11-24-2003, 10:25 AM
Here's another report from Carl. Read the food part after you've just eaten or just before you're going to eat. If you read it mid morning I can only think of it as a form of self-abuse.
Joe.
Two earthquakes last week to note. One was on Tuesday; I was in the office. It was sort of slow, swaying of the office. When they happen, everything goes dead silent in the office and people just sort of wait in silence, unmoving silence. The earthquake doesn't bother me much; it's the way they creep out the people who should by now be used to these things!
This other one was Saturday morning. I woke up, and remember lying there thinking I hadn't had THAT much to drink last night... When you realize its an earthquake, I?m not sure "relief" or "terror" is the more applicable...
It is also turned into winter. Winter in Tokyo is pretty much like summer in Tokyo -- only rather then hot, unforgiving sunshine and humidity there is cold windy rain. Either way, you don't want to be outside.
Of course, the Japanese don't change at all from season to season -- in the summer all the hip fashionable ones carry umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. In the winter, from the rain...
Japanese fashion also dictates the outfits of the "call" girls ? the girls who stand out on street corners selling cellphone service for the likes of NTT, Vodaphone and KDDI. Now, in the summer they're wearing these hideous, hot plastic dresses and knee-high black boots. In the winter, they're wearing... hideous, freezing plastic dresses and knee-high black boots. In the summer they're shaking from heat exhaustion, today, they're shaking from the cold.
I did buy a cellphone; but not from one of them. For 1 yen you get a phone that is brand new that Sprint will charge you $200 for. And the service is like $20/month for what Sprint charges $30/month. Wow. It's insane.
And it works EVERYWHERE, includig the subway. Why aren't things more like that everywhere else?
Wandered over to Diaba this past weekend. How to describe it? Hmmm... a Japanese theme park comes to mind. Of course, the theme is more along the lines of "consume, Consume, CONSUME!". There is a giant ferris wheel there that you can romantically see all of Tokyo from. Right next to the Super Toyota Showroom. They have a giant video game hall which isn't too bad and features loads of cool things, including a virtual 3d roller coaster. There is a giant shopping mall complex with areas dedicated to kids, themed to feel like "Hong Kong" (which Lilian, who has been there sorta laughed at...), and the Fuji TV Studio, which has numerous corners for you to BUY FUJI TV products for their shows. Fuji TV is just a giant marketing machine...
Temples are on for next weekend. Who knows what those will reveal...
So, what to talk about? Food. Yup. Food. Your favorite thing. I figure I'd do a rundown of the various restraunts here that are worth noting, either for what they are or for their food or for... so, where to begin?
The Japanese place under the tracks in Ginza, which only has a Japanese name --
Type of food: Yakatori (Skewered stuff cooked over a grill)
Specialities: Chicken, any way.
Cost: Y2,000 -- Y3,000 person w/o booze.
The place is under the tracks, which adds a certain atomsphere. Trains rumble overhead coming and going to Tokyo Station. But the food is amazing -- simple things like various ways chicken can be marinated and cooked on a habachi grill. The two best were the "Chicken and Welsh Onion (leek)"and the "Asparagus wrapped in Chicken" Both quite tasty. Nummy.
The Ex-Bar --
Type of food: "German Snack Bar"
Specialities: Pepper Steak, Meat Loaf, Sausages, etc...
Cost: Y5,000 -- Y8,000, depending on how much you drink.
Location: Roppongi.
This place is a legend amongst UBS people. Last night, we drug Haim there for his first visit. I went with the pork cutlet, Pete got the Meatloaf/Sausage Plate, and Haim had the Vinerschnitzle. After spending a good 40 minutes chatting and drinking beer, the food arrives. Horst (the owner) proudly puts down a full plate of food, and then follows it up with ANOTHER full plate of vegetables. The food is good, basic "anti-Japanese" food for when you want a real meal.
The beer is good German beer. You eat there like once a month after starving yourself for the whole day. And then don't eat until dinner the NEXT day. It's a must for those times when you don't want anything even remotely Japanese and you're trapped in Tokyo...
Mad Mulligans --
Type of food: British Isles...
Specialities: Fish and Chips.
Cost: Y2,000/person with one beer
Location: Kasumigaseki
Best fish and chips in Tokyo. It comes from having an English girlfriend.... Oh, and the Guinness is great too...
Kiwa -- The Chinese place across the street --
Type of food: Chinese.
Specialities: ??
Cost: Y2500/person
Location: Roppongi
They have great appatizers. Nummy. I get the fried pot stickers and the shrimp filled ones. Great stuff.
Cafe Danmark
Type of food: Pastries
Specialities: Various types of danishes...
Cost: Y200 / pastry
Location: Jiyaguoka
Great french pastries. Better then what you get in France, filled with fruit, chocolate, nuts, etc... I highly recommend the chocolate-pistachio nut ones. To die for...
The Chineese dumpling place in Roppongi Hills --
Type of food: Chinese
specialities: Dumplings
Cost: Y2500/person
Location: Roppongi Hills Shopping center
They do dumplings. About 20-30 different types. Really nummy dumplings. Highly recommend it for lunch on a weekday. And again, their name is in funny characters which I can't read...
Brendan's Pizzakaya--
Type of Food: Pizza
Cost: Y2000-Y3000/person
Location: Roppongi
For when you get homesick for pizza, this is as close to real pizza as you're going to find in Tokyo. It's a once-a-month trip for me; just to keep me sane.
Pepper Lunch
Type of food: Red Meat!
Cost: Y1000-Y2000/person
Location: All over -- chain place.
Okay, I guess this is a japanese steak place. They do fast food steak, served still raw on a sizzling plate. You then add in your sauces, cook it on the searing hot plate to your liking, and eat a perfect steak. And it's cheap, like $10 for a nice hunk of meat which is less then what you'd pay for it in the local stores. How they survive I can't tell you, but its great. There's one down in San Jose, California for those of you in the bay area...It was $10 for a meal there 5 years ago, so it's probably more expensive now...
(There are numerous knock-offs of this place; one just down the street from Lilian's place isn't half bad...)
The Tempura place downstairs in Ginza --
Type of food: Tempura
Cost: Y3500/person.
Location: Ginza, 5-chome (downtown), 1 block from Sony Store
One of the few truly Japanese places I hit up regularly. Sure, there is sushi but it is so common here it's hard to get excited about it. There are other Japanese places, but few I have frequented more then once. The food is great, course after course of tempura'd fish, shellfish, vegetables, plus some sashimi, salad, etc... They then finish it off with Tempura Fried Ice Cream. Nummy...
Well, that does it for this week. Dessert is sitting here, and yes, it's from Cafe Danmark... There's also cheesecake place that is probably going to put me off of New York's New York Style Cheesecake for life...
Joe.
Two earthquakes last week to note. One was on Tuesday; I was in the office. It was sort of slow, swaying of the office. When they happen, everything goes dead silent in the office and people just sort of wait in silence, unmoving silence. The earthquake doesn't bother me much; it's the way they creep out the people who should by now be used to these things!
This other one was Saturday morning. I woke up, and remember lying there thinking I hadn't had THAT much to drink last night... When you realize its an earthquake, I?m not sure "relief" or "terror" is the more applicable...
It is also turned into winter. Winter in Tokyo is pretty much like summer in Tokyo -- only rather then hot, unforgiving sunshine and humidity there is cold windy rain. Either way, you don't want to be outside.
Of course, the Japanese don't change at all from season to season -- in the summer all the hip fashionable ones carry umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. In the winter, from the rain...
Japanese fashion also dictates the outfits of the "call" girls ? the girls who stand out on street corners selling cellphone service for the likes of NTT, Vodaphone and KDDI. Now, in the summer they're wearing these hideous, hot plastic dresses and knee-high black boots. In the winter, they're wearing... hideous, freezing plastic dresses and knee-high black boots. In the summer they're shaking from heat exhaustion, today, they're shaking from the cold.
I did buy a cellphone; but not from one of them. For 1 yen you get a phone that is brand new that Sprint will charge you $200 for. And the service is like $20/month for what Sprint charges $30/month. Wow. It's insane.
And it works EVERYWHERE, includig the subway. Why aren't things more like that everywhere else?
Wandered over to Diaba this past weekend. How to describe it? Hmmm... a Japanese theme park comes to mind. Of course, the theme is more along the lines of "consume, Consume, CONSUME!". There is a giant ferris wheel there that you can romantically see all of Tokyo from. Right next to the Super Toyota Showroom. They have a giant video game hall which isn't too bad and features loads of cool things, including a virtual 3d roller coaster. There is a giant shopping mall complex with areas dedicated to kids, themed to feel like "Hong Kong" (which Lilian, who has been there sorta laughed at...), and the Fuji TV Studio, which has numerous corners for you to BUY FUJI TV products for their shows. Fuji TV is just a giant marketing machine...
Temples are on for next weekend. Who knows what those will reveal...
So, what to talk about? Food. Yup. Food. Your favorite thing. I figure I'd do a rundown of the various restraunts here that are worth noting, either for what they are or for their food or for... so, where to begin?
The Japanese place under the tracks in Ginza, which only has a Japanese name --
Type of food: Yakatori (Skewered stuff cooked over a grill)
Specialities: Chicken, any way.
Cost: Y2,000 -- Y3,000 person w/o booze.
The place is under the tracks, which adds a certain atomsphere. Trains rumble overhead coming and going to Tokyo Station. But the food is amazing -- simple things like various ways chicken can be marinated and cooked on a habachi grill. The two best were the "Chicken and Welsh Onion (leek)"and the "Asparagus wrapped in Chicken" Both quite tasty. Nummy.
The Ex-Bar --
Type of food: "German Snack Bar"
Specialities: Pepper Steak, Meat Loaf, Sausages, etc...
Cost: Y5,000 -- Y8,000, depending on how much you drink.
Location: Roppongi.
This place is a legend amongst UBS people. Last night, we drug Haim there for his first visit. I went with the pork cutlet, Pete got the Meatloaf/Sausage Plate, and Haim had the Vinerschnitzle. After spending a good 40 minutes chatting and drinking beer, the food arrives. Horst (the owner) proudly puts down a full plate of food, and then follows it up with ANOTHER full plate of vegetables. The food is good, basic "anti-Japanese" food for when you want a real meal.
The beer is good German beer. You eat there like once a month after starving yourself for the whole day. And then don't eat until dinner the NEXT day. It's a must for those times when you don't want anything even remotely Japanese and you're trapped in Tokyo...
Mad Mulligans --
Type of food: British Isles...
Specialities: Fish and Chips.
Cost: Y2,000/person with one beer
Location: Kasumigaseki
Best fish and chips in Tokyo. It comes from having an English girlfriend.... Oh, and the Guinness is great too...
Kiwa -- The Chinese place across the street --
Type of food: Chinese.
Specialities: ??
Cost: Y2500/person
Location: Roppongi
They have great appatizers. Nummy. I get the fried pot stickers and the shrimp filled ones. Great stuff.
Cafe Danmark
Type of food: Pastries
Specialities: Various types of danishes...
Cost: Y200 / pastry
Location: Jiyaguoka
Great french pastries. Better then what you get in France, filled with fruit, chocolate, nuts, etc... I highly recommend the chocolate-pistachio nut ones. To die for...
The Chineese dumpling place in Roppongi Hills --
Type of food: Chinese
specialities: Dumplings
Cost: Y2500/person
Location: Roppongi Hills Shopping center
They do dumplings. About 20-30 different types. Really nummy dumplings. Highly recommend it for lunch on a weekday. And again, their name is in funny characters which I can't read...
Brendan's Pizzakaya--
Type of Food: Pizza
Cost: Y2000-Y3000/person
Location: Roppongi
For when you get homesick for pizza, this is as close to real pizza as you're going to find in Tokyo. It's a once-a-month trip for me; just to keep me sane.
Pepper Lunch
Type of food: Red Meat!
Cost: Y1000-Y2000/person
Location: All over -- chain place.
Okay, I guess this is a japanese steak place. They do fast food steak, served still raw on a sizzling plate. You then add in your sauces, cook it on the searing hot plate to your liking, and eat a perfect steak. And it's cheap, like $10 for a nice hunk of meat which is less then what you'd pay for it in the local stores. How they survive I can't tell you, but its great. There's one down in San Jose, California for those of you in the bay area...It was $10 for a meal there 5 years ago, so it's probably more expensive now...
(There are numerous knock-offs of this place; one just down the street from Lilian's place isn't half bad...)
The Tempura place downstairs in Ginza --
Type of food: Tempura
Cost: Y3500/person.
Location: Ginza, 5-chome (downtown), 1 block from Sony Store
One of the few truly Japanese places I hit up regularly. Sure, there is sushi but it is so common here it's hard to get excited about it. There are other Japanese places, but few I have frequented more then once. The food is great, course after course of tempura'd fish, shellfish, vegetables, plus some sashimi, salad, etc... They then finish it off with Tempura Fried Ice Cream. Nummy...
Well, that does it for this week. Dessert is sitting here, and yes, it's from Cafe Danmark... There's also cheesecake place that is probably going to put me off of New York's New York Style Cheesecake for life...
Gullible isn't in the dictionary.