Everything everywhere all in my tummy day 6: 3 cafés

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It's our second morning in Tokyo, and time to get ourselves some coffee. We were starting to feel a little tired from the traveling, so we got ourselves out the door around an hour later than I had planned. No matter. Still plenty of time to hit two cafés, both in the Tsukiji (築地) neighborhood.

I first came across Coffee Amikane (コーヒー網兼) in 2014 when Fergie and I were wandering around the Tsukiji Outer Market (築地場外市場). It's a cute little hole-in-the-wall, and back then Hatsue baa-chan just looked soooo cute in her apron, working the enamel pot and heating the coffee cups in a water bath over a gas stove with two hobs. The coffee was simple and cheap, but Fergie and I just loved the place with the vibe. It had been open for more than 50 years by then, and it was just a piece of Tsukiji's history. I managed to return the following year for another visit, but hadn't had to opportunity to go back since then. With each subsequent visit to Tokyo, I wondered about the lovable grandma, especially considering her advanced age. Was she still with us, and was she still running the shop?

Everything everywhere all in my tummy day 5: the reunion

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It's been more than 4 years since this gang met up, and now that borders have opened up, it was time to hang out with Cow, Chicken, and H-man. As usual we asked H-man to choose a restaurant, with the understanding that BYO is not an issue and the food doesn't break the bank. Odajima (小田島) is a wine bar that serves Japanese kappou (割烹)-style cuisine, and I was happy to check out a new place I haven't been to.

Bottarga with mochi (唐墨と餅) - this is always a good combination, especially when wrapped in a piece of nori (海苔). But not for anyone who dislikes having things stick to their teeth...

Everything everywhere all in my tummy day 5: the first experience

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Our mission this morning was, once again, shopping. We had discovered some time ago that there are shops in Japan which sell utensils designed for lefties, and there's a left-handed spatula in our kitchen which needs replacing. I had done some research and found a shop in Kappabashi Dougu Street (かっぱ橋道具街) which has a section for people like Foursheets.

I had long heard about Kappabashi but just never got around to check out the area, because buying kitchen utensils or professional equipment for restaurants somehow just wasn't a priority. So it was fun to come check out the different types of shops, including ones that sell those plastic fake food items that are in the display windows of so many restaurants across Japan.

Everything everywhere all in my tummy day 4: bongwater Vietnamese

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I'm flying solo in Tokyo tonight, as Foursheets is meeting up with one of her besties. As luck would have it, Big Mac is in town on business. So it was a perfect opportunity to catch up with him after more than a year. I was, of course, tasked with choosing the restaurant, and I did something a little out of the ordinary this time.

A few of my wine friends in Tokyo have been frequenting a place called Ăn Đi, a place serving Vietnamese cuisine which has a well-known sommelier. I had always been curious about the place, so I decided to book us seats to give it a try. I also booked the wine pairing.

Bánh mì - with mashed potato and purple cabbage, mint leaves, a big cashew nut, and lemon sauce.

Everything everywhere all in my tummy: legendary pain

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It’s out last morning in Fukuoka on this leg of the trip, and we decided to take in a full breakfast at Hotel Miyako Hakata. Restaurant XXXX on the top floor of the hotel provides a decent view of the city, provided one can snag a table by the window.

We chose the Japanese breakfast, which included a range of little nibbles starting from sashimi, mentaiko (明太子) - a local specialty in Fukuoka, grilled cherry salmon (桜鱒)… etc. It was pretty filling, and would give us a good start to the day.

Everything everywhere all in my tummy day 3: same Goh-san, new Goh

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Once I had planned out the tentative dates for our trip, the first thing I did was to get in touch with our friend Fukuyama Goh to book seats at his new restaurant Goh - which has only been open since around November last year. We had missed our chance to go to La Maison de la Nature Goh on our previous visits, and the restaurant was closed last October. It was ranked among Asia's 50 Best Restaurants from time to time over the last few years, and I would have liked to have tried it before its closure.

But the new Goh is now housed in the brand-spanking-new 010 Building, which is also home to the new permanent GohGan as well as a bar. The building sits on the bank of the Naka River (那珂川) just below the southern tip of Nakasu (中洲). The design is certainly dramatic, and the view at night is pretty impressive.

Everything everywhere all in my tummy day 3: a walk in the forest

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On our third day in Japan, we once again dragged our asses out of bed at a relatively early hour. We had an appointment this morning and needed to get Foursheets her daily doses of coffee in the morning. Café Miel (カフェミエル) is just on the other side of Hakata Station, and it seemed like a quaint little place that one could easily find in Japan.

One could order coffee prepared one of four different ways, including siphon. Unfortunately we did not have a lot of time to wait for it, so I just got mine poured through a tea strainer. Figured I couldn't go wrong with the house blend "Miel (ミエル)".

Everything everywhere all in my tummy day 2: shop till you drop

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Despite having a pretty tiring day yesterday, we managed to drag our asses out of bed relatively early this morning for an excursion out of town. But first... breakfast! I managed to grab some goodies last night and we needed to make sure we have enough fuel for the day.

The egg sandwich (たまごサンド) from Family Mart was pretty nice. There were chunks of both egg white and also cooked yolk, with some of the yolk then mixed with mayo. Overall, pretty good.

Everything everywhere all in my tummy day 1: back to FUK

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The very last trip that Foursheets and I took to Japan was a short hop to Fukuoka. We were piggybacking on DaRC and Ro Ro's trip and pretty much didn't have to do any planning at all. It is therefore fitting that, on our first trip back to the Land of the Rising Sun since the start of the pandemic, we are starting our 11-day journey in FUK. And we arrive on the 12th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake.

But... first things first. As we were not planning on eating on the plane, we took our breakfast at the Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge in Hong Kong. The Prince of Napa chastised me for reviewing food from an airline lounge on my last trip, but I just had to make it known that the wonton noodles (雲吞麵) at the CX lounge had become so bland. Other than helping me fill my stomach it was almost a waste of calories.

Well... I wasn't gonna make the same mistake twice. So this time around, I took two bowls of their famous dan dan noodles (擔擔麵). Yes, this is an airline lounge food item that is beloved by the airline's customers. In fact, I think the Noodle Bar at CX lounges play a reasonably significant part in maintaining customer loyalty. Even small potatoes like me always want to try to maintain at least our Silver status in order to have lounge access and get the noodles. But, I digress. The noodles were delicious thanks to the rich and flavorful broth.

The wino Chairman

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I had originally booked dinner at The Chairman (大班樓) tonight to kinda help My Birdbrain Cousin celebrate her birthday. She was pretty excited about it until a few days ago, when she informed me that she had a sudden work conflict. This was disappointing, but I subsequently found out that she was spending her actual birthday back home with family, for the first time in a few years, so I was happy for her.

I eventually rounded up a group of (mostly) wine lovers - half of whom turned out to be lawyers. Even the Compatriot was lucky enough to get himself a seat, as he had just landed from Rosbif Land just a day earlier. This was gonna be fun.

Having learned my lesson from the last meal here with my former team, I decided that I would ask for preferences but make executive decisions myself.

Pickled mid-summer ginger root (大班樓子薑) - always nice to whet one's appetite with these.

Deep fried crab meat and mushroom dumplings (金錢蟹盒) - OK la... Still feels a little greasy.

Golden balls

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It has, once again, been a few months since the Specialist and I had dinner together, and she thought we should meet up over a couple of nice bottles. Italian was the preferred cuisine, so I suggested Estro without much thought. After all, I've always been happy with my meals there.

Due to the Specialist's dietary restrictions, I had to contact the Juve Fan ahead of time, and he very kindly tailored a menu for us. While I would have preferred a shorter 6-course menu, I knew full well it was never going to happen... and in the end I didn't get the "half-portions" for the 8 courses that came along.

Compressed Italian pear - crunchy texture, with citrus notes from Crudino it was compressed in. On top we have some sweet emulsion and little bits of Taggiasca olives.

Semolina bread cushion - the tuna sauce filling was smoky, with tons of flavor and good acidity. Caper leaf on top.

Old Italian favorites

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I was treated to lunch today by a service provider along with my former teammates, and Cipriani Hong Kong was chosen as the venue. These days I get to come here about once in a blue moon, so I was pretty happy that I could come back for some of my favorite dishes. I was determined to be absolutely boring.

Corn, cucumber, string beans and cherry tomatoes salad - I'm on a diet, so I chose to start the meal with just a salad. In fact, this is one of my favorite dishes here. The basil was very, very nice and fragrant, and the corn was very sweet and crunchy.

Baked white tagliolini with Praga ham - this ie the one dish that I order the most when I come. I looooove the cheese gratin. This gets me every.single.time. But the downside, though, is that this is heavily seasoned, and I find myself taking more drinks of water after eating this.

Zabaglione cake - while the others had the signature vanilla meringue cake as part of their set lunch, I went for this instead. It is much, much better, as the flavors of Marsala wine comes through the egg yolk.

I was pretty happy with lunch, and glad I had the chance to enjoy some of my old favorites again.