohol. Not only that, the rice that we couldn't finish was made into nice little rice balls for us to take home and snack on later. Overall a satisfying meal from a very friendly chef and waitstaff, definitely recommended for those who want some kaiseki in a relaxed atmosphere. After the waitress and chef came to the door to show us out, we proceeded to walk home satisfied and happy.

Here is the information for Kohaku for those interested:

虎白
東京都新宿区神楽坂3-4
Tel: 03-5225-0807

Kohaku
Kagurazaka 3-4
Shinjuku-ku Tokyo,
Japan
Tel: 03-5225-0807

*They accept seatings up to 10 pm and are open until midnight.
*Book ahead
*Credit Cards Accepted
*Not open Sundays or public holidays.
*Please note the menu changes very regularly

I wanna be...the very best

So many childhood feels

So google decided to bring back our childhood memories for April fool's day.
They turned the map application into a pokemon catching challenge.
I gave it a go and felt like a little boy again, thanks google!

Here we go - my completed pokedex!

Mew ended up being at Nintendo Headquarters in Kyoto - how appropriate!

Gotta catch 'em all Gotta catch 'em all!!

Tax hike comes in tomorrow

The government is raising consumption tax from 5% to 8% starting April 1st 2014.
One of the times I wish it were an April Fool's day joke....

Making sure your beer is.... beer

Is that beer you are drinking there - or is it a beer flavored drink?

In Japan, the first time visitor may be surprised at how cheap some of the beers are compared to other seemingly identical beers.

However, as with such things, it is not always what it seems.
You could very well be drinking "発泡酒" (Happoshu) which basically means sparkling alcohol.
Happoshu is taxed less heavily than full malt alcohols, meaning they can be sold cheaply.
The amount of tax is related to how much malt is present in the drink. The less the malt, the less the tax.

Thus, anything with a malt content of less than 67% (Prior to fermentation) is classified as happoshu, which can contain as little as 0% malt.
The classification can prove problematic since a lot of Belgian and German beers can be brewed with things other than malt, rendering them "happoshu" and not beer.

Taking this in, you can probably understand why izakaya beers can be brought so cheaply.

How can you tell the difference between happoshu and real beer?
take a look at these two lables:

Label says "Liqueur (happosei)" This is happoshu

Label says "Nama Bi-ru" This is real beer.

Hopefully this sheds some light on the differences between happoshu and Beer. Read the labels carefully, beer is usually always sold as "生ビール”look for those characters, and you should be alright!

Lastly, to see how far happoshu can deviate from actual beer, here is a limited edition spring cherry cocktail - since malt is not used in the brewing process, this is also called happoshu.

That about sums everything up. 乾杯 (kanpai!) And happy drinking!

Spring is coming! (Asparagus Bacon Snack)

The Sakura are finally starting to bloom in Tokyo again.
That can only mean that spring is coming, which can only mean hanami parties under the sakura!

The Sakura at 椿山荘(Chinsanso) Gardens

In other news, here is a new potato snack flavor I tried today, asparagus bacon flavor.
It was just okay...had the flavor of bacon, but couldn't really make out any asparagus flavor.

Calbee Asparagus Bacon Flavor

Wacky Ice Cream Flavor

Oh gari-gari kun (ガリガリ君), you've done it again!

Gari-gari kun is a widely available Japanese Popsicle that usually comes in a blue colored Ramune (lemon-lime soda) flavor. Fortunately, they like to keep us on our toes by coming out with interested new flavors. Here is one I found recently.

See that? it is cream stew flavored! Yes, a savory stew in the form of a Popsicle. Definitely weirded me out when I tried it since it tasted of a sweet-savory stew and had bits of meaty pieces in it. Happy I tried it but I probably won't be a repeated customer with this one...

Give it a try...?

Frozen is coming to town. (Some thoughts to getting your overseas media fix)

Finally, Disney's "Frozen" has arrived in Japan

Frozen Promo on Nihon Terebi Morning News.

For those of you that do not know, movies can take months to be released in Japan. Here in Tokyo, we are getting "Frozen" (released in the U.S before Christmas) - in March!
Oftentimes, the DVD's will be released overseas before we get them in theaters here.

The same goes for TV series, which may not even make the journey over. Ever.

How is one left to fend for themselves in such a situation? Here are some ways I get my fix.

I usually purchase subscriptions through my U.S itunes account - which is very up to date.
(Don't bother with Hulu Japan for overseas series, it is woefully underwhelming and sad.)

PC game supply is a site I have used with great success. Not only can you get gift cards for iTunes, but all your gaming needs are covered as well (Nintendo/Playstation etc.) You can visit them here.

The other options are VPN networks (I haven't gotten it to work very well) and of course some less than kosher methods which could get you in trouble.

How do you get your media fix? I would love to hear some other opinions!

寿司大 (Sushi Dai)

Sushi Dai

A good finish after a morning at Tsukiji Fish Market.

 

Sushi Dai (Entrance)

With Tsukiji Fish Market set to move to Odaiba in March of 2016, it is best to get a glimpse at the hustle and bustle of fish sales in Tokyo before it is moved to its new home.

For over 80 years, Tsukiji Market has been Tokyo's hub for satisfying the populations hunger for the freshest seafood. 

It comes to no surprise that good sushi can be had at a fairly decent price on the market grounds.

On this day, we had decided to try Sushi Dai, easily spotted by the long line trailing out the shop and around the corner.

As you may know, I am not the biggest fan of waiting, especially for mediocre food (I am looking at you, Harajiku Eggs'n Things.) As I was entertaining a guest, there was very little say in where we went so I will leave you with this warning:

When one dines at Sushi Dai, be prepared to wait...and wait....and wait.

We ended up arriving at around 8am and stood outside waiting for approximately two and a half hours. About an hour before we could get in, we were offered some hot green tea to warm us up as the winds were not exactly forgiving. When we reached the line directly outside the shop, we were given menus and asked to order. Note that this shop is tiny - there is only one counter for guests. Thus, try to get there before 5am for the least amount of waiting time.

Seeing as this was my guest's 1st sushi experience, we ordered the omakase which came just under 4000JPY at 3,900JPY.

Upon entering, the cozy and lively atmosphere was infectious. We were greeted by the enthusiastic chef's, no doubt used to the extremely international crowds. Saying hello to everyone in a variety of languages, their upbeat demeanor was a pleasant surprise after waiting in the bitter cold.

The atmosphere is lively and friendly

 We were lucky to be seated at the station of the 店長 (Tencho, Head of the shop), who wasted no time in preparing our sushi. 

The Omokase went as follows:

1. 大トロ Otoro, Fatty Tuna

2. 鯛 Tai, Red Sea Bream

3. 鰤 Buri, Yellow Tail

4. 雲丹 Uni, Sea Urchin (+1 on the house)

5. 鯖 Saba, Spanish Mackerel

6. 鯵 Aji, Yellow Jack

7.ホッキ貝 Hokki-gai, Artic Surf Clam

8. 赤身 Aka-mi, Tuna

9. いくら Ikura, Salmon Roe

10.穴子 Anago, Sea Eel

In addition, we were also given a piece of 卵焼き(Tamagoyaki, Japanese Omlette), Miso Soup and Some tuna and cucumber rolls (unremarkable.)

We also ordered some a la carte:

11. 中トロ Chuu-toro, Medium Fatty Tuna

12: Some unlisted fish that the Chef recommended...can't remember the name...but delicious!

13. いくら More Salmon Roe

All in all a great meal. Perfect as an ending after a tour of Tsukiji though, so I recommend it heartily. For me, the standouts were the Uni, Chuu-Toro and the Buri, which was in peak season.

Everything else was also on the good end, though I am not a fan of Hokkigai.

The total bill for the 2 of us came out to be just about 11,000JPY for the two of us, including a beer.

Lastly, not only the food, but the lively and friendly atmosphere make it fun and accessible to anyone not confident in their Japanese skills. The chefs all speak decent English, are friendly and there are menu's in English available as well. If you are looking for a quiet and intense experience like Sukiyabashi Jiro, this is not the place.

Bits of our meal

寿司大(Sushi Dai)

Address: 〒104-0045 東京都中央区築地5-2-1築地市場内6号館

(〒104-0045 Tokyo, Chūō, Tsukiji, 5−2−1, Tsukiji ichiba nai 6(roku) gou kan 

Phone:+81 3-3547-6797

Hours: 5:00 am – 2:00 pm

Your Residence Card is now also your Visa

The residence cards (在留カード, "zairyuu ka-do"）now serve double duty as your visa. Be sure to have it going in and out of the country.
This being said, the need for applying for a re-entry visa is now obsolete if you have the residence card (saves quite a bit of cash, actually.)

Don't forget an address

For those coming to Japan for work/pleasure etc. don't forget an address. You will need it for immigration. Just something that seems like common sense but is commonly forgotten.