Such dangerous stunts attempted!
Ah! Forbidden fruit!
Nothing like good old Daddy's stomach to climb. :)
See What My Little Monkey Can Do!
Such dangerous stunts attempted!
Ah! Forbidden fruit!
Nothing like good old Daddy's stomach to climb. :)
Ryugin Tokyo - Our Most Expensive Dinner by Far
We heard so much about Ryugin when planning our second Tokyo trip. We wanted to ensure we had at least another special Omakase night. It felt naturally right, to end the trip this way - so I called 2 months in advanced and made the reservation.
2 Months later, here we are, toasting to the holiday and to friendships and travelling companions.
Ryugin - means singing dragon in Japanese. The place was not difficult to find. Tucked within a small road, off the main road in Ropponggi. Our waiter was a pleasant smartly dressed Japanese named Arimasa, speaking good English as he described our menu for the evening. It's absolute thanks to him that I got the food descriptions correct tonight.
After our bubblies, we started with the first of 4 appetizers. A combination of abalone, steamed for 6 hours with the abalone liver sauce and seasoned potato from Kyoto in a rice ginger sauce.
The abalone was juicy sweet and the potato lightly pan fried provided a lovely contrasting texture.
The abalone was juicy sweet and the potato lightly pan fried provided a lovely contrasting texture.
Next was an Uni Chawamushi. Plump creamy uni from Hokkaido with a jelly sauce made from shrimp and crab roe sprinkled generously with mountain potato. The result, mouthfuls of creamy sweetness with occasional crunchy bits and refreshing jelly.
The 3rd appetizer was a monk fish liver with pinenuts, fresh seasonal vegetables, and squid in a white miso sauce. The flavour was peppered with mustard and vinegar. An interesting course, but not my favourite since I never am a fan of vegetables.
And that's our crab's name tag - proof that he has been served to us. Now on to the mains.
First main course was sushi. The plating is fantastic. The symmetry and the neatness in presentation was perfect. The fish, needless to say, was absolutely divine. The lobster was crunchy fresh, the Hiramae and Flounder had no fishy taste, the tuna melted in my mouth and the Ika was super fresh.
Next was a dish served with 2 kinds of clams. I would say it's 3 kinds of clams since it came in a bowl shaped like one! :0)
Then, came my personal favourite for the evening. Sea Perch with a skin done so crispy and light it resembled rice bubbles. It was paired with chestnut, potato chips and a small cube of persimmon. I don't understand the pairing but it worked. The different textures just came together and the sweet fruit gave it a sublime and delightful completion.
By the 3rd Main, I was almost done. But the sight of red juicy wagyu beef, sets me on auto-pilot to pick up my cutlery and dig in. The wagyu was from a Kushu grill on charcoal with a simmered turnip in miso sauce. The tomato and water jelly with yogurt and tea was to help wash the heaviness all down, but I didn't really fancy it.
Finally, the mains ended with a miso soup and pickles and a small portion of rice with sardines and yuzu. The miso soup was probably the best I have ever tasted. None of that instant soup crap, this tasted like true quality.
Then comes Arimasa, "More Space?" he asked? We looked at each other and shrugged, why not?! So he gave us a small portion of homemade soba with yuzu. Pleasant.
And so, the night goes on and it's time for dessert. We started with a Japanese mandarin sorbet to cleanse the palette. Very tangy and sweet.
And the piece d resistance. Soft pillowly cakes that were as light as air could ever be. So soft that we had to use 2 spoons to eat! one to scoop and the other to roll each morsel onto the spoon. The combination of green tea, soybean and coconut was interesting. But of course I liked the coconut one best.
Next were chestnut cakes filled with cream and yellow sweet potato and lemon. Quite light and yummy. A nice way to end off the evening.
And finally, a nice warm matcha froth. To wash down the entire meal, to recharge us before we march out into the rainy cold and to leave us with a warm fuzzy feeling in the stomach and in our hearts.
Hidemi Sugino and Pierre Herme Japan
This trip to Japan, I was determined to try the must reputed Hidemi Sugino.
So determined was I to make it up to my repressed cake demon, I was even mentally preparing Hubby G for the supposed snaking queues that appear shop-front even before opening hours at 9:30am.
But when we arrived shortly after 11am, there were no queues. In fact, it was so quiet, we stopped and had a cup of coffee.
There were 2 sections of cakes - one that could be taken away and one that had to be eaten in-house. So we packed 5 away and stayed for 3:
Mariee (raspberry w alcohol)
The cakes were pillowy soft, hence explaining their inability to last outside of the refrigerator homes for more then 10 minutes. The mousse melts in your mouth and the flavors come real and distinct.
The ones we took away were a little more interesting.
Ambre Noix (walnut coffee cheese)
Pomme d' Eve
Amethyste
I would have to admit, for the most of the cakes, we were devouring them blindly. The cake descriptions were in Japanese and none of the waitresses could explain to me what we were eating.
I was unfortunately, for most of the selection, disappointed. The quality of the ingredients were certainly unmistakably fresh and top-notch. Unfortunately, I would have traded any of them for a Pierre Herme vanilla tart in a flash...
Which brings me to my cake craving satisfactions!
Ooo, my heavenly vanilla tart - I drool as I reminisce of your creamy rich center and crisp fragrant tart...
Pierre Herme - still my no. 1 Patissier.
Reminiscing Japan - Sushi Mitsutani
The sushi experience in Japan we will always remember for...
1) The exquisitely prepared excellent sushi I will remember for life
2) The Tamago - to borrow the expression from Joone - that is absolutely 'out of this WORLD'.
3) House Mackerel that melts heavenly in your mouth.
4) Ika so fresh unlike another rubbery textured, it has a firm clean crunch with every bite.
5) Hotate and Uni so sweet and generous.
6) And of course, the chef d' extraordinaire himself - the stern-faced Chef who looks like the cartoon character Gargemel from Smurfs. Such dedication to his craft, passion to serving up good sushi and pride in his art that his only English utterance throughout the dinner - which we will truly always remember- .."NO SAUCE".
1) The exquisitely prepared excellent sushi I will remember for life
2) The Tamago - to borrow the expression from Joone - that is absolutely 'out of this WORLD'.
3) House Mackerel that melts heavenly in your mouth.
4) Ika so fresh unlike another rubbery textured, it has a firm clean crunch with every bite.
5) Hotate and Uni so sweet and generous.
6) And of course, the chef d' extraordinaire himself - the stern-faced Chef who looks like the cartoon character Gargemel from Smurfs. Such dedication to his craft, passion to serving up good sushi and pride in his art that his only English utterance throughout the dinner - which we will truly always remember- .."NO SAUCE".
After a dinner of 13-fine sushi, to continue in the spirit of all things FISH, we stopped at a little kiosk selling our favourite 'Fish cakes stuffed with red bean'. Yums!
Grayden's First Taste of Real Food
Heh Heh, actually it's his second. The first attempt ended up on the floor.
Mummy was too negligent...
Second try!
The second mouth made it successfully from bowl to mouth. But check out his priceless expression. :)
The first of many he's going to bestow everytime he tries something new!
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