Sayonara Tokyo

For our final night in Tokyo we decided to head to the trendy area of Roppongi and to the hip restaurant Gonpache.

Known for its new take on traditional Japanese cuisine, Gonpache's stylish restaurant was filled with young hip Tokyoites and we were unable to get a table in the restaurant and had to settle for the bar.  Gonpache's all wood dining area is a cross between the fight scene in "Kill Bill" where Uma Thurman fought the Crazy 88s and the restaurant scene from the best kung fu movie ever "Master of the Flying Guillotine".  With traditional Tatami rooms and booths upstairs and an open dining area with a large dining bar downstairs, it's a beautiful restaurant to say the least.  

Gonpache considers itself an izakaya, but is much more than your typical pub, with innovative food categorized like most izakayas - rice, grilled, noodles, etc.  Again we had a tough time deciding what to order.  When the group of people next to us received a sizzling stone bowl which the waitress then hand-mixed, we knew we had to try "Takana Meshi" Rice with pickled mustard leaves served in a hot stone pot.

The drier than typical rice was smokey and complimented the crunchy bits of garlic and mustard greens. We could have eaten a sake barrel full of this stuff.  

We also decided on two grilled dishes - "Karubi" Beef short ribs with garlic seasonings and "Asparagus" Wrapped in homemade bacon.  Both were grilled perfectly - delicious.

We couldn't pass up the terrific sounding tuna tartar, served with nori and cucumbers.  The sheets of nori were used to make rolls with the tuna, but became chewy if we didn't eat them right away. However, the tuna was fresh and seasoned perfectly, melting in our mouths.   

Gonpache is known for its handmade soba noodles, so naturally we decided on their highly recommended "Seiro Soba" Served cold with dipping sauce and green onions.  We haven't had any soba noodles and we didn't care much for the somewhat bland chewy noodles.  However the hot broth that was served to finish off the dish, believed to be very healthy, made up for the noodles. 

Gonpache was worth the trek to Roppongi and a fantastic farewell to Tokyo! Sayonara Tokyo until next time and there definitely will be a next time!

A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That

After our shopping and sushi high at the Tsukiji fish market we decided to wander around and see what the local merchants were selling.  The area surrounding the fish market is a mecca for fresh Japanese ingredients. 

Packaged pickled items

Katsuo-boushi

Fresh Wasabi

Fresh Fish

Fresh Seafood

Bags of Togarashi

The sweetest and best Tamago we have ever tasted

Just when we thought we had seen most of the market we turned a corner and BAM - a whole open-air food court - whoa....

Little booths selling quick lunches crammed packed in little alleyways.  Hello!  Too bad we were full and didn’t want to spoil our sushi high, so we quickly exited the fish market area and headed down into the fancy schmancy shopping area of Ginza.

Ginza was too Fifth Avenue for us with all the major brands represented with their own huge stores, along with huge department stores with the same big labels.  However we wanted to visit the 5-story Mac store.

After a beer pit-stop we headed up to the Imperial Palace.   The Palace is surrounded by a moat and an extensive park, however only a small section of the park is open to the public and the Palace itself is off limits.  

The East Garden is where Tokyoites come for a jog and we were amazed again by the honesty of the Japanese people.  

Piled high along the park walls were the runners' clothing, unattended and waiting for them to return after their jogs.

The Imperial Palace, from what we could see looked traditional in Japanese Design and the elevated grounds looked manicured and beautiful. 

10 Million Dollar Fish

We thought we had gotten up early enough to see the world famous Tsukiji Fish Market, but was told we needed to be there by 5am and not leave by 5am to see the auction and daily catches of million dollar fish come through.  We decided to go down to the market anyways because it really wasn’t the million dollar tunas we were there to see - we were there to eat the million dollar tunas!

But first things first – we must visit a little shop in the fish market that made knives –world famous Masa Moto knives.  The best knife alchemist in the world. Thousand years of samurai knowledge transformed into kitchen blades.  Blades that do the cutting for you.

A few years ago we had fortuitously found a Masa Moto sushi knife in New York City's Chinatown off of Canal Street.  Unbeknownst to the Chinese shopkeepers the knives were under-priced and as we excitedly purchased the sushi knife and contemplated buying a Masa Moto clever selling for a mere $225.  When we returned to purchase the clever, the shopkeepers had raised the price and we decided against it and vowed to see the makers themselves someday.

What makes a Masa Moto knife so special? This question can be quickly answered when you hold one in your hands, but technically Masa Moto knives are handmade from a single sheet of carbon steel, hand folded and pounded until razor sharp.  Unlike other knife brands such as Wurstofs, Henkels or Kershaws, Masa Moto knives are not poured into molds, each one is handmade.  We have had an 8-inch vegetable knife on our wish list for several years and that was what we set out to buy. 

As we turned the corner from the main fish warehousing area to an alleyway lined with small shops selling all things related to fish including knives.  It took us a few moments to spot Masa Moto’s shop due to the kanji linen sign.

We began picking up knives and immediately accessed how much cash we had.  It was bit overwhelming being surrounded by knives of every shape and size.  

We chose an 8-inch vegetable knife and a 10 inch chef’s knife.  Beautiful kitchen instruments that made us want to head back to the states just so we could cut something to eat.  But it will be another 4 months before we can embrace the power of our new blades, so we headed out to do the second thing we came to the fish market for – to eat the world’s best sushi. 

We paid for our knives and was told to come back in 20 minutes while they sharpened them. 

In the alleyway behind the knife shop was a row of small sushi shops selling the best sushi in the world and we quickly got in line for a small shop that called our names.  

The sushi shops were all competitive with elaborate picture menu boards in front.  

We waited a few moments and was quickly seated at the tiny sushi shop, that sat maybe 15 people at a time.  The menu was set to for either 8, 10, 12 or 20 pieces of nigiri - chef’s choice.  We decided on the 12 piece selection.  We didn’t know what pieces of sushi would be served to us, but we had faith that it would be the best.  We were immediately served miso soup and tea.  

A bamboo leaf was laid out on the counter top in front of us and a piece at a time, the sushi was laid out in front of us to enjoy. 

And enjoy we did.  There is no need to describe how delicious and far exceeded any other sushi we have had.  It is the best sushi we have ever had and will ever have until we return.