christmas 07

Christmas dinner for this year is a combination of bought at the last minute and "complimentary" food. We had fresh fruit salad and brie that I bought from the shops at 5.30pm on Christmas eve. Malc got a pack of Niigata-soba as a gift during his last trip to Japan. He also received smoked wild sock-eye salmon that came in a "cedar gift box silkscreened by hand with an original work by British Columbia Haida artis Don Yeomans" courtesy of the Canadian Consul General.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

the master

This evening, Malc & I were enjoying the return of our favourite TV show, Iron Chef on SBS. The challenger chef this time was from France and trained under Joël Robuchon. A brief interview with Joël Robuchon was shown where he was tagged as the Master of French cuisine. Monsieur Robuchon retired in 1996, but couldn't stay away from the kitchen and came back to open L'Atelier in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo in 2003.

On our last trip to Tokyo, Monsieur Robuchon's restaurant La Table (Yebisu Garden Place, 1-13-1 Mita, Tokyo, ph +81(3) 5424-1338) was right next to our hotel. Ambling around Ebisu at lunch time, we passed by the French-style villa where the restaurant is, we casually browsed the menu and were suprised that the price for lunch sets start at Y2,800 (A$28). So, we gleefully ventured in, and even without a reservation, we were politely and hurriedly ushered to an empty table . . . ah fantastic Japanese service.

The menu was fantastic, in Japanese & French. Malc was excitedly reading the menu in one of his mother tongues and happily explaining what the dishes are, tres chic. We decided on a 3 courses. For our entrees I had crab with green tomato jelly. It was so sublime, with thinly shredded crab meat resting on a layer of sweet-sour green tomato jelly.


Malc had a carpaccio of scallops with endive and mushrooms. Malc ate his entree slowly, savouring each single morsel. Malc enjoyed the delicate texture of the sea-sweet scallops.



For our mains, I had foie gras on risotto. This is the first time I had foie gras as a main meal and it was lovely. The foie gras was pan fried makint it firm to slice, but melts nicely in the mouth. The parmesan risotto perfectly complemented the foie gras.



Malc had fish (St Jacques, I think). He said "the skin was wonderfully seared."







Lastly, for dessert I had the chocolate dessert. It was my kind of dessert, it was not so sweet and combining with the pistachio ice-cream it was just so heavenly.




Malc had yuzu sorbet and the presentation was so pretty. It was the first time Malc had yuzu and the dessert overwhelmed his expections.



The meals also came with coffee or tea and petite fours. All in all the our bill was about the same as our regular dinners-out in Sydney. And, after tasting such exquisite, world-class dishes, Malc and I were absolutely (and happily) spellbound.

So to the master, Joël Robuchon, thank you for coming out of retirement!

that same old feeling

One of Malc & my all time favourite restaurant in Sydney was Ristorante Certo, we even celebrated Malc's citizenship ceremony there. We were so sad when the people behind Certo decided to close the Sydney restaurant and move back to Tokyo.

Reminiscing on old times, Malc & I decided to check out the new Certo Wine & Dining (1-26, Suga-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0018 ph +81 3-5369-3455) and looked forward to the heavenly Italian dishes we have missed terribly.

The restaurant is located in one of the smaller streets in Shinjuku, a few blocks away from Shinjuku Station (better access via Yotsuya-sanchome Station). It had a small bar with 3 dining tables, a far cry from the 100-people venue in Sydney. The welcome though was just as warm by the same lady that has welcomed us numerous times in Sydney.

And onto the food . . . we were first given a complimentary entree of prosciutto and Italian olives. Malc commented on the how exceptionally tasty the proscuitto was and he even ate the olives!

We then shared an antipasti of boconcini, tomato, basil and olive oil. The taste was so simple but the quality of the ingredients made it such a luxurious dish.



For my main dish, my favourite pasta vongole was unfortunately not on the menu so I settled for fresh squid ink tagliolini pasta (made in-house) with squid, semi-dried tomatoes and bottarga. And while I did not get my first choice, the taste of the pasta brought back happy memories and reminded me why I enjoyed going to this restaurant. The taste was as crisp and clean and thoroughly delicious.

Malc ordered pumpkin gnocchi (made in-house) in a gorgonzola cheese sauce. Malc really likes gorgonzola and rated this dish as the ultimate comfort food.





And of course we could not leave without dessert. To close our meal, we had our usual warm chocolate cake and orange mascarpone gelata.

Although we walked out to a much smaller Shinjuku backstreet than Kent Street in Sydney, we went back to our hotel with a familiar happy feeling.

Next: La Table by Joel Robuchon.

Tokyo Curry Lab

Day 2 in Tokyo started very well. Breakfast was included with our hotel booking so we decided to call room service and enjoyed breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausages, steamed vegetables, toast and fruits, while soaking in the views of Tokyo.

Before leaving for Tokyo, Malc was invited to write for the new uber-hip lifestyle magazine Monocle. While I was checking up their website, I found an interesting restaurant which I included in my to-visit list, the Tokyo Curry Lab (Level 2 Tokyo Tower, 4-2-8 Shibakoen Minato-ku ph 03-5425-2900). Apparently, this restaurant was conceptualised by the same person who created Iron Chef.

Arriving at Tokyo Tower, I checked out the restaurant design while queueing for seats. There is an interesting display of spices in test tubes lining up one wall of the restaurant and the seats are arranged kaiten-sushi style, but instead of a moving sushi train, there are screens displaying digital images, etc.

We we checked out the menu while waiting in queue and I chose almond chicken curry and spicy pork curry combo... and the wait was all worth it. The sauces were thick and full of flavour, not sweet as most Japanese curry but still leaving a clean taste in the palate. The meat was also melt-in-the-mouth tender. It was absolutely delicious.

Malc chose onion chicken curry and spicy pork curry combo. And like my choice, his curry was heavenly. Although I must say, Malc's chicken curry choice was better than mine.

As we were still adjusting to the smaller portion Japanese meals, we seriously thought of ordering another serve. But sanity prevailed and Malc and I left the Tokyo Curry Lab with a wonderful feeling.

We then headed off for some retail therapy at Roppongi Hills.

Next Certo Restaurant & Bar Shinjuku.

let's eat Tokyo

This last few months, Malc has been traipsing all over Asia for work. However, when Malc told me that his next destination was Tokyo, I could not let him just go all by himself. So, taking advantage of Jetstar's fare promotional fare to Nagoya and Malc's generous frequent flyer points, I joined Malc for a weekend in our favourite city in the world.

The flight to Nagoya on Jetstar was quite eventful, to say the least. Checking-in in Sydney, I was told that Jetstar has oversold its seats on the Qantas connecting flight from Sydney to Cairns. Fortunately after a few minutes wait, a seat "opened" and I was issued with my boarding pass. During the stopover in Cairns, the flight to Nagoya was delayed by 1 1/2 hours, which meant that catching the last shinkansen from Nagoya to Tokyo would pose a problem. So, at Nagoya airport, after bumping into a few other people in a similar situation as I was, we boarded the rapid train to the JR Nagoya station and caught the very last shinkansen to Tokyo, which uncharacteristically departed a minute late.

And then finally at midnight, Tokyo, and the fantastic top-floor room at the Westin Tokyo--- order was restored. Malc, had arrived earlier from Shanghai and had done the check-in, so the the only other thing to do was the customary first day visit to a convenience store. And it was heaven!

Malc & I are absolutely enamoured by Japanese convenience stores. The food selection is fabulous, we could not decide what to have. We also went dizzy with all the new drinks in the market. In the end, we decided on old favourites: curry doughnut and onigiri and CC Lemon for me and cream croquette, sandwich set and Ebisu beer for Malc. We also shared a karaage bento.

Next: Tokyo Curry Lab