FOOD OF JAPAN - Traditional to Wacky

We are still newbies when it comes to Japan. This is our second visit and it won't be our last. We love the people first off- super polite and orderly, we love the scenery and temples, we love the culture, we love the technology (think japanese toilets), Most of all, WE LOVE THE FOOD in Japan. They can turn a simple piece of fish into something tasting complex and yet looks simple. They are not afraid to try the unthinkable (I will tell you more about this later), They take so much pride in their presentation, they respect the ingredients they work with. We ate our way from Narita to Tokyo Ginza to Takayama and finally onto Crazy Town Osaka. Come along on our journey and enjoy.
On my previous post, I told you about our stopover in Narita and the wonderful meal we had at the Excel Tokyu Inn. I still remember those gorgeous herring roe.

On the way back from Europe, our first night was in Tokyo Ginza. We started off in the main street of Ginza and didn't find anything that took our fancy. So we decided to head into the side streets hoping to find that one place locals goes to.............. we struck  GOLD. I have no idea what the name of the restaurant was, but here is a picture of the shop front.

The waiter at the front could not  speak a word of english, the menu was in Japanese, but  thankfully it had pictures on it. So that made it a bit easier for us to order. The place was full of local japanese diners. Some were having the big hot pot dishes known as Nabe. After consulting the menu, we opt for a set dinner.... only to be told they have run out. With the little understanding of Japanese, we figured they had soba noodles available and some appetizers were also available. So this is what we had.

Udon Noodles, Tempura, Green tea salt

Gyoza in chilli oil

Chicken Karaage

Curry Udon

It was the best meal we had stumbled across in Tokyo . You just cannot get a bad meal in Japan.

Takayama is the next stop.
We booked into the Ryokan Tanabe for this part of our journey. Have you ever had a kaiseki-ryori in a Japanese ryokan before? If not, you have to try it. The best decision ever, particularly if it is a really nice upmarket ryokan. "Kaiseki-Ryori is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner ranging anywhere from 6 to 15 different kinds of food. It showcases the chef's collection of skills and techniques that allows the preparation of such a meal".
Here is what we had at Ryokan Tanabe.

That's Kaiseki-Ryori

It's such a treat when the love of your life is also a chef !!

Curry broth with egg

This dish has fish cake, vegetables and agar agar

Sashimi

Bizzare western style cheese on toast !! and crispy prawn with fried rice

Cold soba noodles

Grilled mackerel 

Fish cake

Steamed egg

Chirashi Don

Along with all these lovely dishes, there were lots of different and yummy pickles. 

Breakfast is always included in the room rate at ryokans and they are worth waking up early for. This is our breakfast spread on the first morning. 

Miso and shallot cooking on dry maple leaf over a Hida Konro

Tamago - sweeten egg cake

Grilled Pickled Mackerel

Vegetable pickles

Pickled plum and radish

Street food in Japan is widespread and each area has its own specialty. In the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, everyone lines up for the sweet mirin omelette - Tamago, in Osaka it is the Takoyaki. In Takayama, we found lots of little wooden huts selling various street food ranging from savoury to sweet. Most of these stalls are congregated at the Miyagawa Morning Market. It was here that we tried the Hida Beef Steamed Buns -  These are soft pillowy buns filled with Hida beef in a slightly sweet gravy that are served steaming hot.

As we stroll down the market a bit further, the smell of burnt caramel drawn us to a stall just outside a shopfront. There was a young Japanese guy cooking what looks to be square blocks of egg. The sign out front reads "Tamaten". We watched in wonder when a lovely sweet old lady said to us.... Marshmallow. Our eyes lit up. Yep, we definitely have to try these......... it was the best 200 yen we spent. So we went back for seconds !!
It is made out of egg white. The sweetener is boiled honey and agar. It is then rolled in sweet sake and egg yolk before being seared over a hot grill. You can only get this sweet in this area.

Tamaten

Osaka is bright, loud, noisy, buzzy, fun and absolutely CRAZY !!! We have had some of the best meals in Osaka. The main strip of Dotonbori is really busy and a great place to have takoyaki (octopus balls) served from stands outside restaurants and shops.

Takoyaki Headcase Style ( I think ours is a bit more stylish !!LOL)

It is also a good place to try the local dish of Okonomiyaki (Thick crepe omelette with cabbage, noodles, bacon drizzle with a sweet soy kind of a sauce and Japanese mayonnaise - cooked on a teppanyaki)

Okonomiyaki @ Chibo in Osaka

To have really good and interesting food, you need to venture away from the main strip and head into the lane ways running off the tourist strips and malls.
It was from wandering around these little alleys one late afternoon that brought us to a little izakaya (Japanese style pub) that serves ice cold tap beers and yakitori. This place specialises in anything pork from the standard pork neck to the completely wacky outrageous "PORK RECTUM). Check out their menu.

We decided to go with the pork neck, pork tongue, pork stomach, pork cheek and yes...... you got it.... Pork Rectum !!!

Pork neck, tongue, stomach, cheek and RECTUM

The rectum was the one on the bottom...... (pardon the pun !!!). Notice how it is also the tastiest looking skewer out of the lot !! I think this has just proven that look is always deceiving !!

Our analysis of Pork Rectum..... it is chewy (so you can't just swallow it whole with a gulp of beer), it is VERY porky. Its the sort of thing that you go....OK, I have tried it now, lets move on..... hahaha...

This place did serve normal food like Japanese potato salad. I don't know whether it is the mayonnaise or the potatoes you get in Japan, their potato salad is really delicious.

Potato salad

Chicken Tsukune, now this is worth going back for..... we went back the next night just to have it and also try their umeshu (Japanese plum wine. This Izakaya had a huge selection and we were keen to try out a few). Chicken Tsukune is chicken mince meat balls that is cooked and served yakitori style with an egg yolk and a slightly sweet thick soy. What gives this meatball a bite is the addition of cartilage.

Chicken Tsukune - with egg yolk

Chicken Tsukune with ponzu vinegar sauce

There are loads of seafood grills in Osaka. However, there are touristy ones that cost the earth, there are novelty ones where you are given a fishing rod, and you have to catch your own fish from the tank. There was no such nonsense in the alleys. We found one that was tiny. It had around 10 seats around a bar that had on displays in baskets all of the seafood on offer. Behind that is a hot teppanyaki and a charcoal grill. All you have to do is point to the seafood you want to the chef and he grills it. When it is ready, he place your dish on a long boat paddle and swings it around the bar to rest in front of you to pick up. Quite cool.

This is the menu - all on display

That is the chef 

Grilled fish

Scallops - Opened right in front of us, and grilled

Chicken Karaage - Japanese style KFC

Chicken Yakitori

We did have a delicious dinner of wagyu beef. But that deserves a post of its own.
Bon Appetit or should I be saying Douzo Meshiagare !!!

One Day in Paris

We are coming towards the last leg of our journey.
After dropping the hire car off in Bordeaux, we hopped onto the TVG train heading into St Germain Paris for a night.
I love Paris. When Steph and I got together, I mentioned in conversation that I have been to many part of France in my travels but never to Paris................... He vowed to take me there to celebrate my 40th. Since then, I have fallen in love with Paris. I just love all the lights, enjoying a glass of vin rouge sitting outside the millions of cafes and people watch, walking along the Seine and having dinner in little bistros located in the small alleys.
On previous visits to Paris, we had always opt for an apartment because we are often there for a week. Because we are only staying for a night this time. We had no choice but to stay in a hotel. We have always known Paris Hotels are expensive and tiny. I think we had found the smallest hotel in Paris on this trip by mistake.
I thought I had booked into the Hotel Saint Germain on Rue du Bac (which I have seen on previous trips when our apartment was on Rue du Seine, and this hotel was just up the road from it). It looked delightful. Instead I had booked into Hotel de Saint-Germain on Rue du Four. The difference with a small word 'de' makes a huge difference in size and quality !!! Note to self........... pay full attention to detail when booking Paris hotels next time!!! What I was most annoyed about is this small cupboard of a room wasn't in the budget category price wise for what it was...... I would have suspected I got the wrong hotel if the rate was cheap. We were on the 5th Floor. There are two ways of taking our bags upstairs, either on the NARROW spiral stairs from the front desk or take the lift.......I was glad there was a lift, however, the lift was so small that by the time you place your one bag into it, there is just barely enough room for 1 person to squeeze in without the shutter door (Think Guillotine) catching your elbow, your backside or your nose !!! so Steph managed to contort and wrap himself around the suitcase so the door would close !!! wish you had been there to see it...... quite funny !!!
The location of this hotel was wonderful as they had emailed me when I asked for the best way to get to the hotel if we were coming by train. They said, get on the Metro and hop off at St Sulplice Station. It is 2 minutes walk from there. They were right !!! Being so close to the subway meant that at night, even 5 floors up from the ground, we could hear the rumbling of the railway......... and it was VERY LOUD !!! I thought all subway stops at 1am...... not this one apparently, it went on all night. The walls must have been paper thin as well because we could tell our next door neighbours were watching the movie channel..... they must have fell asleep with the TV on (they would have been super tired in order to do so !! ) because we heard every subsequent movie after that until day break.
Oh well, thank goodness it was only for one night.
Onto a brighter note, We found a great Parisian cafe to enjoy a few glasses of Vin Rouge before dinner, "Le Bonaparte" just up the road from St Germain de Pres.

The waiter was professional and friendly, the locals came in with their little white dogs and their very BIG dogs....... Just by simply sitting here, sipping on wine and people watch made me feel Parisian.
We finally left this beautiful moment in search of some decent food. I was hoping for a nice little bistro where it is not touristy that serves basic parisian bistro fare such as steak frites, steak tartare, salade frisee aux lardon, moules a la mariniere, terrine de Campagne, Escargot and the likes.
Instead, we walked pass Le GERMAIN Restaurant on Rue de Buci. It was all lit up red, looked quite funky. Steph decided that was where we are to have dinner. It was on a complete opposite spectrum to what I had in mind.

I agreed and I was glad............ The decor was really cool. Right in the middle of room was a perpex statue of the bottom half of a lady in a skirt and heels in bright yellow. I had to show you a photo by another diner on the Yelp website of it in day light. At night, the lighting was so dim, my photo wouldn't have done it justice.

The waiter was VERY GOOD LOOKING......... and he was really friendly and attentive (I am sure if we went to an old style bistro, we may have encountered snooty service as expected in Paris)
They did have steak frites on the menu....... so we had that and it was simple but really delicious. As the night got on, the place was packed out with lots of good looking young Parisians and the music changed from chill lounge to party mode. I think Steph and I had just accidentally stumbled into the most hip and happening place to be seen in Paris.
With our belly full......... we went for a stroll to enjoy Paris at night. We made our way to the Eiffel Tower (this is our thought - it is low tourist season, freezing and drizzling and it is 10pm......surely, there will be no queues to go up the tower). WE WERE WRONG !!! There was still a queue when we got there. So another chance in Paris and still haven't got up the Eiffel Tower !!!
I did manage to get some nice photo of it though

I have to admit, there is something magical about Paris............ just being in this city makes me romantic. Whether it is strolling hand in hand along the Seine or cuddling in the park. I FEEL LOVE ALL AROUND !!! (hope Steph felt the same way.............. hahaha........)

Next stop JAPAN ! Konnichiwa