Following on from Eating in Tokyo – Part 3 – More Markets and Depachikas…
Shinjuku
We had to stop in Shinjuku, known as one of the many foodie destinations in Tokyo. I found this Time Out article on the Best 20 Ramen in Tokyo very handy (too bad I couldn’t visit all 20!) I picked Nagi Shinjuku Golden Gai, a chain ramen restaurant, but it stood out to me as it served niboshi (dried sardines) ramen. Located in the middle of the red light district, it was rather strange walking through an old industrial area to find dinner. It took a while to navigate to the right door. There was no English sign titled ‘Nagi’ but we soon worked it out when we saw a queue down a very tight alleyway. It was only 5.30pm and there was already a queue! Luckily we weren’t too hungry and the wait was only about 20 minutes.
We found that one of the chefs would yell out something, no idea what – probably something like ‘next!’ and then we would hear footsteps running down the stairs. As my sister and I both don’t understand Japanese, we figured we would wait until we saw people actually come out of the eatery before heading up stairs. One of the chef’s met us downstairs anyway, and brought us up.
The very steep staircase (almost a ladder) led us to a vending machine where we could place our order. Thankfully there were pictures and English translations. The choice was easy as there were only two options available – Original Ramen or Special Ramen, and I think the only difference was the latter came with a soft boiled egg, an extra slice of chashu pork, extra spring onion and dried nori. There were more buttons on the vending machine if you wanted to order extras such as rice, seaweed, dried sardines and beer.
The eatery is so small, fitting only 9 people. It was a tight squeeze particularly since it was winter coming into spring and we had to strip off layers of jackets not to mention we also had backpacks. There was nowhere to put them except on our laps.
All along the counter, there were tissue boxes, spices, sauces and tap water available. I ordered the Special Ramen (¥1000). The broth was fishy and bold, but not overpowering. It was like nothing I’ve had before! The chashu was fatty and melted in my mouth. A very hearty meal and we were both glad we made a stop there. I just loved the old-school feel of this ramen shop in Shinjuku. Sitting there took me back to what a ramen shop must have been like decades ago. Traditional, simple, uncomplicated and fast, serving fantastic ramen.
After our ramen dinner, we gave in and tried one of the many creperies that can be found in Japan for dessert. The one we went to in Shinjuku was Creperie Marion as it was within line of sight when we wanted dessert.
I chose the chocolate ice cream with whipped cream and fresh strawberries (not sure of price). The thing about Japan is their version of whipped cream is the stuff you get out of a can. Not the fresh stuff. Although the crepe was made fresh, the fillings weren’t impressive.
Some of my friends were in Tokyo at the same time as my sister and I, so we decided to do something fun and head to the Robot Restaurant in Shinjuku. At the entrance, we noticed two large robots at the front where we could sit and take photos. After providing our booking reference and obtaining our tickets (for some reason the ticket booth was on the opposite side of the main entrance), we were led inside. The hallways were lit up in all sorts of colours and neon lighting.
Our tickets gave us one free drink in the lounge area and bar. There was a musician (dressed like a robot?) on the stage entertaining the crowd with some music. The lounge area was just as colourful with mirrors all along the walls and ceiling, multiplying the effect of all the neon lights.
We had read that the food wasn’t any good at the restaurant, so we decided to catch an early show and eat dinner somewhere afterwards. I just wanted to post some photos of the Robot show! As we were seated at the show arena, there were plenty of snack carts wheeled in – mainly popcorn and beer. We all found that there was quite a push to buy snacks.
The show was so crazy. Kind of like what a Power Rangers movie set would be like with all of these battles, robots and other monsters.
A short video I posted on instagram of the show is below.
No one had done research on where to eat in Shinjuku, and I had already tried Nagi Ramen earlier, so we just walked around the streets of Shinjuku until we found something. Surprisingly there was nothing that really grabbed our attention. I noticed a noodle shop with a vending machine at the front, and was happy with that. My sister and I started off with gyoza which were nicely charred on the outside.
My friends ordered the karaage chicken as a starter.
My main was a plain bowl of ramen with chashu. After all the wonderful meals I’d been having, I was actually very surprised to find it wasn’t that great. The broth was very light but didn’t have much flavour to it at all. It reminded me of a Chinese noodle soup rather than a Japanese ramen dish. Out of all the restaurants in Shinjuku, I picked a dud. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, it was just meh so I was disappointed considering it was one of our last meals in Tokyo!
We decided to try somewhere else for dessert. Again, we had no idea where to go. We ended up in one of the multi-story shopping complexes where we found Egg & Spuma. As with everything in Japan, there were plastic food models out the front of what the dish looked like. It looked pretty interesting and no one was fussed where we went as long as we got a table. We ordered the fruits omelette with custard ice cream (¥1,300). A very odd dessert as it was so eggy! I know the menu stated it was an omelette but I wasn’t expected it to taste like an omelette. It was sort of a half savoury and half sweet dish. Not to my liking but I’m glad I got to try a weird dessert in Japan.
Ginza
We only had enough time to hang out in Ginza for two meals. The first was at an udon restaurant that I had previously researched – Sato Yosuke. It took a while to find the place as there were no English signs, but googlemaps usually shows a photo of the entrance and that’s how we found it!
Famous for its Inaniwa udon, which traces back to the Edo-era, this type of udon was conceived in the town of Inaniwa in the Akita prefecture. It is one of the top three best types of udon in all of Japan. The recipe for making Inaniwa udon has been passed down through the Sato Yosuke family line. The staff at the Sato Yosuke branch still make everything by hand. Although my sister and I were both there for the udon, we saw Aburi beef on the menu. I googled ‘aburi’ which means grilled on the top side so that we knew this would be a rare beef dish. The plate cost us ¥2,000 or about AUD$24. This was one of the best pieces of beef I had ever tasted. The slices were small but just melted in my mouth. They were to be eaten with soy sauce and vinegar or lemon juice with salt. I preferred it with soy sauce and vinegar. Beautiful and well worth the money.
I chose the hot and cold udon set (¥1,500) which came with the glossy pulled cold udon resting on a bamboo mat, a hot bowl of soup filled with udon, a small dish with fresh ginger and shallots, and another with leeks and horseradish. Although there were instructions in English on the menu on how to eat this dish, it was pretty incomprehensible. So I decided to place everything into the warm soup. The cold noodles were dipped into the hot broth before placing in my mouth. My sister and I could both immediately taste the difference in the quality of the Inaniwa udon compared to the regular udon noodles we eat in Australia. Velvety smooth, thinner than the regular udon but thicker than ramen, perfection in its elasticity – chewy and strong yet soft with the right amount of resistance. I much preferred the cold udon as the elasticity was stronger than the hot ones which were slightly softer because of the heat. Highly recommended!
Our second meal in Ginza was at a yakitori bar called Tonton that my sister had researched. Finding the place was slightly difficult. We were definitely in the right area (underneath the train tracks) and there were several yakitori joints and bars around.
Googlemaps was saying we had arrived at our destination but it took us a while to find this gem of a yakitori bar as there were no English signs. After passing by the same yakitori bar with a smokey haze towards the grill about four times, I finally spotted one of the yakitori chefs wearing a t-shirt with ‘Tonton’ written on it. Huzzah! The yakitori joint was completely open with a few communal tables and stools.
The condition to dine there was that each person had to order at least one drink. Luckily for us, our waiter/front of house could speak a little bit of English to tell us this. As neither of us drink alcohol, my sister and I both ordered a coke. I’ve forgotten the price but it was a cheap drink served in gigantic beer mugs. There were various types of yakitori available – chicken, chicken skin, pig’s heart, pig’s liver etc. Yakitori skewers had to be ordered in serves of two but were so cheap at only ¥160 each (AUD$1.90). I chose the pork skewers in soy sauce while my sister ordered the roast chicken skewers to start off with. So juicy and succulent with that wonderful BBQ flavour.
We also chose the chicken meatballs and the beef tongue. I preferred the meatballs which were bursting with flavour (and I may have accidentally squirted out juices as I munched on them). Such great value. We weren’t too adventurous with testing out the rest of the menu (mainly offal) given that we had to order two of everything. So we paid the bill and moved on.
A great cheap eat and a cool atmosphere where you get to meet and talk to several other locals or tourists.
Coming up next is Eating in Tokyo Part 5 – Michelin starred fine dining at Narisawa.
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Sharon
August 28, 2016 at 11:42 pm (8 years ago)Yum yum yum! That icon sounds fabulous!