January 22: Tokyo Day 3

For some reason I woke up at 6:30 this morning. I couldn't go back to sleep so I used my time to catch up on my blogging and editing and sorting of photos. Otousan was out of the room when I woke up and came back about 7:30 or so, then he went out to a convenience store around 8 to get breakfast. Once Christal and Luke finally woke up around 9:30 the three of us went to the Family Mart to grab a quick breakfast. I ended up getting a chicken onigiri and fried chicken and Christal got a curry beef bun and some jello. After breakfast we tried to put Luke down for a nap and Otousan met with Uncle Kiyonari and Auntie Megumi to talk a little bit. Christal, Luke and I met up with them in the hotel lobby at about 11:30 and we walked down the street about a block or less to a small place for lunch.

Kaneko-Ya

The restaurant was called Kaneko-Ya and all they served was tendon, or tempura rice bowls. They had three options and each option came with shrimp, soft boiled egg, green bean, nori and seafood kakiage tempuras. I ordered the anago tendon, which came with a huge piece of anago (saltwater eel). The eel was very tender and sweet and the tempura batter was very crisp and light.

Anago Tendon

Christal got the kisu (Japanese whiting) tendon. The kisu was very light and flaky with a mild flavor. The soft boiled egg was, simply put, amazing. The batter on the outside was super thin and crispy and the entire egg was extremely soft. Even the white was just barely set and it was unlike anything i've had. The green bean was nice and tender and again the batter was nicely crisp and thin. The seafood kakiage consisted mostly of small bay scallops, which were extremely tender and sweet.

Kisu Tendon

Otousan ordered the maitake (hen-of-the-woods mushroom) tendon. If we go again I think I will order this one because the anago was almost too much food. The tare (flavoring) sauce that they sprinkled over the whole thing was sweet and salty and made the rice really tasty, and couple that with the oozing egg yolk and it made me want to keep eating the rice for the rest of the day.

Maitake Tendon

When we finished lunch we had to go back to the hotel to change Luke, but they were still cleaning our room. Christal changed him in the lobby bathroom and then we decided to go to Uniqlo, which was a few blocks away and the Kichijoji store is seven stories tall. I was able to pick out a bunch of clothes to take back for gifts, so it was a productive/destructive shopping trip. When we were done at Uniqlo we headed back to the room and we all took naps. In the evening Uncle Hiro and his girlfriend, Kyoko, met us at the hotel and we went to Shabu Shabu Budo-Ya for dinner, which was only a block away. To start we were served a roll that had salmon, crab and cucumber on the inside and was wrapped in thinly shaved sheets of daikon. On the side were tender, little florets of broccoli rabe and everything sat on top of a bright yellow sesame ginger sauce. The flavors were really clean and clear and it was a great start to the meal.

Salmon, Crab & Cucumber Daikon Roll w Broccoli Rabe & Sesame, Ginger Sauce

Next the waitresses brought out the vegetable platters, which consisted of tofu, napa cabbage, tokyo negi (Tokyo scallion), enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, lettuce, chrysanthemum greens and noodles. The waitresses filled our pots of boiling dashi with the tofu, napa cabbage, Tokyo negi, enoki mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms because they would take longer to cook. They said the lettuce, chrysanthemum greens and noodles would cook in a very short time so we cooked them ourselves.

Assorted Vegetables

Shortly after the vegetables came out they brought out platters of thinly sliced wagyu ribeye. The marbling of the beef was amazing, you could tell just by looking that it would be tender. The waitresses cooked the first piece for everyone and they told us to leave some pink in the meat so that we wouldn't overcook it.

Wagyu Ribeye!

They provided two dipping sauces, a yuzu ponzu sauce and a sesame sauce. I personally enjoyed the yuzu ponzu a little bit more. As soon as the waitress had finished cooking my first piece of beef she laid it gently in the sauce dish and then I added some green onions to it. The beef was the most tender I have ever had, bar none. It would yield with the slightest chew, but it never seemed to be mushy, and it had a deep, rich beefy flavor that the ponzu sauce cut through and accentuated with its acidity.

Perfectly Cooked & Resting in Ponzu

When we had finished our vegetables and beef a waitress came in and added some rice noodles and mochi to our pot and cooked them for a couple of minutes before ladling out a portion for everyone along with some of the broth and then garnishing it with a few grinds of fresh pepper and green onion. This is called kishimen and it is typical of the Nagoya area according to Otousan. The broth was very mild tasting with hints of beef and the pepper helped to pep it up a little bit. The mochi was fresh and chewy and it all helped to give some relief from the richness of all the beef we had eaten.

Kishimen

For dessert I ordered the yuzu sherbet. It was a really refreshing end to the meal. The citrusy flavor helped to cleanse my palate and the texture of the sherbet was exceptionally smooth. When we finished Uncle Hiro and Kyoko walked us back to the hotel and we said our goodbyes, then we headed up to the room and got ready for bed.

Yuzu Sherbet