teamEggers

Gogyou (ramen)

This has just been a crazy weekend of awesomeness, eh? Oh! look at my new glasses!

Perhaps it takes me some time to tell you about these events (jon pointed out that I hadn’t blogged for two full weeks. eek.) because we have jam-packed weekends and then you have to… well… okay. I’m just lazy. Friday night we yakiniku’d with the gang, and saturday we were a little worse-for-wear but we persevered because there was a lot at stake! There were dinners to enjoy! And sunday… Sunday finds us at the top of another adventure. A fresh inning, if I may.

But first, what kind of addict would I be if I didn’t coerce my friends into seeking out-of-the-way ramen shops with me?

I was skeptical when I first read about Gogyou and their “burnt ramen” – a technique that literally chars the oil on the top, and the ramen that follows is served black. Part of me was worried that it would be too gimicky, but part of me (the louder part, i guess) was totally interested in what it could possibly taste like. And since it was just a few metro stops away from our hotel that morning, we decided to give it a whirl.

Is it telling about us that the only time we’ve been to Roppongi (the all-night clubbing district) was at noon and for noodles? While most of this ‘hood isn’t really our scene, Gogyou did a fantastic job of catering to the upscale clientele of the area without too much douchery. It’s just ramen, right? Why be uppity about it?

Needless to say, the ramen was good. I had the burnt miso, and jon had the burnt shoyu (soy sauce). Julie still remarks on how shockingly different the two bowls were; jon’s being a bit salty-stronger in flavour and my miso being really sweet and mild. They both had a cool ashen-campfire flavour that lent depth and an unexpected way to stain your clothes. Good thing they’ve got that covered.

But lunch is over and it’s time to get out of this town. We have an afternoon date with the Dragons.

VD & The Escoffier Dinner

Jon’s really good at gifting. He always knows exactly what I will love, usually before I even see it. He finds experiences – wine dinners, weekend trips, concerts. Despite my best intentions, and the fact that I really really love him, I am a terrible gifter. I always go way too overboard (the flying-themed birthday?), or completely space out and don’t do anything (every valentines day / anniversary). Sometimes I just grumble and moan about how much I hate the holiday (christmas) instead of using it as an opportunity to spout my undying love in the form of presents. Whatever. Jon’s a good gifter.

I really wish there were a good, unobtrusive way to take restaurant photos. There’s usually terrible lighting, and you don’t want to be that asshole with the flash before every plate. So you point, shoot, and hope that you can colour correct enough later to be able to make out the image. Why bother? Because this goldfish can’t remember anything otherwise.

1. Lobster Salad with Avocado, Ikura and Fresh Tarragon, Served with Yuzu Vinaigrette w/ sparkling wine. This was cool. They took a half avocado and stuffed the middle of it with lobster. It started my main complaint for the evening though: portion control. Avocados are filling and you want me to get through 8 course?! Also, what the heck is that creamy yellow stuff? Last time I checked, a vinaigrette was supposed to be light.

2. Vichyssoise soup w/ crab meat

3. Puff Pastry Filled with a Fillet of Dover Sole and Layered with Fresh Spinach and Sea Scallops, Baked to a Golden Brown and Served with Sea Urchin Butter Sauce & sauv blanc. I didn’t know how much I loved uni until we got out here. Uni is sea urchin gonads, and every time I’ve had them stateside, they’ve always been fishy and quite unpleasant. Here, they’re melt-in-your mouth buttery lovely happiness.

4. Fresh Pasta Filled with a Savory Mixture of Duck, Shitake Mushrooms and Foie Gras, Served with Pancetta Champagne Sauce and a Borolo Demi Glace & Sangiovese Grosso. oh. my. goodness. This was the show stopper, folks. both sauces were excellent. the fresh pasta was excellent. the duck breast (though it could have been more rare) was excellent. My only wish is that you could taste the elements in the duck filling more. Foie gras is spectacular by itself. why hide it?

5. sakura sorbet The entire purpose of the sorbet course is to clean your palate. So why on earth would you make the sorbet taste like cotton candy?! Just because you can? Daft.

Midway through dinner, the live jazz band takes a break and they bring out the line of chefs. It’s really neat to consider all that goes into banquet serving, and a little part of me was longing for the days when I got to carry a crumber of my own. I mean, being a grownup is good too, but I do miss waitressing somtimes.

6. The entree. We’ve already had duck and sole and now we’re just getting to the entree. I think my stomach has adapted to the lighter japanese foods and the throwback to french-french was a system shock! And again, the portions were out of control. Scaloppini of Veal Served with Twin Sauces of Creole Mustard Butter and a Marsala Demi Glace, Garnished with Smoked Salmon Risotto Cake, Sautéed spinach and Rissole Potatoes w/ a hefty Merlot. I think this was my least favourite course. Despite how beautiful it was, the veal was just a bit too much. There were too many different flavours going on and… well, I just don’t love veal.

7. Japanese Musk Melon Accompanied with a Sun Dried Mascarpone Cheese Torte, Served with Garlic Bread Sticks. Can you call a slice of cantaloupe, a wedge of cheese and a strawberry a salad? I think not, people. The melon was downright delicious though, I tell you what.

8. Mille-Feuille Filled with Sweet Spring Berries and Topped with a Chocolate Cherry Wafer, Paired with Homemade Cherry Ice Cream & Gewurztraminer Ending strong here. Cherry ice cream was spectacular. The mille-feuille isn’t usually my favourite dessert because they’re nearly impossible to eat gracefully, but it was still really tasty! My belly was yelling “I’m full! no more!” but my head was about to steal more ice cream from the table next to us.

Boy, I love eating.  And tell you about what I eat.  I hope you don’t mind.

Yakiniku in Spring

There’s a yakiniku (think: korean bbq) place that we’ve gone to about three times now. It’s a great place to go with a group, and at $30 for all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink, it’s not a bad deal. So when Dana got into to town, we were all really excited to take her there. After all, it’s a really cool Japanese experience in a little spot that we had found ourselves.

Remember the first time we were there, the boys dubbed jon “the grill nazi”, because he was so adamantly regulating the height of the flames? It looks like the restaurant could have used a few more jons in its midst. That night we found nothing but an empty plot of gravel where the building once stood. Did it burn to the ground?

In our shock and disbelief we set off in search of dinner.

Even though it’s slightly more expensive and infinitely more corporate, we were happy to have thought of Gyu-Kaku: It’s large enough to fit our group of 8 and essentially the same as our original plans.

Doesn’t jon look like a dirty hippy with his bonaroo shirt and face-scarf? That thing is so many different colours, it makes me giggle. Someday I’ll take a close up picture of it for you. I can’t imagine that he’ll be interested in that though – I might have to do it stalker-style, while he’s sleeping.

Dana’s so adorable. Look at her new glasses? Aren’t they stylish?

I love this picture of emi. She’s so goofy…

…and I think Brian Reece was trying to intimidate me because I had spent the past five minutes making fun of how super-gay he looked. Which isn’t a big deal, but come on. He was wearing hot pink with teal sparklies.

Yakiniku is so entertaining, even if you’re not traditionally someone that loves to chow on lots of meat (read: that ex-vegetarian here). It’s an experience. You know, like… the experience of burning off all your arm hair as you’re cooking dinner.

It’s a way to interact with your dinner pals and take part in your meal. There’s something to be said for not eating passively; for not scarfing a hamburger on your car ride home from work, for not shoving a candy bar in your face as you’re watching Glee. But I suppose that’s a post for another day.

Can someone remind me that I don’t do well with “all you can drink”? My hair looks like I just had a little tousle in the broom closet! I show you this picture just because the sakura tree behind us is SO pretty. You hear me? Don’t look at my head – look at the pretty tree BEHIND my head.

And two more things. 1. Did someone forget to tell dana that we were being fierce? Or…. dana, is that the fiercest you get?! and 2. why does my “fierce” face look like “car sick”? Sigh. Anyhow. Fantastic evening. Reminds me why I should stay up past BedTime sometimes.

Nagi (Ramen) in Shinjuku

An impromptu Standing Bar, Ramen, and a quick jaunt through Shinkjuku. How much more do you need?

Shinjuku station terrifies me. It’s the last place in Tokyo that I dread going to. Up until today, my favourite thing about this station was finding the right exit, and getting the hell out of it. Until today. Today, I discovered a gem of a place: a wine & belgian beer store. Quality.

They have a little table for standing and drinking your beer at, though since “take out OK” combined with how I was supposed to be meeting jon in a few minutes, I opted for a beer to go. I mean, what is a Standing Bar other than a place where you can stand and drink your beer in peace? So I found a safe spot in the train station, pulled out my book, and made my own. Have I mentioned how I love that drinking in public is not illegal here?

Now. I’m meeting jon at Shinjuku station. This was my idea, despite the afore mentioned fact that I utterly despise this place. What brings us here? Ramen, of course. Not just any ramen, but a sister-location of the Tastiest Gyoza in the City. Enter, Nagi.

Tonight takes us to a tucked away part of Shijuku, called Golden Gai. The streets of Golden Gai are narrow and densely packed. The bars are tiny – most only seating 4 or 5 people at a time.

Like it’s neighborhood, this Nagi is maximalist. Its very small, cramped space is made even smaller by the addition of things everywhere.

Good things, like menus and chopsticks, but it’s a bit overwhelming nonetheless. We’ll call it the Shinjuku Style.

Each Nagi location (there are four of them) does its soup slightly differently. This broth was really fishy on the nose, but I thought it tasted a lot more mellow and roasty once you got it in your mouth. Jon wasn’t really a fan of how strong the broth was. The majour downside for me was how soft the noodles were. I like em bari bari (al dente) and so this was a lot like mush in my mouth.

Great egg though. The ramen was not bad of course. I just thought the other Nagi was much better. Certainly not worth battling Shinjuku station for.

Later that evening, we wandered through the streets for a bit. Look at this old man. I wanted to put him in my pocket.

I leave you with some sage advice:

Nikko, Now Extra Templey!

You know the Three Monkies? (see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil?) I know you’ve heard of this. But do you know where it comes from? I do, I do, I do!

It’s Nikko! Doesn’t that just make you love nikko even more? Oh, those monkies. They’re actually part of a set of life lessons, but this one was the most marketed for whatever reason.

To be fair, the others aren’t as catchy. Like “no matter how high up you climb, there will always be higher to go”. And “Choose a life partner because you’ll weather the storm better than way”, etc.

This next picture excites me simply for its age. Imagine how old those cedar trees must be, to be that tall! Here’s a fun fact: Cedar (sugi in Japanese) is often associated with sake, because the cedar trees are said to shelter the sake gods in certain areas. Also, the sugidama (cedar ball) hanging outside a storefront lets you know that sake is one of their specialties!

Photo c/o okadots.

But back to Nikko.

The cold wouldn’t bother me so much if I could stay bundled up. Unfortunately, almost every place we went to wanted us to take off our shoes and walk barefoot on the outdoor wooden floors. Ugh.

Most of the places didn’t allow you to take photos inside, which I think is a shame. I have the memory of a goldfish. Aside from telling you all about our travels, teamEggers is really a way for me to remember what the heck I did yesterday.

We found some nice strangers to take our picture. This country is way more trusting than most – I never fear that the guy behind my camera will run away before giving the camera back, and I’m not constantly checking that my wallet is still there in bars. It’s kind of great.

When you’re chilled-to-the-bone, there’s nothing like hot soup and noodles to perk you up. Mountain Folk know what’s up. This was my lunch of yuba soba:

The end of our day brings us dragony goodness. We found this shop that painted dragon pictures! Really neat ones! Jon loves him some dragon, so we got one.

And with that, it’s time for us to head back to the city. Until next time…