There are three “can’t miss” restaurants I HAVE to visit every time I come to Tokyo. The first is Sawada sushi – which, sadly, is closed during this two week stay. The second is Esquisse, a brilliant French restaurant headed by Chef Lionel Beccat – which we’ll be visiting in the coming days. And the third, is L’Effervesence, with its delightfully inventive menu c/o Chef Shinobu Namae – which I visited last night with my friend Tomomi.
It was a night of consistent culinary highlights. Among the highlights of the highlights…
Apple Pie #16 is the sixteenth version of Chef Name’s signature pie inspired by a certain McDonalds menu item. This version is compromised of foie gras, fig, and a touch of basil.
In my bid to not go a day without sake, I decided to go with the sake pairing which offered up a wonderful variety ranging from peach sweet to smoky dry. I was offered my choice of cups to get me started. I opted for the Mt. Fuji, bottom left.
With a little Mr. Fuji inside.
One of the menu items that never changes is this incredible turnip dish. It’s cooked in a warm bath for 4 hours, then lightly roasted and butter basted.
The chef chooses lean deer from Hokkaido that is roasted for 10 minutes, then allowed to rest, returned to roast for another 10 minutes, then set aside to rest. The process is repeated until the eat is perfect, then served – here with local peppers, pumpkin sauce, and a reduction.
The salad is comprised of 51 fresh, locally-sourced ingredients. I’m not a big fan of salad but this one was a lot of fun, offering a myriad of complimentary and contrasting flavors and textures.
My lovely hostess, Tomomi, shows off the Sirene chocolate I brought for her.
Tonka bean mousse, barley ice cream, and a Chinese fruit – whose name escapes me.
Our third dessert was a plate of fun mini-bites including a tube of lemon curd I used to spell out my guest’s name. Impressive, no?
After the meal, Chef Namae came by to check in with us and see how we’d enjoyed the meal, something he does with EVERY table. I honestly told him that every meal I’ve had at L’Effervesence has never failed to impress.
By the time we wrapped up, it was almost 11:00 p.m. Between the sake and the jet-lag, I was thoroughly exhausted, but I decided to forego a cab and walked back to Ometesando Station, then caught the metro back to the hotel.
Passed by this interesting-looking eatery. The spicy pad-thai is like a roundhouse kick in the mouth!
By the time I got in, I was ready for bed. I had a relatively deep sake sleep, punctuated by weird dreams involving the French counryside and brain surgery, then woke up at 7 a.m. Rather than hit Tsukiji again for breakfast, we packed up, checked out, placed our luggage in storage, then caught the shinkansen (bullet train) to Osaka. On a Saturday! On what appears to be a holiday weekend. We just managed to snagged seat – but, sadly, weren’t able to grab a bento box for the ride.
Osaka Station was super-busy, crowded and crazier than I’d ever seen Tokyo. Akemi’s dad suspects it’s because of the many visitors who have taken advantage of the long weekend (Monday is, of course, National Old People’s Day) to visit the new Harry Potter theme park!
No Harry Potter for us though. After meeting up with Akemi’s dad, we grabbed a quick lunch –
Sashimi.
Tempura.
Stewed fish head.
And shirasu (that’s what the little fish are called) salad.
Then, for dessert, we met up with Akemi’s friend, Ayaka, for chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate (and pistachio) at Au Palet d’Or…
As it turns out, Ayaki is an avid reader of mystery novels (averaging a respectable ten books a month) and so, afterwards, we too a walk down to the nearest bookstore where I bought her…
The Japanese edition of Gone Girl. She was super-pleased.
We’re staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Umeda and it is beautiful…
Er, interesting art work.
The room.
And, to Akemi’s delight, a nice, deep tub.
Akemi and I had dinner reservations at a popular izakaya called Nagahori. Her dad was hoping to join us as a late addition to our table for two and accompanied us to the restaurant. Sadly, they weren’t able to accommodate him –
He was disappointed.
Akemi took the news a lot better than he did.
Father and daughter, in happier times (ie. before he received news that he wouldn’t be dining with us).
Me and my lemurs (?) – also in happier times.
Okay, enough chit chat. Time for dinner!
The hairy crab was, thankfully, a lot less hairy than I feared.
The sashimi plate. Ooooh, check out all the sea urchin!
Steamed abalone with abalone gut sauce. Highly recommended.
Deep-fried anago (sea eel) and yuba (tofu skin) – Akemi’s fave.
Tasty grilled chicken guts!
And, for dessert: Kasu panna cotta with eggplant ice cream. I’m a big fan of kasu desserts but have to admit – I’ve never met an eggplant-based dessert I’ve liked.
We caught a cab back to the hotel. If you ever visit Japan, here’s a word of warning: Learn the Japanese name of your hotel. Japanese cities are confusing enough as it is and, fully half the time, the cab driver won’t know where he’s going. Chances are he also won’t know the English name of your hotel. For instance, in Tokyo, if I tell them my destination is “The Imperial Hotel”, they’l stare back at me blankly. But if I tell them I’m going to the “Teikoku Hoteru” (Imperial Hotel in Japanese), I fare much better. On this night, we told the driver we were going to The Intercontinental Hotel. He’d apparently never heard of it. After some discussion with Akemi, he apparently figured it out and got us there in record time. And by “there”, I mean another hotel. But close enough. It was only a five minute walk to our actual hotel from there.
Enroute, we cut through a mall…
For all your chopstick needs.
This robot promised to do something cool – and then tried to sell us a phone plan.
I spotted my old friend Doraemon. He was obviously drunk (again!) and I tried to take away his bottle booze. Things got ugly after that.
Tomorrow, we wake up bright and early to go to Akemi’s childhood home (my first visit!) to take part in a tea ceremony. I’ve been warned I’ll be required to sit cross-legged for twenty minutes or so – something I haven’t done since elementary school. Wish me luck!
I am on the road en route to Destin, Florida, which is not as culinarily exciting as Tokyo, but i will do my best to enjoy both your food delights and mine in equal pleasure on this trip.
PS Louisiana roads really suck.
Wow! Seeing Japan with you and Akemi sounds like a blast!!!! Some of the food is a little much for me (I’d try a bite). No hesitations on the chocolate, it looks divine.
I love the hotel room style. It looks like someone’s home.
Nope! Nope! Nope! I refuse to eat weird stuff. Abalone gut sauce, Stewed fish head, chicken guts, eel… bleh! I see you haven’t found any pork dishes yet. Will that be on the menu? Please don’t eat any whale meat or dolphin. The world is mad at Japan for killing these intelligent mammals.
Also, those “Lemurs” are actually Meerkats. They are a type of mongoose native to Southern Africa.
Good luck with the tea ceremony.
The desserts look wonderful.
It’s lovely to see Akemi’s dad again. He is so cute.
Abalone gut sauce? I think not.
I do have many chopstick needs. Finding a decent plain bamboo set in Utah is near impossible. I’d love a trip to a Hundred Yen Shop.
Nice tub, very envious.
Enough of this vicarious living stuff, you really to plan a tour and take all of us along with you next time. I would go for the chocolate desserts alone. Good luck with the tea ceremony and your knees. Look forward to hearing about it.
I think your lemurs are actually meerkats.
Those are meerkats, not lemurs!
Anyway, all that food looks amazing and I’d love to try it – but I would have to have it by names other than “abalone gut sauce”. There must be some elegant sounding Japanese name for the same thing, surely.
I’m not sure after all that whether I would be exhausted or stuffed. Probably both.
Had dinner with JeffW and his lovely wife and children last night – really nice time, super nice people! Nothing as adventurous as you, Joey, but a good Indian restaurant in Tampa. 🙂
Meerkats, not lemurs
Why did you leave your hotel? Are you hotel hopping too? (sounds like fun too)
The chocolate looks devine!
Poor Dad!! Akemi looks beautiful. Dad is a handsome man.
Abalone gut sauce – it may taste good but it looks like ….
Good luck with the cross-legged-ness!
Oh see, one mistake with lemurs and they come at you with pitchforks. Or is that just forks to share the food? (though not the guts, not anyone or anythings’ guts)
If you ever visit Japan, here’s a word of warning: Learn the Japanese name of your hotel.
a trick i heard about is to get some sort of business card-type thing from the front desk with the hotel’s name on it & that way you can show it to taxi drivers or if you’re walking, someone on the street for directions.
that tip was bout toyko, but i’m sure it could apply to other cities over there too.
Hey, Joey…if you haven’t heard yet, those ‘lemurs’ are meerkats. 😉
😀
Made a great dinner tonight – ‘Chinese’, consisting of a cold asparagus salad (lots of garlic, sauteed with rice vinegar, salt, sugar, cayenne – from my garden and smushed with a touch of soy sauce and cornstarch – and a little seasame oil, tossed with lightly-steamed asparagus), and chicken with honeydew melon stir-fry (scallions, celery and napa sauteed until just tender, add the honeydew, remove from heat and cook chicken – ‘marinated in rice wine, salt, sugar and a tiny dash of sesame oil – add fresh ginger, lemon juice, a little water and just a touch of cornstarch) – both were delicious! Hubby especially liked the chicken with honeydew because of its subtle sweetness. I went very light on the sugar and salt so neither overpowered the other, nor did they make the dish salty or sweet – it was just perfect! I know if I try to make it again I’ll probably screw it all up. 😛
Happy dining and happy travels, Joe! And please – eat just ONE normal thing while there, just so I know if I ever visit Japan I won’t starve to death. 😉
das
@ archersangel – Excellent idea!! The card will probably have their address on it too. Like the lost kid with the note pinned to him…
You are quite photogenic in that shot with Akemi, maybe you should do a cameo in this the new series…
I think I’d fly to Japan just to eat those luscious chocolates. I was even eyeing the art work to nibble on. Great to hear you’re having a fabulous time! Any chance for some videos? It would even be fun to see you two walking down a street, encountering everyday life there.
What a great picture of you two!
In regards to Doraemon, I want that!!
Joe, when you said you packed up and stored your luggage then left for Osaka, where did you store your luggage? Was it for a fee at the hotel you left?
Might be good info for me when I visit japan soon and need to visit another city minus the luggage
I heard about those Robot things, supposedly they should be available to buy at some point too.
The chocolate desserts–yes; the rest–no. That deep tub? My physical therapist has one in her newly remodeled bathroom, too (she is my friend and treats me at her home). I need one with whirlpool jets. Which I have. And it’s lasted 22 years now. Can’t believe the tub is 22 years old and still functioning (the whirlpool jets).