Dun
Dan
Dun!

This post should really start with the iconic “Kill Bill Theme” theme song from the movie and play throughout. If you’d like to load it up to play in the background get it here : )

We had just finished watching the Tokyo Giants win the game with a homer in the 9th. The hot dog and yakitori we ate in the 2nd inning weren’t holding us over. As we debated food options (surprisingly not a lot around the dome) our friend, who is no stranger to Tokyo, suggested we hit up Gonpachi. The name didn’t register with me at first. Then she said all that needs to be said about the place, “the kill bill restaurant”. Dun Dan Dun. The music immediately started up in my head as a grin spread across my lips. Sure I said coolly, masking the kid-like joy bubbling up inside me.

For some reason I thought the restaurant was located outside of town in the countryside. Not so. It’s right smack in Roppongi, one of the busiest and foreign friendly parts of Tokyo. The building is almost quaint outside… a nice garden, some seats with umbrellas, but nothing flashy hinting at the sprawling room inside.

Inside the restaurant is simply, but wonderfully decorated. There are lanterns hanging from the ceiling and simple lighting throughout the space. The attentive hostess and manager quickly found us a table (unfortunately hadn’t planned this meal ahead of time and booked an upstairs booth) near the kitchen and we sat down to peruse the menu.

I was shocked by the relatively low prices. One would assume, with the fame the movie has bestowed on the place, that prices would be high…it is Tokyo after all. We decided to split a 6 course tasting menu (3500 Yen), and some other items between the three of us. First out was the Natural Tofu House Salad

Next out on the tasting menu was a Fried Shrimp Dumpling & Deep Fried Potato

3rd out was Tempura 3 ways

4th to come to the table was 3 types of Yakitori

Then came Soba noodles, which I didn’t manage to get a picture of and finally the dessert course – Pumpkin and Coconut Ice Cream!

To supplement the tasting menu we also ordered a lovely Blue Fin Tuna Tartare (950 Yen)

Also a Soft Shell Crab Roll from the 3rd floor sushi bar (1350 Yen)

Lastly was the Tataki – Seared Beef with Honey & Truffle Vinaigrette Sauce (780 Yen)

So all in all the meal totaled in about 22 USD per person without drinks….very reasonable for the amount and quality of the food served. The food at Gonpachi isn’t considered fine dining by anyone’s standards…including their own. It’s intended intstead to be an elevated Izakaya experience (modern country-style if you will). And this is why Gonpachi is a success in my book. Sure you can get better Yakitori and Sushi and other more specialized locations… but if you’re a tourist looking for a nice meal in Roppongi, a seasoned traveler who needs to entertain some out of town guests, or just a rabid Tarantino fan Gonpachi is a great value. Also the large space, long tables and secluded rooms are perfect for entertaining large groups. I think everyone should visit at least once, at least for a quick bite and beer before heading into manic Roppongi.

Gonpachi
1-13-11 Nishi-Azabu, Minato-ku.
Tel: 03-5771-0170.
Nearest stn: Roppongi or Hiroo.
Open: 11:30am-6am daily
Menu: English/Japanese

In celebration of our 100th post we’re going to do something a bit different this time around…first post to feature video content! A word of caution for vegetarians and those who are easily offended, overly squeamish or just fussy…don’t watch the video, you’ve been warned.

Growing up in Texas, it’s safe to say that I’m no stranger to the concept of charcoal grilling. Seated on a one foot high stool in the Hakano area of Tokyo, Japan, watching abalone writhe and wriggle as it cooked in front of our eyes… I realized just how limited my concept of charcoal grilling really is.

I received a text message from an old friend of mine asking us to meet up with him near the Hakano station in Tokyo Japan. Our experiences the weekend before taught us that we were in for a treat and that it would most likely be a place not found in a guide book.

We exited the station to find a thriving night scene. There was an open air (but covered) mall similar to the massive multi-street mall found in downtown Kyoto. Troy found us near the opening of the mall and we enjoyed a performance by a street jazz trio featuring guitar, bass, and tap dancer for percussionist! After a couple songs we headed off into a web of narrow side streets in search of our dinner location.

We arrived at Uroko, a…well let’s call it a seafood restaurant. Troy informed us that this style of restaurant is known as Amiyaki – charcoal restaurant. To me Amiyaki seems to be the love-child of Tepinyaki and Sukiyaki. You charcoal grill your own food at your table. The better restaurants have the best and freshest ingredients. Simple concept and one that if done right (in our extremely limited experience) can lead to an amazing and inexpensive meal.

The restaurant, built out of old boxes, was packed. There is absolutely no English anywhere…on any menu, sign, etc. Troy and his wife ordered up various dishes, occasionally letting us know what we were in store for.

We started the meal with a Okinawa area “chinmi” called Umibudo or sea grapes. A great start to a meal. Definitely try to get these if in Japan. Some refer to this little delicacy as “green caviar”

Next out was a lovely, fresh scallop salad.

Then came the sake boiled clams…mmmm, I’m on the fence with clams. I think normally they’re not used correctly in dishes, or aren’t as fresh as they need to be. These were great.

Then came a cabbage with spicy miso (known as Kara Miso). This dish sounds simple and easy…and it is, but man is flavorful. I’d eat this gladly over chips and salsa as a pre-meal snack any day.

Finally, the main show…live Abalone. It’s a little hard to watch. The little guy struggles in vain to wiggle out of it’s shell and find water and relief. But the payoff is worth it…so tasty.

Abalone in Tokyo, Japan from accidentalepicurean on Vimeo.

And then came probably one of the best things I’ve eaten in my life…the Tuna Jaw. They just dropped off this Flinstones looking hunk of Jaw meat for us to grill ourselves at the table. Grilled with a bit of char on the skin… mmm this meat should be on the dinner tables of every meat loving person regardless of country. I congratulate the Japanese for keeping this wonderful dish a secret… but they’re hogging of all the best tuna parts should come to an end. We need tuna jaw in the rest of the world

To finish off the meal we ordered up some Conch (as one does ) Oysters and Clams. They were all nice, but the tuna jaw and abalone were still distinctly in our minds.

So how much did this epic feast run us? I mean we’ve all heard the horror stories about how expensive Japan is, right? All in all, about 25 USD a person for all of this food and a couple pitchers of Yebisu beer! When I get back to Tokyo again, this place is on my short list.

Uroko
Take the North exit off the Nakano Metro Station.
Walk around till you see the shop pictured above

Lots of pictures of the market at the end of the article so scroll all the way down

Muslims have Mecca, lovers of Trance have the lovely town of Goa, surfers and single, middle-aged women looking for a spiritual awakening have Bali For lovers of sushi the most sacred pilgrimage of all is to the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan.

Tsukiji is not only the largest fish market in the world but is also one of the largest food markets of any kind, anywhere. With nearly 3000 metric tons of fish passing through the market every single day, it’s a fair bet that most seafood getting out to people in Asia and other parts of the world began it’s life outside of the water at Tsukiji.

The night before our journey to the market I ate a quick meal in Shibuya and headed back to the hotel early to rest up. The action takes place early…fresh fish begins to unload at 3 AM and the bidding for the choice Tuna takes place around 5:20 AM. I wanted to be fresh…and hungry (more on that later). You can get to the market via subway (on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line) but I’d recommend you get a group and take a cab. Not because you need to necessarily, but because if you go on a Saturday morning you’ll see lots of Japanese people just going home from night of drinking…stumbling through the streets, friends helping each other along, or even sleeping in their business suits on on a doorway.  Some of them will even be heading to the fish market for a final meal and drink before heading home it is fairly common to make the fish market the final stop on a big night out in Tokyo.

I had trouble sleeping the night before…like a kid at Christmas I wanted the morning to come as quickly as possible. It wasn’t the market that excited me, it was my first full-on sushi meal of the Tokyo trip… something that had been far too delayed for my tastes. You see the market isn’t all that engaging past a certain point for outsiders. People are quickly going about their day receiving, cleaning, and selling fish. And unless you really like to hang out in cold, damp rooms with rushing packing carts flying by inches from running you over, it’s best to plan a short trip to the market.

Outside of the market you’ll find plenty of stores selling sushi knives, Japanese cooking gear, tourist t-shirts, etc. Inside you’ll find row after row of fish stalls selling everything from Tuna to Octopus to crazy creatures of the sea I would have never thought to eat.

Pushing in even deeper to the market you’ll find the Tuna auction house. I was hoping to hear guys calling out 1000-do-i-get-1000 Yen-to the guy in the back-1200-do i get 1200 or something like southern auction houses but with Japanese language. It wasn’t quite like that, but there was lots of barking. Unfortunately they pack all the tourists into a small area and everyone’s vying for shots though all are too far away to really see or hear anything good.

Do ensure you get there early for the action. The day we visited I think they started clearing folks out around 6:30 AM. Afterwards you’re free to continue roaming the aisles of fish. But a smarter person will run to get in line for some food. Since this is the freshest fish in the world, it stands to reason that when you eat the sushi here it’s probably gonna be the freshest you can have short of catching a fish in the open ocean and cutting it up on the spot. It’s incredible, the fish literally travels 50 meters to the restaurant. I’ve never eaten sushi before lunchtime, but a 6AM treat like this is not to be missed.

We put our faith in the Luxe guide and either everyone else was a fan of the guide or the place really was good because there was already a snaking queue three lines of people deep in front of the door to Daiwa Sushi.

Patiently we waited in the rain, eyes droopy from little sleep. After about 45 minutes to an hour our patience was rewarded as we were ushered into the tiny sushi bar. I took my seat in the corner. My back pressed into the wall and my face was probably no more than 2 ft from the chef. Ultra fancy, super-modern sushi restaurant this isn’t…. but you’re here for the fish and man does it shine.

I wasn’t listening to the chef when he asked us for orders as I was looking around for menus, but apparently we agreed to the set everyone in the restaurant was ordering. It’s a beginner’s guide to sushi set. I don’t consider myself a beginner, but I was hungry and looking for anything I could get my hands on.

The dishes served were:
- miso with clams

- Japanese omelet & sea urchin

- shrimp tuna maki roll, fatty tuna, and shrimp sashimi

- yellow tail & eel

and a few other things I wolfed down before realizing I should have taken a picture

Freshness of every dish was unbelievable. Tastes like I’d never experienced before. The Sea Urchin completely redeemed itself from our horrible experience with it in Kyoto (more on that soon).

The Tuna. Oh man, I don’t have the words to describe. I once heard a rumor that the Japanese sort all the green tea they produce and set aside the good stuff for local consumption and then export the lower grade teas to other countries. I feel like they do this with the tuna. There simply isn’t Tuna of this quality in America (I’ve eaten in NYC and Texas, but never in San Fran so maybe there?).

I relished every piece in the set. Thankfully Joanna isn’t big on sushi (but was doing her best to develop a taste and ate quite a bit) so I was able to have seconds of some of the dishes. After the set was over I ordered a few more pieces of the select fatty tuna for good measure.

I left tired, but extremely satisfied. Had the market not been closed the next Sunday I would have probably returned the next morning for another meal. I won’t go back for to see the auction, but I will definitely return for the sushi. If you’re a lover of food and particularly sushi, this is a trip you MUST make. There’s really nothing like it.

Tsukiji
The Tuna Auction Area is off-limits
(except from 5:00AM until 6:15AM)

Daiwa Sushi
Tsukiji Market Part6 Bldg. 5-2-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Closed Sundays

Tourist area of the tuna auction

This week I was joined by my friend Dave Hogan for my weekly visit to the Moomba Tuckshop. Unfortunately he was swayed by my glowing opinion of the Roast Beef from last week and didn’t add another sandwich to review, so I ordered a half portion salad as well this week to cover more ground.

This week I sampled the Tea Smoked Chicken on the Onion and Sage loaf (9SGD). The bread was pressed and heated (without prompting from me). The chicken was super tender and moist and I believe the sandwich featured the same mayo mustard from last week’s Roast Beef. I have to say this is another winner. Maybe I’m more of a sauce guy than bread and meat guy with sandwiches?

careful, this is a slightly messy sandwich

Dave loved the Roast Beef. We both however struggled with the sauces. They didn’t volunteer any napkins at the register so I had to go back in and get some as both sandwiches were a bit juicy – so be careful if eating in your work clothes!

For my half salad I went with the trendy Quinoa and Tuna. The salad featured quinoa, tuna, green beans, olives, and tomatoes. It was definitely healthy and still managed to provide some flavor. The tuna was a touch on the “too-fishy” side of the spectrum for my tastes though. It was nearing the end of lunch so maybe it starts the day fresher? It was still a nice healthy option.

For dessert pastry this week I ordered the Chocolate Tart. I was on the fence about ordering this or the Macadamia Nut Tart. As I was walking back to my table outside I was regretting the choice as the edges were looking really dry. My fears proved unwarranted however  as the tart was very rich and moist. The strawberries on top added a nice touch – I mean it’s obvious but strawberries and chocolate just work together

The Moomba Tuckshop

Bank of China Building #B1-01
4 Battery Road
Phone: 6536 5235
Raffles Place