J.S. Pancake Cafe, Jiyugaoka 自由が丘

Golden Week has been, well, golden. After four months of winter dreariness, Tokyo has burst into summer without a real spring (so much for the much vaunted distinct four Japanese seasons).  

Having discovered that I can walk from my crib (recently moved to a new hood) to Jiyugaoka in a little under fifteen minutes, I decided a little lunch was in order, so as to take in some of the Sweets Festa that was rockin’ the town at the time. Although I did manage to see the candy house, I actually recall seeing more yakisoba stalls than sweet stalls. But hey, who am I to complain?

My dining partner and I lunched at J.S. Pancake Café, situated on that lovely wide, tree filled street that looks and feels more like Camden than Tokyo (due not only to the trees, park benches and well designed shop fronts, but also the lack of hideous overhead cables and whatnot). Unsurprisingly, the shop itself is on the top floor of the Journal Standard apparel store, hence J.S. Pancake Café by Journal Standard.

Nice bright, airy room. Wooden floors, pale wood furnishing, somewhat “girly,” if you know what I mean. Place was packed at the time of my visit, lots of young women, a few couples, and lots and lots of pancakes.

We ended up seated by the glass façade looking down on to the street below, so while waiting for our orders I enjoyed watching the passing scenery below. Tokyo and warm weather equals lots and lots of nice scenery. Especially if in Jiyugaoka…

I had the BLT pancake, which also came with a fried egg. My dining partner the chicken curry with pancakes. Sounds weird? Let me explain.

The BLT pancake looked and felt more like an English Breakfast pancake to me, thanks to the fried egg I suppose. Two pancakes – not the thin, soggy, Judeo-Christian myth-inspired variety I was used to in the UK, but the colonial version (basically the Japanese "hotcake") I see New York lawyers have for breakfast in the movies. It all tasted great, and was certainly novel. However, I would have liked it to have been properly put together, like a sandwich, as I spent too much time having to choose what components to put on my fork. Anyway, it was enjoyable and went nicely with the Heartland beer.

My dining partner’s (maybe time to abbreviate to DP now?) lunch came in the form of a reasonably sized bowl of chicken and vegetable curry, with nice chunky, easily identifiable veggies contained therein, and a side plate of several small pancakes. After much deliberation, we decided to treat the pancakes as little naan, and eat the curry in the usual curry manner.

Worth a visit? Sure. Tasted good, although not mind blowing, and some interesting sounding dishes on the menu. Pleasant atmosphere and surroundings. Normal price point. Enough said.

Tel: 03-5731-1185

Kushiwakamaru, Nakameguro 串若丸、中目黒

Most people enjoy yakitori. Most people know Nakameguro’s Kushiwakamaru. If you’re the poor soul who has yet to sample its delights, you have my pity. Kushiwaka’ has been around for a while, a couple of decades at least from what I can gather, and seems to have been highly regarded all along. 

Considering that Nakameguro is famous for yakitori (or so I’m told), there’s some stiff competition in the area, such as the somewhat more “upmarket” take on the genre offered at Akira. Nevertheless, Kushiwakamaru continues to draw huge crowds, resulting in long queues everyday of the week – rain or shine.

This popularity is also one of Kushiwaka’s drawbacks. It’s often extremely difficult to get in the place, especially on weekday evenings if you’re heading there after the office. You can make a reservation up until 7pm (after which your only option is to get in line with the other hopefuls milling around outside), but this then imposes a two hour limit on your visit which, if you are interested in drink just as much as kushiyaki, is a pain. Furthermore, if you arrive late you will find your reservation has been cancelled.

If you go early, i.e., at 5pm, it’s possible to grab a seat and settle in. You’d be well advised to, as you’ll enjoy your stay. Immensely. Should you end up having to queue, then at least the good people running the show have the decency to serve beer to those awaiting admittance.

Once inside, you’ll be greeted by a fairly simple interior. Lots of basic looking wooden tables, chairs and screens. U-shaped wooden counter around the kitchen, coat stands, beer posters and white strips of paper bearing the names of available dishes. The down to earth, “local” feel is half the charm, the half being the food, of course. I’ve read somewhere that the basic interior renders Kushiwaka’ less than suitable for a date. Well, perhaps it’s not the best venue for a first date, but it’s certainly more than good enough for subsequent romantic liaisons. Besides, do you really want to be dating someone that doesn’t enjoy food as good as this?

The menu, providing both Japanese and English listings, offers up a huge variety of yakitori and kushiyaki (tasty morsels, grilled on little wooden skewers), ranging from staples such as chicken liver, skin, breast and gizzard, to peppers stuffed with cheese (awesome), bacon-wrapped tomatoes (more awesome!) and even oysters when in season. Drinks are fairly plentiful, teas, sours for the ladies, some shochu and big frothy daijoki beer at ¥800. Kushiwaka’ is not, however, a place to indulge a passion for sake (sorry guys…).

The food itself is a straightforward, uncomplicated affair. Fairly large portions, fresh, succulent and shiny, almost as if it’s been sprayed with that stuff Pizza Hut cover their “pizzas” in. The simplicity of the food is its strong point. It’s easy to sample a wide selection of kushiyaki and yakitori, which all have a suitably robust home cooking look, and are quite simply very, very tasty. So much so, that you’ll find it hard to stop ordering, and indeed reordering.

The oshinko moriawase is workman-like. Crunchy, tastes okay, but nothing special. As noted earlier, the bacon wrapped tomatoes are divine, being perfectly juicy and the bacon not too salty. Be warned, when just served they can be hot, creating a napalm effect as the tomato explodes in your mouth. The liver too is excellent, melt-in-the-mouth tender, and not overcooked. The tsukune and chicken and leak are recommended, although there’s nothing exciting about them. Just simple, delicious yakitori standards.

A truly outstanding dish is the bacon-wrapped green peppers stuffed with cheese. The combination of the three is heavenly, and they look fantastic. So too with some of the “specials,” such as the wasabi chicken momo, or the plum sauce and basil topped variations. Basil-wrapped tsukune also provide a nice take on an old favourite. Mushrooms are always a good idea, and at Kushiwaka’ they come stuffed with minced chicken, tsukune-style, which makes them an even better idea than usual.

The nankotsu is good, or so I am told. Although as I can’t abide the stuff, we’ll just have take the word of my dining partners on this one. When available, the grilled oysters have always been good, of a decent size, juicy and the taste not too overpowering. I always like the ginko nuts, just nicely bitter, while the erengi, although okay, are sometimes too rubbery for my liking.

One problem that arises from all this great food is that it’s often hard to try it all. Certainly impossible in one sitting, but even on subsequent visits I find myself ordering the same wonderful dishes as always. It’s just so damned good.

The atmosphere is rather lively, a little crowded, and friendly overall. Not too noisy, you can still enjoy conversation without having to yell at your interlocutor. The service is fairly good overall. Not the best perhaps, but I’d put this down to the staff being very busy taking orders and serving plate after plate with little time for smiles or providing for your comfort at a more leisurely pace. I always get the impression that their level of friendliness increases the more you order. So for most parties, you’ll probably end up with extremely good service.

To top it all off, Kushiwakamaru is exceptional value for money, both on the food and drink fronts. You can take your fill of both, until you can take no more, for less than ¥4,000.

What are you waiting for?

Tel: 03-3715-9292

Orenchi, Musashi-Kosugi おれんち、武蔵小杉

Earlier this week, with the Golden Week feeling already sinking in, I left the safe confines of Tokyo and crossed the border over to darkest Kawasaki to join The Woodsman in Musashi-Kosugi for an evening’s indulgence at Orenchi. Good food, better sake and a smoke-free environment were promised, and there was little reason to doubt. 

A ten-minute walk from the south exit of the station, Orenchi isn’t much to look at. It has a decidedly dishevelled aspect, which is faithfully maintained inside the place too. Tardis-like, all the clutter, bric-a-brac, yellowed walls, wooden counter, washitsu and smoking room are contained within a floor space that you’d never imagine from the outside.  Not that the place is dirty or in need of bulldozing, it’s merely one of those lovely, worn looking establishments that a connoisseur would call a “real” izakaya.

Our visit did not start well. The oba-chan that greeted us was more than a little surprised to hear we had made a reservation. After much hustle and bustle, and shuffling of note pads, it was determined that we did have seats reserved. Why the confusion? The nice lady had ingeniously managed to render The Woodsman’s name in kanji, and as such was not expecting any gaijin to turn up unannounced! Her linguistic adventurism didn’t end there, as throughout the course of the evening she (while enduring my incoherent descriptions of dishes we wanted to try) managed to meet my risible Japanese halfway with smatterings of English. To her credit, and that of the other ladies and gentlemen responsible for the comfort of Orenchi’s patrons, the service was excellent throughout. Kind, patient, jovial. Indeed, most of the customers present were also rather friendly and not in the least hesitant in striking up conversation with a couple of hairy barbarians.

And the food? Pretty good actually. With hot towels came an o-toshi of some kind of vinegary fried fish, the name of which escapes me despite having eaten it on countless occasions. This was washed down with some real ale. Baird’s Red Rose. A tasty beverage certainly, although I’m less certain that I’d be able to drink more than a couple. Maybe I’ve been married to Yebisu and Premium Malts for too long, but I find the taste of real beer a little overpowering nowadays.

Following form, we ordered the sashimi moriawase, which as well as being reasonably fresh and delicious, was notable for the ski-like dish it was served upon. A good two feet in length, and rather weighty, it was a novel way of presenting the fish, and made a change from the usual beds of ice and shredded daikon. Two slices each of eight different sashimi (the usual suspects), which went very well with the first sake of the evening, Kaiun. This was very drinkable indeed, so much so that I took no mental note of its region or ought else. Anyway, it didn’t last long, and neither did the Tengumai, another old favourite.

Following yet another of my vivid “descriptions,” the chef managed to produce a gorgeous dish comprised of fried garlic potatoes generously coated in a tomato sauce, and topped with molten cheese. Very garlicky, very tasty. Thinking back on it, I now wish we’d ordered it twice. The yamaimono, and tofu salad were both satisfactory, and supplied in ample quantities, but failed to excite somehow.

Next up on the sake list (drier at the top of list and descending into sweet hell toward the bottom) was the Hidami, which neither of us thought much of. All the sake is available in 60ml, 120ml or 180ml servings, so if I’d been a little more thoughtful (less inebriated?) it would have perhaps been better to sample unknown sake in 60ml shots. Will remember for next time. To round of the meal, a crunchy, bony deep-fried fish fin of some kind and then simple, homely yakionigiri to soak up the sake in order to make room for a last glass of draft Malts.

A thoroughly enjoyable izakaya, Orenchi scores pretty well on the food front, is excellent (and fun) in terms of service and atmosphere, and provides some nice sake. Prices were probably reasonable, although the bill can stack up if you get carried away with the drinks. The menu is crammed full of various dishes and, despite being a little hard to read (kanji and small print are not much fun), is updated, and printed, daily (you see, Woodsman, I remembered!). Although it was not available at the time of my visit, they apparently serve a wonderful moriawase of five grilled fish. This will be the excuse for my next visit.

Tel: 0285-23-6739

Cardenas Chinois, Hiroo 広尾

Another night, another nomihodai deal. This time served up a ten minutes stroll down Meiji Dori from Ebisu station at Hiroo’s Cardenas Chinois. Having been recommended to visit by a couple of esteemed colleagues with formidable knowledge of Tokyo dining, I felt assured of a decent meal, and couldn’t wait to get stuck into what had been described as an extremely generous nomihodai selection of drinks.

The décor was fairly pleasant; modern, dark, warm wood and yellowish low level lighting. On the evening of my visit customers were thin on the ground, no doubt because most folk were busy with O-hanami. Upon being seated, the young besuited waiter promptly explained the food and drink menus. The food menu offered an amuse followed by a selection of fusion dishes to choose from for the appetiser 1, appetiser 2, main dish, and desert served with coffee. The drink menu provided a selection of vodka, gin and rum based cocktails, (pedestrian) wines red and white, sparkling wine, beer, and others beverages that now escape me, from which my dining partner and I were free to order at will for a couple of hours.

So, four courses and unlimited drinks for ¥4,500. Things could have been worse. The time limit on the nomihodai function can be extended by 30 minutes for ¥500, should you feel so inclined.

After swigging two or three glasses of the sparkling wine, we then proceeded to work through one of the reds. My glass was, happily, replenished the moment it became empty. Indeed, throughout the course of the evening the waiter was more than happy to swiftly take (and serve) our drink orders.

An amuse of carrot puree with dry bread, drizzled with olive oil, set the meal off. For the first appetiser I had small slices of duck, while my dining partner tucked into a good-sized heap of Chinese chicken salad. Both were tasty enough, and the salad was actually rather filling. The duck, however, left me wishing for more. Never a nice feeling.

These were followed by pasta. A thimble full. Tasty as it was, it barely provided two mouthfuls. If, like me, you are of the opinion that pasta should only ever be served in 500g portions (or multiples thereof), you’ll understand how frustrating trying to eke out this part of the meal was.

The main course, although still not big enough for my liking, went some way to making up for the miserly serving of pasta. My nicely seared, pink, succulent Auzzie steak was delicious. Unfortunately the mashed potato that accompanied it was nothing short of foul. I’d bet good money that it started the evening as a packet of ready mix. My dining partner had opted for the seafood risotto. Again, a bit on the small side, but tasty, especially the little shrimp.

Tiring of the wine, we proceeded to make short work of half a dozen G&Ts, which somehow went rather well with the cheesecake and chocolate cake, served with a few pieces of fruit and cream (foam), we had selected for desert.

For the price, especially considering the unlimited access to the booze, one can’t really complain. The meal was enjoyable, being cooked and presented well enough, with plenty of choice on the menu. My main gripe is that everything was just a little too much on the small side.

Atmosphere, air (non-smoking) and service were both fine, especially when the surrounding tables filled up a bit. Reasonable mix of clientele, perhaps weighted toward dating couples. Overall, an enjoyable evening’s drinking with dainty culinary highlights.

Tel: 03-5447-1287

Web: http://www.cardenas.co.jp/chinois/

Jau Hai!, Higashi ジャウハイ！、東

Being British, I love a good curry. Perhaps even more than I love roast beef, fish and chips, scones and afternoon tea. By curry, of course, I don’t refer to the Japanese variety (delicious as it is). For years it seemed that decent curries were scarce in Tokyo – at the time I’d not yet been introduced to Hiroo’s Priya – so much so that I gave up the quest. In recent years, however, something of a curry boom has taken place, with Napali (why do I always want to say “Nepalese’?) restaurants in particular springing up all over the place.

On the stretch of Meiji Dori that constitutes my morning stroll to the office there are three or four decent looking Napali establishments alone. The Jua Hai! Nepali Kitchen has long caught my attention, as the open window into the kitchen seemed to indicate the proprietors are both proud of their cooking and confident about the standard of hygiene in the kitchen. The bright façade, and casual look to the place also invited. As such, a recent lunchtime visit was inevitable. I can report, happily, that my expectations were not disappointed.

The welcome received from the rather handsome middle-aged Nepali lady – her accented, lilting Japanese is so charming – is warm, and the interior sufficiently “ethnic.” Simple décor, some hanging rug-type decorations and cute lighting. On the day of my visit the place was packed. Mostly office workers and a few tired looking chain-smoking OLs. All around incredibly delicious looking food was being eagerly consumed. So far so good. 

The lunch set menu, ¥1,000 for curry, rice, naan and a drink (tea, coffee, juice, laci etc.), offered up a selection of eight or nine curries. My dining partners opted for a chicken and spinach curry respectively, while I – feeling adventurous – decided on the chicken muglai. We all had naan instead of rice, as those being served all around looked fantastic. Not only gigantic (at least 14 inches in length), but light, fluffy and not at all oily.

Waiting for our orders to arrive, a further glance over the menu revealed that both the rice and naan are tabehodai. All you can eat! For ¥1,000! It seemed too good to be true, but sure enough we were able to greedily attempt the challenge of consuming two of the naan and the generous serving of curry, before declining an invitation to finish off with rice. The naan proved to be just as good, if not better, than they looked, and subsequent helping came sliced up with scissors, in order, I suppose, to limit wastage by those with eyes bigger than their bellies.

But what of the curry? Pretty good actually. Certainly a worthy partner to the naan. It tasted fresh, looked “clean” and contained generous pieces of succulent chicken thankfully devoid of gristly bits.  All three curries were pleasantly spicy, yet without going for overkill in the heat department – a sure sign that the flavour is being focused on. In all honesty I ended up regretting my choosing the muglai, tasty as it was, as the odd looking straggly bits of semi-poached egg throughout it were not particularly attractive, and also added a somewhat displeasing texture to an otherwise smooth curry. The spinach curry looked wonderful, and according to my dining partner my eyes did not deceive me.

The service was friendly, swift and willing. At regular intervals the lady of the house breezed by our table to offer more naan, rice and drink. Nice to have the tabehodai function readily promoted. The atmosphere was relaxed, lively and a little smokey, but that had more to do with the chain smokers on the neighbouring table than any lack of ventilation.

The evening menu looks promising, with dozens of tasty looking dishes available. A delivery service is also available for orders over ¥2,000. Party courses are also offered; ¥2,500 for nine courses, and ¥3,500 for eleven. An all you can drink option costs an additional ¥2,000 for two hours of boozing.

Verdict? Great. Wonderful, freshly cooked curry served with a strangely disarming smile. The naan alone are worth the money. Definitely a great choice for lunch, and certainly deserving of a dinnertime visit.

Update 29/04/10: An evening visit proved to be well worth the effort. Despite the place being dead (the Monday before payday, before Golden Week, so to be expected), the atmosphere was still cozy. Service remained excellent, and was always provided with a smile. I was happy to discover that bottled Kirin beer is very reasonably priced at ¥550. 

The menu offered a plentiful array of delicious sounding dishes. However, having already regretted choosing the muglai over the saag, I this time opted for the saag chicken and a garlic naan, while my dining partner decided on saag lamb supported by a sesame naan. Couldn't find any pilau rice, so the plain rice we eventually had was just the normal, sticky white Japanese variety. Nothing wrong with it, but I always feel it does not go well with curry. 

Again, everything was freshly prepared and cooked. Tastes were wonderful. Both saags had a smooth, creamy texture. Almost a buttery taste in there too. If I had to find faults, then perhaps a little more texture from the spinach, and the need for the dishes to be served hot, rather than warm, would be my only criticism. 

The naan where from heaven. Fresh, shiny (but not oily), light and fluffy, and easily over twenty inches in length! The garlic variant was truly awesome. Smothered in green, freshly grated garlic. I must have reeked afterwards, but it was worth it. My dinning partner's sesame naan was also fantastic, although I did find the taste a little over powering after a while. 

In all, an excellent meal. Thanks to the splendidly generous portions, the rice was probably an unnecessary order, especially with so much naan goodness to mop up the curry with. Two diners stuffed with beer and curry for around ¥5,000. Love it. 

Update 17/5/11: Worst fears have been confirmed. Following the quake Jau Hai! shut down, then became busy with what - correctly - seemed to be a refit. Sadly the refit involves a complete re-imagining of the business. The proprietors appear to be the same, but the shop is reopening as "Meiji Dori Wine Bar & Dining." Go figure.  

Tel:03-6419-8565

http://rp.gnavi.co.jp/6090083/

American, Shibuya アメリカン、渋谷

I’m not going to recommend the American – I feel a little embarrassed just admitting to visiting the place – but will admit that, at times, it has its uses. What they are I’ll not go into here.

It’s convenient, situated just across the road from Shibuya station’s Hachiko exit, on the 8^th floor of the Daigi Building (next to Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ bank). It’s cheap, with draft beer weighing in at ¥250 (yes, that cheap) and most of the food costing just a few hundred yen at most, and considerably less during the daily happy hour (5pm – 7pm) when the price of food is heavily discounted. It’s entertaining, in the way staring at a fatal car wreck is.

The place is faded; I’d guess it was pretty cool in the 80s or early 90s. Now the décor is tacky, dirty and almost charmingly “retro.” Hey, they even play 80s Genesis! Spacious, the American can – and usually does – accommodate somewhere in the region of a hundred or so low-price revellers. The clientele are an eclectic mix of under-age drinkers, students, fledgling salarymen and balding oyaji.

The service floats somewhere between rude and disinterested, being provided by a motley crew of young Shibuya types with spiky blonde hair, piercings and bad manners.

Visit there regularly enough and you’ll have the chance to watch groups of young men try to impress their female companions (and perhaps each other) by drinking themselves into oblivion, before vomiting all over the place and spending the rest of the evening on the toilet floor. The staff certainly do nothing to dissuade such behaviour, no matter how obvious to all around what the eventual outcome will be. Invariably, once the vomit has been sprayed around, one of the poor young females in the group ends up cleaning up the mess and apologising to surrounding patrons for the “meiwaku” her charming gentleman friend has caused.

The food is uniformly awful. Or at least it’s no better, and probably more often than not a lot worse, than convenience store food. That said, it is ridiculously cheap… After a certain amount of beer (can be a lot at these prices) the fries, eda mame, vegetable sticks with miso, and grilled squid with mayo seem a feast.

To make the whole package even more “enticing” each time you visit you’ll be provided with a sheet of coupons providing your first drink free on your next visit. Thus it is they come back for more…

So, what’s it good for? If you’re in the area, short of time, broke, or just bored of visiting the thousands of better establishments Tokyo has to offer, the American is an easy option for cheap drinking when the imagination fails.

Oh, it’s also worth mentioning that they on occasion like to pad out the bill with a few extra items. Be vigilant.

Tel: 03-3464-1177

Ebisu Kaigan, Ebisu 恵比寿海岸，恵比寿

Reviews elsewhere had led to me to high expectations of Ebisu Kaigan, and in all honesty they were not met. To be fair, the evening upon which we chose to visit was thoroughly miserable; pouring rain, and a chill wind (yes, back in the cold spell in mid-November 2009). I suppose, shivering and dripping at the time, I had hoped to be bathed in glorious, warming golden light upon opening the door to the place, or something like that.

Actually, it’s a cozy enough little place. Not exactly spacious, three plain wooden tables surrounded by folding chairs and old metal stools fill the main floor – raised up from the level of the genkan with its rusting diving helmet – to the rear of which is an L-shaped counter that can seat around seven or eight at a push. Interior décor is basic; hanging bamboo blinds, the odd poster or picture here and there, rough wooden floor, and assorted bottles of shōchū upon the counter. The second floor is somewhat better presented with a cleaner, more traditional Japanese appearance. Cushions to sit on before low, polished wooden tables and plaster walls framed with dark wooden beams.

Throughout the course of the evening the service was excellent. Attentive, accommodating and, most importantly, prompt. The jibīru (regional beer), Ebisu Kaigan, was interesting, richer in terms of both colour and taste than the usual Japanese beer (which is thoroughly enjoyable!), and yet hardly anything to write home about. A glass suffices. 

The O-toshi of mussels in broth was tasty, although a little overpowering in terms of flavour. A huge plate of katsuo – thick, meaty slices – with spring onion was excellent, if for the volume alone. A small bowl of salted ginnan made a pleasant compliment to the Yebisu beer, while the jakoten proved to be both bland and uninspiring in terms of presentation, perhaps unavoidable for mashed fish….

The tsukemono were fairly pedestrian, the gobo (burdock) being painfully soft whereas they should have been crunchy, the cucumber, daikon and carrots fair, the quail's eggs delicious.

As for the sake, the Nakaya, hailing from Shizuoka and purportedly made from water flowing from peerless Fuji itself, was pleasantly dry. A plate of hirame sashimi, a white-fleshed fish served with the usual shredded daikon, shisō leaves and wasabi was reasonable, although my gut reaction was that it was average in terms of presentation and taste. The moyashi (bean sprouts) and sweet corn in sesame oil was utterly delicious, but then goma is an awfully naughty flavour, hard to resist… A forgettable salad of assorted vegetables followed, before the arrival of a simple, yet tasty, plate of yakisoba containing fried squid, cabbage, carrots, peppers and bean sprouts.

All this was rounded off with several glasses of mugi-jōchū, in particular the Tajibei, from Kagoshima.

Not a bad izakaya, although not great either. As mentioned  earlier, I felt somewhat disappointed. I had been under the impression that Ebisu Kaigan specialised in fish and other sea food (perhaps because of the bright red rowing boat propped up outside the building?) but as it turns out the menu consists of the usual izakaya fare and is not particularly weighted towards fish. A good selection of shōchū is available, but as I'm not a huge fan this did little to appease my overall disappointment. Certainly an establishment capable of better things. Couldn’t help feeling it had seen better days and / or been allowed to slip. If in the area - about seven minutes walk from the west exit of Ebisu station up Komazawa Dōri in the direction of Nakameguro and Daikanyama – worth a visit, perhaps, but not on the top re-visit list. 

Tel: 03-3710-0778

http://www.ebisukaigan.com