Katsukura Shinjuku Takashimaya Times Square: best katsu ever?

I have eaten at Katsukura's branch at Shiodome for many years, in fact almost every trip to Tokyo is not complete without a meal there.

This last trip, in November 2014 was no different. As I arrived in Tokyo, I heard from the grapevine that the quality of the food in Katsukura Shiodome has fallen, but that the outlet at Times Square is still very good. So we trodded over to Shinjuku to eat our fill.

And without further ado, we ordered. Almost immediately the side dishes arrived, together with the sesame seeds in a mortar and pestel and the requisite sauces.

And also some light appetizers of tofu and simmered vegetables.

The order of rosu katsu: from the loin of the pig

As in my earlier experiences in visits to Shiodome, it was marvellous. The breaded crust was very light, crispy, and no hint of oil at all. The pork within was juicy, tasty and very tender, with a small sliver of fat which provided some oomph to the taste.

As mentioned in my earlier review, the cabbage is hand cut, and unlimited servings are offered.

We also tried the smaller cut of katsu with a prawn

Indeed, superb as well. The smaller cut of pork cutlet was a little dryer...perhaps the smaller portion tend to cook faster. And the prawn was superb. Beautifully fresh, with a hint of the sea, very sweet and very tasty.

We also added a croquette

Deep fried with the same batter, the crust was as light, crispy and ungreasy as the pork and prawn. The insides were delightfully moist. The mashed potatoes were remarkably tasty, with chunks of crab within. Excellent.

Overall, still a very enjoyable meal. And again, very highly recommended. 

Katsukura

Takashimaya Times Square 14F, 5-24-2, Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 151-0051
(〒151-0051 東京都渋谷区千駄ヶ谷5-24-2 タカシマヤ タイムズスクエア14F)

Yoshihashi: Michelin starred sukiyaki in Tokyo, Japan

Japan is reputed to have more Michelin starred restaurants than all of France. And many, many more who refuse to be listed. I suspect this little, gem of a sukiyaki haven in Motoakasaka is one where the owners probably do not care about the Michelin star that it adorns. Nowhere on the premises is the star displayed, unlike European establishments where it is prominently displayed at the entrance.

Yoshihashi's entrance has no such display. But if great sukiyaki is what you seek, this is the place for it.

Situated in a cul de sac in the quiet neighbourhood of Motoakasaka, just a stone's throw from the Emperor's Akasaka Palace, the restaurant is not easy to find. The entrance itself, is nondescript. Only a small sign, in Japanese announce the name of the restaurant, and that of the Oasis Bar, just next door. Japan Times calls it a "favourite among Japan's captains of industry, as well as ranking bureaucrats and political bigwigs from nearby Nagatacho."

But within, is another story. Elegant does not begin to describe the interior. As one enters the ante room leading to the main dining room, one is greeted by a magnificent view of the Japanese garden.

We arrived at 11:25am to ensure a spot (it opens at 11:30am), as they do not take reservations for lunch. The lunch time menu, like many top Japanese restaurants feature a lower cost and less elaborate version of the evening meal. In the case of Yoshihashi, the dinner sukiyaki set is ¥20,000 and up. But lunch is offered at ¥2,100 and ¥3,150 for the premium sukiyaki set. 

We had read that lunch was limited to 16 bar counter seats, but when we arrived, we were shown into one of the two the private rooms. each can probably seat 10, given the 10 cushons on the tatami. But the restaurant was not totally full, and we occupied one room with two other ladies who were also tourists. The other room was occupied by 6 Japanese ladies who lunch. 

The long table with an opening to slot one's legs into, in case one is not adept at the Japanese style sitting with one's legs folded under self. The room itself was superbly minimalist and elegant. 

The menu was in Japanese only, though the kimono clad waitress spoke a little English. But we knew what we wanted. We ordered both the regular sukiyaki set as well as a premium sukiyaki set.

And it was served about 10 minutes later. Top two sets in their copper bowls where the sukiyaki was cooked in are the regular sets, and the lower right one is the premium set. A large pot of steamed rice, was offered on an unlimited basis. And Japanese green tea.

For dinner, the sukiyaki is cooked at the table by your waitress, who also whips the egg white stiff with a pair of chopsticks while the yolk remains undisturbed below. For lunch, the sukiyaki is cooked in these copper pots in the kitchen, and one is left to one's own devices on how to eat it.

But it is easy. First beat up the egg...unless one is trained to do so, just a messy stirring with the chopsticks will do the job. Then pick up the beef with your chopsticks and en-route to your mouth, dip it in the raw egg.

The premium beef tasted sublime. The term, melts in your mouth with powerful, earth shattering umami is overused...but is definitely what applies here. The beef is packed with flavour, all the beefiness, all the tenderness. Very lightly flavoured by the Yoshihashi house blend warishita sauce and the almost begining to cook raw egg. Sublime. 

The regular set features more or less the same, but the beef was more lean. I actually preferred the leaner regular cut, less richness, but a bit more bite to the meat. Accompanying the thin strips of beef, were cubes of grilled tofu, chunks of onions and negi leeks, shimeji and shiitake mushrooms, shungiku (edible chrysanthemum) greens and transparent, chewy shirataki noodles. 

This is easily not only the best sukiyaki I have eaten, but also one of the best beef I have tasted. Truly magnificent, and definitely a must eat everytime in Tokyo. 

Yoshihashi

1-5-25 Motoakasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

http://gm.gnavi.co.jp/shop/0120140295/

Tsukiji market and the best sushi ever!

Tsukiji Market is a real revelation. Always. I have been to the market, perhaps 3 or 4 times, and each time, it is a wonderful experience. The arrangements for tourists to view the auction has always been changing...and currently, they take about 120 pax who must all be present at 5am, and will be allocated into 2 groups...one batch at 5:15am and another at 5:45am.

I missed the auction this time...as I got to Tsujiki with Unicorn at about 5:10am, and we missed the registration. Feeling a bit down, we looked around elsewhere in the market, looking at shop upon shop of bonito sellers...we then found the fish wholesale place. Where the fish comes out after the auction. And actually met a fish monger who is practicing his craft of carving entire tunas into restaurant sized chunks.



And surprises! He welcomed us to look and photograph, and he spoke English!



Two red tunas were delivered...one about 40kg, and the other 80kg



It is a two man job wrestling the tuna onto the cutting table.

Then after some cleaning of the fish, and knives. I forget to ask him what he was using to clean the fish, but I think its an alcohol...like the alcohol swab you get before the doctor plunges his needle for your injection.



The process seemed almost ritualistic...zen like. He seemed totally focussed...almost like in a trance.



After a few deftly executed cuts...the head's off




And he began with a large knife, making incisions along the back, filleting the large fish. Alternating from a large, sword like knife and a smaller one which looks like a cook's knife.



Ah, a smile lit up his face as he opened the fillet..."very good!", he exclaimed in English...looking at us,"this is a very good day. I am very happy".



We talked for a bit, and went across the small lane, avoiding the little motorized vehicles which were towing trolleys laden with tuna, and came across one of the few sushiyas which did not feature a long queue. And had sushi for breakfast.

Look at the slice of otoro...



Unicorn with the Maguro Sushi set Y3500



A closer look at the set



The otoro sushi...yum...



The taste was unbelievable. Unicorn pronounced it the best sushi he has eaten. The fats just dissolve in your mouth almost on contact and the slightest tongue pressure. Almost like caviar.

We just had to then share another order of maguro sashimi



Look at the shimofuri (snow flake, a term also used to describe the similar look on a piece of wagyu)...and the beautiful, marbling...amazing!



And I totally concur with Unicorn...best sushi I ever had.





Not sure of the address...the row of shops just outside Tsukiji Fish Market wholesale area.
Tsukiji, Tokyo, Japan

Apologies for inconsistent colour temperature...instead of using the AWB in my GH-2, I mistakenly set it for tungsten.

Eating Tokyo: Kobe beef supreme at Gyu-an

with SYT

Kobe beef raises eyebrows. Accountants sometimes ask, "how can a dinner be so expensive". But here, I introduce a Kobe beef restaurant which is reasonably priced...well priced like a regular steakhouse in the US.

But then, can beef be that good, that it literally just melts in your mouth? Can the fat be packed so full of gorgeous flavour? Can it still be beefy tasting at the same time? Many wonder. Many never find out. To do so, would require a trip to Japan where the best wagyu is never exported, only to be consumed within the country. The Kobe prefecture is perhaps the most famous for wagyu, but in Japan you can find equal or even higher quality from other prefectures.

Gyu-an, a small steakhouse at the basement of a side street in Ginza is one such restaurant which can answer this question. The steaks served here are all from Kobe, and all perfectly executed. The service is excellent, little Japanese waitresses busy running around, fussing over diners. The manager is a gentleman who speaks perfect English.



I was first introduced to this restaurant by J. Nakazawa who had taken Kin and I to sample wagyu. Nakazawa-san is truly a Japanese amongst Japanese with an eye of the traditional and special. I returned with SYT this trip, and we spent a good 20mins searching for the restaurant. Finally I found it, and the walk to search was worthwhile. Unfortunately my Blackberry GPS could not lock into a location reading so I still don't have the coordinates, so please bear with the google map below.

The Menu in English, as translated by the Tokyo Metro Tourism folks.

SYT selected the Hana Taizen ladies set, and I did a 200g sirloin steak.

First, a beef with soy sauce amuse bouche - Gyu Tsukudani.



This was beef, ground and boiled with soy sauce. The taste of the beef was rather apparent...so, yes, wagyu retains the beefy taste. The texture was fibrous, but soft and tender, and the soy sauce adds its punch with saltiness and soy flavour. Very nice.

A small salad was next:



Fresh, fresh vegetables in a simple soy sauce based dressing. Very nice.

Then, the main event...SYT's fillet:



The beef was tender, but the cut was not very fat, though what fat present was well marbled and spread through the muscle fibres, making the beef very tasty, tender, and flavourful. Just a nice touch of chewiness.

My sirloin was somewhat fatter...



The characteristic skirt of fat on the sirloin was particularly flavourful...burst in the mouth, with great umami mouth feel, and beautiful flavour...I can almost taste the corn fed to the cows...and I am sure it is my imagination, the beer it had drunk.



The beef was very tender...had to be with the high level of marbling, and cooked perfect medium raw. At the same time, it had the robust, beefy taste. As can be seen the light browning of the outsides - a characteristic of the Maillard Reaction is evident, as indeed the flavours released were very clear to the palate. I am not sure if the beef had been dry aged. I am not aware that the Japanese practice dry aging...and indeed in the tasting, the nuttiness, foie gras flavour is absent, indicating that this was fresh beef...just very high quality and very beautifully cooked.

The beef was served with 3 different kinds of sauces, but being a purist, I only ate with the rock salt - extreme right.



Indeed one of the more pleasurable steak dinners I have had in a while...how I lament that all of these have been eaten outside of Singapore. This is a must try steakhouse when in Tokyo, especially if you are staying in the Ginza area.


6-13-6 (Hibiya Line Higashi-Ginza), Tokyo
(short walk from Gucci Ginza) Marked A on the Google Map:

View Larger Map
tel: +81 3-3542-0226‎

Eating in Tokyo: Musa Shimo Sabo

with SYT in Tokyo

The Japanese have a knack for taking something totally alien, and through obsession and hard work, refine the product to their own. I already said that in an earlier post...

Anyway, what I truly love about the Japanese people is their obsession to anything they put their minds to. The best magazines on any product, be it handmade shoes, or shirts, or pens, or watches, or cars, or food...are Japanese. Many of the best food is found in Japan...indeed, when the Michelin team went to Japan, they only managed to cover less than 1% of the best restaurants on the land, and yet, when they totalled the stars awarded...the total for Japan is higher than the total of both France and Italy combined.

Japanese cuisine is refined...treats all the senses...and none more so than dessert. Just a few doors away from my favourite tonkatsu place in Tokyo lies Musashimo Sabo...a great red bean dessert place.

I always eat dessert here after my tonkatsu meal. I always order the same dessert...red bean with mochi and green tea ice cream.



The red bean is different and higher quality than any I have found in Singapore...it is somewhat larger, and cooked soft, but not so soft as to be mushy. I understand the beans are boiled for 8 hours in each store. The sweetness is just right...not too sweet as red bean can tend to be.

The mochi is simply a lump of glutinous rice ball...made so that the texture is spongy, springy...offering some resistance to the bite, but eventually gives way...wonderful texture.

And finally, the green tea ice cream. Made from powdered green tea of very high quality...known as Myukure and milk from the Aichi Prefecture, the ice cream is special. Not too sweet, the slightly astringent green tea blends well with the cream used it is full of green tea flavour, and smooth, creamy. Excellent.

But how all these seemingly disparate ingredients come together is yet another tale...each complimenting the other. Each adding and never taking away from the other's flavour. Symphonic is the word which comes to mind. Harmony. Lovely. Oishi.


Higashishinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
1-5-2　汐留シティセンターB111
B111 Shiodome City Center 1-5-2
105-7190 ZIP 105-7190
http://www.musashinosabo.com/intro/index.html#siodome
TEL:03-5568-6340 TEL :03-5568-6340
Opening hours 10：30～23：00 Sunday 10:30 to 23:00 Sunday closed

Eating in Tokyo: My favourite Pork Katsu: Katsukura

with SYT in Tokyo



I love katsu...especially pork loin from a good cut of kurobuta, breaded, deep fried to perfection...leaving a crisp, crunchy exterior with sharp bits which disintegrate on each bite, and provides the mind with endless entertainment trying to distinguish the crispiness...and soft, tender pork with a layer of fat within...flavourful, joyful, beautiful.

So when in Tokyo, I always make a trip to Katsukura...a chain store...no doubt, but serves exemplary katsu. From the original store in Kyoto, Katsukura has grown into a chain of more than 30 stores nationwide, and I think is probably related to the one store in Singapore at Ngee Ann City. I have eaten at the Ngee Ann City store, but the taste, textures and experience is nowhere similar to the Shiodome one I frequent.

They serve the katsu with a huge, refillable serving of hand cut cabbage, and barley rice.



The bread crumbs are specially selected...to provide crisp, light taste. When placed on a piece of rice paper, the katsu left little oil stains.

The pork is offered in two grades, one regular and and the special grade is a kurobuta from Yonezawa prefecture. Two different cuts are offered...a leaner fillet and a fatter, more flavourful loin. And each tonkatsu was offered in 3 sizes - 70g, 120g, 180g.

Of course I had to have the special grade...tonkatsu at its best, IMHO:



Eaten with a special sauce made from soy sauce, red wine, apples and date palm...mixed in-situ with a mortar and pestle, completes the taste...provides tang and tartness to the rich flavour of the pork.



We also shared a serving of fried prawns...five large prawns, cut Japanese style so they don't curl on themselves, breaded in the same superior batter as with the tonkatsu, and deep fried similarly...



The prawns were fleshy, and very tasty. A hint of the sea was present, and the meat was crunchy, sweet and rich. Excellent.

Easy to find, the shop is in the ANA building, and right next to a Singapore Chicken Rice restaurant.



Katsukura
Shiodome / Tonkatsu
Higashi-Shimbashi 1-5-2, Shiodome City Center B1F. Open 11am-10pm daily.

Eating in Tokyo: Sushizanmai

with SYT in Tokyo


Otoro - the highest quality fatty tuna...well marbled, beautiful, soft, tender...tasty


Finding a great sushi place in Singapore is difficult. Either one has to pay huge ransoms for very good sushi, or one suffers of small pieces of frozen fish perched atop dry, sometimes very hard rice. But land in Japan, and beautiful, fresh fish, often much larger than the ball of vinegared rice it is sitting on, is delivered to your plate, with a dash of wasabi, to be enjoyed with soy sauce.

I love a good sushi. Many have revered Sushi Dai at Tsukiji Market to be one of the best in the business...and I don't disagree...but I loathe the long queues, the nazi-like behaviour of the owner, and the somewhat variable service of the wait staff. In my travels to Tokyo, I found myself drawn again and again to quality sushi, good service, and affordable price.

My preferred dish at Sushi Zanmai is the Maguro set. At Y3000, I think it is good value for the quality of the fish.



Two slices of a good, well marbled otoro can set one back S$60 in one of the fancy places on our island...Here two generous slices are included as part of the larger set:



Note marbling of fat on the tuna. Typically this is taken from the belly, and the fish should have no veins, and the texture smooth, and creamy to the palate. Tuna of this quality should have never been frozen, but taken from a chilled carcass typically purchased the same morning at Tsukiji market. See here for an earlier visit to the market to view the auction of tuna.

Two slices of chutoro (medium grade fatty tuna) is slightly broiled with a blow torch, leaving a lightly charred outside, but still raw insides...I particularly love this.



Two further slices of akami - red tuna sushi accompanies with 3 small pieces of tuna maki. All were fresh, chilled tuna. Taste was fresh, clean, creamy to the palate. No fishy smells testify to the freshness of the fish.

The set comes complete with a fairly large bowl of miso soup with fresh clams.

Value for money, and a must visit everytime I am in Tokyo. Definitely one of my favourites...especially when I am paying for sushi myself.

Sushizanmai has many branches spread around town, in convenient locations. I have eaten at the outlet at Akihabara, at Yurakucho (24 hours), both to my satisfaction. The Yurakucho branch is situated under the Yurakucho train tracks, just a stone throw's away from the Imperial Hotel.



Sushizanmai, Yurachuko branch

Address 1-3 Yurakucho 2 Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-0006

http://www.kiyomura.co.jp/sushi-e/index.html

TEL：03-3500-2201/FAX：03-3500-2202
Opening Hours Open, 24 hours
Holidays Open, everyday

Tsukiji Market, Tokyo

With Dr. Frank Muller during our trip to Tokyo and Kyoto in Feb 2006.

These shots taken when they still allowed visitors into the chilled tuna place. I understand these days, they do not allow tourists into the chilled tuna section. And only a limited number are allowed each morning into a small staged area to view the frozen tuna section to see the frozen tuna auction.

To catch the action, you need to get there early. The auction starts at about 5:30am, and by 6pm its all over. However, there are many sushi-ya around the market serving great, inexpensive sushi and sashimi for breakfast. Tasting chilled tuna (or other sashimi) which has never been frozen is a treat not to be missed. The fish is so fresh, so sweet, so tasty.

A view inside the chilled tuna section. Gotta be careful...mobile trucks, which look like forklifts on oil drums are running around...and can knock one over...



Frozen tuna



Huge tuna...I think this is blue eye tuna...see the marbled otoro on the cut side of the tuna in the foreground...oishi!



Just the body...inside view. You can see the carcass, and skeleton...looks more like a pig or cow than a fish...



I managed to catch the auction scene...I am sure the same chap is still there...the auctioneer just goes off speaking loudly and very fast...and in a moment, the deal is done. And the new owner of a nice piece of tuna carts his buy off to his store somewhere in the huge market complex.

After successful auction, each stall holder takes his buy back to his stall. Here is one cutting up the tuna...see the way he cuts the fillets are by a samurai sword.



And after the large fillets are taken off, a helper takes a spoon, and scrapes the parts next to the fish's ribs...this is very tasty, being closest to the bone...and served in sushi.



A worthy trip, even if I had to wake up at 5am in winter.

Photonote: All shots taken with EOS 300D, and 17-40L. No flash was allowed inside the market. Shot in large jpeg, color balance was a little tricky, but done in Photoshop using Levels middle eyedropper.