Tokyo sakura trip day 5: Little Bear

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We went back to Ginza for the last meal of the trip, which was perfect as it would be within walking distance of our hotel.  Koguma (小熊) doesn't have any macarons, therefore it's kinda off the radar screens of many overseas visitors.  But one of our friends' parents visited the restaurant earlier and delivered positive feedback, and the pics on the restaurant's website (they even have an English site!) looked tantalizing.  So I looked forward to a nice farewell lunch.

Sesami-tofu on sea urchin top (前付：胡麻豆腐 雲丹) - a good way to start.  The sesame tofu was rich and tasty.

Tokyo sakura trip day 4: heavy taste kaiseki

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Tonight's dinner was arguably my most-anticipated meal this trip, in terms of food.  Unlike last year, there were no 3-star stops on this trip.  In fact, there were only two meals at starred restaurants this time around, and with two macarons, Kadowaki (かどわき) would be the top fine dining destination.

We arrived a little early for our late seating, and were led around the corner to a small private room in a dark bar upstairs.  The air in the room was suffocating with cigar smoke leftover from the previous evening.  The six of us would squeeze in here until our private room was ready.

Kinda like at Kanda (かんだ), there was no menu presented... so we had no idea how much food was coming our way.  I must say it's a little strange for a kaiseki experience...

Icefish with shirona and grilled mullet roe - a pile of icefish (白魚) sat on top of a vegetable from Kyoto called shirona (しろ菜), which isn't exactly the same as bok choy (白菜) or cabbage.  A nicely grilled slice of mullet roe (カラスミ) came on the side.  A little sprinkle of sesame seeds make things complete.

Tokyo sakura trip day 4: fruity cocktails

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Because they arrived a day later than we did, my friends weren't able to join us for sake at my favorite izakaya.  So I decided we should go hit a cocktail bar for some drinks.  I had heard about Bar Gen Yamamoto from a couple of different sources, and its range of fruity cocktails seemed right up the alley for a guy who always orders the fruity and girlie drinks (that would be moi).  The fact that it was a stone's throw away from the restaurant for dinner tonight seemed like a godsend.  Until I found out that the reservation slot immediately before dinner tonight was already taken...

...which was why we found ourselves sitting at the bar at 4 p.m.  Observing as Yamamoto-san made the drinks for our neighbors - who turned out to work for Asahi Shuzo (旭酒造), the makers of Dassai (獺祭).  When all of us were ready, we placed our orders and eagerly awaited for our drinks.  I chose the 6-cocktail set, wanting to taste a little bit more than the 4-cocktail set would offer.

#1: This was made with a citrus fruit called Tsunokaori (津之香) that reaches maturity in March and April.  Base is a shochu called Tsurunashi Genji (蔓無源氏), which uses a type of yam that was revived from 100 years ago.  Sprinkled with basil flowers on top, which added a nice fragrance on top of the citrus.

Tokyo sakura trip day 4: quick fry lunch

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I try to fit in a tempura (天ぷら) meal every time I’m in Japan, and this trip I decided to check out Fukamachi (深町), which have themselves a little macaron. The location was pretty convenient and we ended up there for the second half of the lunch session.

They open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Arriving at 12:30 p.m. gave us less than 1 hour for lunch, and the staff asked to make sure that we were OK with finishing a little earlier. Psychologically I felt a little rushed from the start.

I chose the most extensive menu, which gives you 2 prawns, 3 different types of fish, 5 types of veg, and a bowl of rice topped with a prawn cake. Pricing-wise, the addition of the prawn cake over rice costs an additional JPY 2,000… which seems kinda steep to me.

Prawn heads – two prawn heads arrive to tell us that the tails are coming next.

Tokyo sakura trip day 3: a very Sine Qua Non evening

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It's been nearly 19 years since Cow, Chicken, H-man and I first began working together, and we've kept our friendship over the years.  I try to meet up with them on each of my trips to Tokyo, getting together for a meal (or three) over wine.  It's traditional that H-man and I coordinate and bring wines to dinner - even if it involves me lugging some bottles from Hong Kong and the wines having to suffer a little bottle shock.

The four of us had a pretty good time last year at La Ruée vers l'or, so H-man once again booked us a table there.  Not only is the restaurant BYO-friendly, but sommelier Chiba Kazuto (千葉和外) is apparently more knowledgeable about and adept at handling Californian wines.  This was important because the theme I had proposed for tonight was one of California's highly sought-after wineries - Sine Qua Non.  H-man and I would each bring a pair of wines from the same vintage, with the pairs being 10 years apart.

As soon as I arrived and dropped the wines off with Chiba-san, I delivered another package to the H-man.  He had totally forgotten about the fact that I had bought a copy of Sine Qua Non's book, since the purchase was made almost a year ago.  He was ecstatic at the sight of the beautifully-crafted book, and no doubt would spend some quality time perusing through it.

As usual the menu was pre-set for us, knowing that we would be red-heavy in terms of wine.

Amuse bouche - anchovy sablé and a chiffon-y onion short cake.

Chilled cauliflower cream soup, firefly squid and nano-hana confit - Wow!  This was absolutely beautiful!  I loooove chilled soups, and this one was so creamy and so sweet.  Did I mention that cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables?  And they added a nice touch with the firefly squids (螢烏賊) that are now in season, after they have been marinated in olive oil with garlic, aglio olio-style.  The rapeseed flowers (菜の花) were also a nice seasonal touch.  So refreshing and awesome.