Tag: Tokyo

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Tabemono in Tokyo – Takazawa

My wife and I visited Japan in May 2018 to celebrate our wedding anniversary and our first stop for dinner was to Takazawa.  Takazawa is a restaurant that is surrounded by the allure of exclusivity and secrecy.   Seating only three tables and a maximum of ten guests a night, Takazawa serves fusion Japanese cuisine with a splash of molecular gastronomy.  Chef Yoshiaki Takazawa originally opened his restaurant in 2005 and it was originally called Aronia de Takazawa.  It was named after a little known fruit in Japan similar to a native American blueberry, but it was changed in 2012 to simply Takazawa.  From their website, the name change was done to highlight the evolution of Chef Takazawa’s culinary point of view, where he focuses more on Japanese tableware, ingredients, techniques, and flavors.  He prefers to call his style of cuisine simply Takazawa style, and it is definitely a unique experience from both a culinary perspective as well as how the overall dinner was orchestrated.  Continue reading “Tabemono in Tokyo – Takazawa”

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Tabemono in Tokyo – Sushi Keita

May 10, 2018

I visited Sushi Keita (鮨桂太 ) on the second day after landing in Tokyo, and while slightly jet-lagged, I was amazed by his sushi.  It was a place recommended by Akira Yoshizumi who is owner and chef of the of my favorite Bay Area’s renown Sushi Yoshizumi. The quality and execution of the Edomae sushi here rivals some of the best I had in Tokyo, and at about half the cost.

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Tabemono in Tokyo – DisneySea Fine Dining at Oceano in MiraCosta Hotel

This is part of my Tokyo DisneySea trip which you can read about here.

The Oceano is one of three restaurants located inside the DisneySea MiraCosta Hotel.  It serves both a Mediterranean-style buffet and a fine dining set course meal.  We opted for the fine dining course.  When they say fine dining, it really is fine dining as I was impressed by the Oceano set course.

There was two five course menu offerings, one celebrating the 15th year anniversary of the MiraCosta at 10290 yen (~$102US) and another called the Silver Strand Course at 8500 yen (~$85US).  While pricey, the courses, execution, and service were all top-notch.  More importantly, it was delicious.  My wife, older daughter, and I opted for the 15th anniversary course, while the younger three had the kids menu. Continue reading “Tabemono in Tokyo – DisneySea Fine Dining at Oceano in MiraCosta Hotel”

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Tabemono in Tokyo – Usuki Fugu Yamadaya – I live to tell about it

One of my most anticipated foods of Japan I wanted to experience was also one I was the most intimated to try.   This was fugu, and not just any fugu, but tora-fugu, which is called the tiger fugu.  There are over 100 species of fugu in Japan and about over 20 of them are fished or farmed for consumption.  Of those consumed, tora-fugu is the most prized to be eaten and the most poisonous of the edible species.    The best time to eat tore-fugu is in the late autumn and winter, as the fish fatten up for the cold.

Fugu has tetrodotoxin in its eyes, skin, liver and ovaries which causes paralysis while leaving the victim conscious.  Because of this, for centuries, Japan outlawed fugu from being served.  Today, only strict professionals going through a decade of training can become licensed.

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Tabemono Vacation June 2017 Itinerary – 3 weeks in Japan and through the Japan Alps Loop

I have not updated my blog in a long while since I have been planning, preparing, and finally going on our fourth trip to Japan in June 2017.  Like last year’s summer vacation in Hokkaido, we wanted somewhere in Japan relatively cooler as it can get hot and humid in the summers of Japan.  This time we decided to focus our trip on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route and decided to do a loop, which consists of:

Kanazawa -> Toyama-> Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route -> Matsumoto-> Kamikochi -> Takayama -> Shirakawgo -> Kanazawa

In fact, we did a bigger loop the whole trip as we started in Tokyo, travelled to Karuizawa, then did our loop mentioned above,  and then wrapped up the trip with visits to Kaga Onsen, Nagayo, and back to Tokyo.

Continue reading “Tabemono Vacation June 2017 Itinerary – 3 weeks in Japan and through the Japan Alps Loop”

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