Eating in Tokyo Part VI: Al Fresco in Shinjuku

This is one of the hardest to find cafes in Shinjuku. Took us a while and several wrong turns walking up and down the streets to find it.
From Shinjuku station, you should walk towards the dome (to use a landmark, look for Isetan on your map). Passing Isetan, you cross the street and can see the dome in the distance then you turn left one or two streets ahead. The correct turn takes you to a giant Toys R Us.

Cross the street from Toys R Us and you see a little slope. When you get up the s;[e you see this (coming from the right of the pic) and turn (so if this shop is on your right, you walk straight on)

Take the second or third right, (I can't remember), in any case if you keep walking, you get to this street corner. There are clothes stores everywhere, but the building you want is just on the right of Daniel, facing HIM.

This is the store in which the cafe is housed. (If you walk to the right, you get to the street in the photo above) It's on the 4th floor.

The stairway is to the right of the shop, but if you want to take the lift, it's hidden in the back of the store.

Voila! We made it!

If it's not raining or snowing, we recommend eating outside, on the terrace.

it's much nicer and you get a view of....well, the rooftops.

Hmm, a tad chilly, but wrap the blanket over yourself and you're fine.

Now for the test: yes, there is an English menu and the waitress speaks 10 words of English...perfectly sufficient to order!

Giant omelette...more like brunch, but I didn't complain, it was yummy.

Curry rice....lecker!

Half A Day In Kamakura

Yokohama

Yokohama, less than an hour from Tokyo, blends in seamlessly with the rest of metropolitan Tokyo yet retains its distinctive charm as Japan's most costmopolitan city.

Yamashita Park is a stone's throw from Chinatown, reputedly the largest one in the world. The station is Motomachi-chukagai, which takes you right to the fringe of Chinatown.

The harbour teems with tourists, joggers, breakdancing youth and seagulls.

As you shuffle along in the almost-freezing breeze, see the skyline in the distance getting clearer...

as you stroll past historical buildings...

you can't help but marvel at the picturesque sight at dusk.

The old colonial style warehouses were converted to pubs and restaurants, it's very touristy and white-people friendly. Upstairs (3rd floor) there is a jazz club/restaurant, prices are steep as there's a cover charge if you don't pay for a sit-down dinner, but the acts are world-class, I was told.

Who says Japanese don't have fun?

Hawaiian beer?! Beer made its debut in Japan few hundred years ago, right here in Yokohama!

Happy 2 Years Together

Daniel...........................................................Vivien

1) Ideal outdoor pastime: .................................Ideal outdoor pastime:

Kite-surfing, snow-boarding, football................Drinking in the shade

2) Dislikes: driving & washing dishes............... Dislikes: driving & washing dishes

3) Eats potato chips: by the handful................. Eats potato chips: one at a time

4) Owns an iphone, iPod, Blackberry: Yes........Owns an iphone, iPod, Blackberry: No

5) Drives Vivien up the wall when:.................... Drives Daniel up the wall when:
he hangs out the laundry wrongly...................... she doesn't squeegee the shower dry

6) Loves: gummi bears & ice cream................... Hates: gummi bears & ice cream

7) Dislikes it when Vivien: shouts loudly........... Dislikes it when Daniel: mumbles inaudibly

8) Usual response to sexual overtures: ............Usual response to sexual overtures:
"I'm very tired leh" ..............................................."You're not tired meh?"

9) Longest attention span: 26 seconds ................Longest attention span: 2.6 hours

Eating in Tokyo Part V: KAN

We highly recommend this hard-to-find restaurant, located in a quiet neighbourhood west of Shibuya. It's a small place, only seating at the bar, entirely smoking, and considerably upmarket.

Directions to KAN (after much detective work with Google Maps and asking about 3 different people who didn't speak English on the streets):

1) Take the train to IKEJIRI-OHASHI station, this is one stop from Shibuya on the Den-en-toshi line).
2) The station is circled on the left in the map. Take the South Exit, you will come out seeing an overpass, walk in the direction with the overpass (road) on your left.
3) When you come to the river, turn right and walk along with the river on your left (see the blue thing on the map)

4) When you see this bridge that joins to the other bank, go right across, and you will see it.


5) It's this one, the only restaurant in the entire apartment complex.

You should call and make a reservation, because this place has less than 20 seats. Almost everyone works behind the bar, and they all manage to look really hip in their uniform of black tees and white aprons. I thought our chef had the sexiest hands....particularly when he was dicing raw fish with the finesse of a pianist.

People seemed to be there to enjoy the whole experience of dining, not eating. The meat was to be savoured, the wine sipped and your cigarette dragged on between the refined (inexplicable) conversation with your companions, all the while watching in fascination as the chefs worked deftly behind the bar.

The menu looks like this (below) so don't bother to ask what's on it. Just say "Yes, we eat sashimi" and you will get this (above) if you are lucky: horse (yes, the ones people ride on), whitefish, tai, hamachi (yellow tail) and something else yummy.

Our chef had decided what we would eat that night, but we couldn't resist a round of yakitori: here on the left is an ingenius sticky rice wrap with meat inside. Totally delicious.

The seasonal dish: duck slices on a winter leaf slowly cooked over hot coals in miso sauce.

We finished our duck.

We had some other stuff, tofu, the cold appetisers and a vegetable tempura. We didn't order the fish liver (foie gras) in vinegar which looked totally awesome cos we were stuffed. I highly recommend that and the horse sashimi....it was really tender, they're Canadian and come to Japan for a few years before arriving on your dish. I know, I know, we're sick. But I don't see how the horse suffered any more than your industrial-slaughtered chicken and cow.

Oh yes, don't forget the sake....the bill set us back S$220. Not bad for a really nice dinner in Tokyo.

U KAN
Tel: 03-3792-5282
Manager: Hayashi Kohtaro