Negiya [Heikichi] / 葱や 「平吉」

My wife's appetite wasn't satisfied at the Arabian Festival so we had lunch at a place called Azabu Sabo. One of her favorite restaurants as they have a great dessert menu.

アラビアンフェスティバルで妻は満腹にならなかった為、渋谷の麻布茶房でちゃんとしたランチを食べた。妻はその店が好きの理由はメニューにあるデザート。

I ordered the jajamen.

僕はジャージャー麺を注文した。

My wife ordered the ankake yakisoba.

妻が頼んだのはあんかけ焼きそば。

Is that a huge bowl of shaved ice with soybean flour and azuki beans.

大きなかき氷です。妻がきなこあずき味を注文。

While I had the strawberry shaved ice with ice cream on top.

自分は苺かき氷を食べた。

And then we decided to walk to Naka Meguro from Shibuya.

食べたあとはやっぱり散歩しないと。渋谷から中目黒まで歩いた。

This looks like a restaurant I would enjoy. An all-you-can eat yakiniku place called "Yakiniku Sensei".

この店僕が気になるな。店の名前最高。食べ放題だし。でも行ったことない。

As we wandered around for a few hours, it was nearing dinner time. We were having a hard time decided where and what to have for dinner. We finally passed by a shop that looked promising. We ended up going to a place called "Negiya Heikichi

". It seems seafood was the specialty of this restaurant.

結構何時間も歩き回った。あっという間に夕飯の時間になった。何処で何を食べるのもまった迷いながら、歩き続いた。やっと決めたところは「葱や 平吉」というところ。メニューのメインが海の幸だった。

Negiya Heikichi / 葱や 平吉

I ordered the katsuo no tataki set. That would be seared bonito in English.

僕が注文したのはカツオのたたき定食。

My wife ordered the boiled scorpion fish.

妻が食べたのはカサゴの煮付け。

Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

Japanese Restaurant [Tengu] / 和食れすとらん 「天狗」

We decided to have lunch around Takahata Fudoson as it was a little past noon.  However, there wasn't many places to choose from.  All the eateries centered around the station and almost all of them were crowded and had long waiting lines.  We decided to go explore a bit.  We came across this Japanese restaurant that had reasonable prices and was not very crowded.  The place was called [Tengu], not to be confused with the Izakaya chain.  We both ordered the tempura plate which came with a choice of soba or udon.  I chose the udon.  Also on the menu was Oyster Rockefellers which looked pretty appetizing so we ordered that as well.

初詣を済ましたら丁度昼ごろになった。どっか食べようとしても、駅周辺にある店は全部込んでて、行列もあり、駅からちょっと離れてどっかの飲食店を探した。やっと決めたのは和食れすとらん「天狗」。居酒屋のチェイン店とは関係ありません。二人で天ぷらを注文。天ぷらせっとにミニうどんか蕎麦が選べる。自分はうどん。美香子は蕎麦。あとメニューにあったのはオイスターロックフェラー。食べるしかないでしょう。

But first, a beer.  This place serves their own craft beer, Beer Brown.  It was quite delicious.

でも料理の前はやっぱりビールですね。「天狗」でしか飲まないビールがあります。 小さな酸造所で造ってるビール・ブラウン。結構飲みやすかった。

Tempura with shrimp, squid, and veggies topped over rice.

天ぷらはたまに食べると凄く美味しく感じます。

Hot udon on a cold day really hits the spot too.

寒い日に温かいうどんも良いですよ。

Tyrone needs to make more of these on our next visit back to the States.

旬の食材を使ってオイスターロックフェラーも食べました！


Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

Kitamachi [Utou] / 北町 「善知鳥」

This is the restaurant that we took my mother to on her second night in Tokyo.  The name of the place is Kitamachi [Utou] which is located in Ushigome Kagurazaka.  The owner of this restaurant is a friend of ours and is also a childhood friend of Mikako's.  This is probably one of Tokyo's most lekker restaurants!  "Lekker"?  It's a new word I learned from and South African ex-pat living in Tokyo who's blog I read regularly.  You can check out her site by clicking on "Rurousha" on the right side of this page.  "Lekker"is an Afrikaans word meaning "good, nice, great", etc.  It can also be used as a adjective for "tasty or delicious" as the food in this restaurant was very lekker.

横田基地から戻ったら、うちで一時間くらい休んでまた出掛けました。夜の目的地は牛込神楽坂にある和食の料理店北町「善知鳥（うとう）」。 この店のオーナーは私たちの友達です。美香子の幼馴染。以前お母さんが日本に来た時連れてあげたかったけど、その時お父さんも一緒で、うちの父は和食がちょっと苦手なもんで、諦めた。今回お母さんが一人で、私たちも長い間顔出してなかったので、良い機会と思い予約を入れました。

Is it food or is it art?  It seems such a shame to eat it.

これは料理？ それとも芸術品？ 食べるのがもったない感じがする。

Such a beautiful presentation.

見た目も良いんですが、味も絶品！

Sashimi (unfortunately I can't remember the types of fish we were served, but they were all delicious).

刺身 （残念ながら、なんの魚か覚えてません）。



We ordered the omakase course of which there was more, but I had to respect my friend's request to refrain from taking pictures once more customers arrived.

今日はお任せコースを注文しました。料理はもっといっぱい出ましたが、友達のお願いで他のお客様がいらっしたら写真は撮らないことにしました。



The next day my mother would be heading to her home town of Maizuru and would be back in Tokyo the following week.  Until then...

次の日、お母さんは実家にある京都府舞鶴に出発します。東京に戻るのはまた一週間後。

Tori Yoshi / 鳥良 （とりよし）

After the Eikichi Yazawa concert, I headed over to the JCB Hall near the Tokyo Dome to meet up with Mikako and Nana (my sister-in-law). We decided that we would have dinner together and wanted to take Nana to this place in Shibuya that serves some great chicken wings at a placed called [Tori Yoshi]. This would be me and Mikako's third time (second time at this particular branch) where we found the chicken wings to be just as good as the ones from [Sekai no Yama-chan]. Oh, and the gyoza topped with "raiyu you can eat" is just as awesome. Delicious! We also ordered a tofu dish and an avocado salad. All of the items were scrumptious!

永ちゃんのライブが終わったら、また東京ドームの方に行って美香子と僕の義理の妹七ちゃんと合流した。そのあと、三人で渋谷に戻って「鳥良」という手羽先の専門店で夕食するのを決めてた。「鳥良」で手羽先の秘伝のタレの辛さも選べる事も出来ます。甘辛、中辛、か大辛。私たちはいつも大辛で決まり。ここの店の手羽先は「世界の山ちゃん」と同じ位美味しいと思う。それ以外に水餃子の食べるラー油掛けがまた絶品！あと注文したのは大吟醸絹仕込み豆腐（塩添え）とアボカドのミルフィーユサラダと鳥ねぎチャーハン。おとおしはめかぶとたこ。全品は美味しかった！

Chicken wings / 手羽先 （大辛）


Tofu / 大吟醸絹仕込み豆腐（塩添え）

Gyoza topped with rayu / 水餃子の食べるラー油掛け

Avocado salad / アボカドのミルフィーユサラダ

Fried rice with chicken / 鳥ねぎチャーハン

Appetizer of octopus and mekabu / おとおし

Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

Onoji / 大野路

After enjoying the Shiroito Waterfalls and Fuji Safari Park, it was time to head back to Tokyo. But first, we had to stop somewhere for lunch. We came upon this nice little restaurant called [Onoji]. We were actually looking for a place that served houtou (a one-pot udon dish) which is indigenous to Yamanashi Prefecture and cannot be found in Shizuoka Prefecture which we were currently in. This restaurant is part of the Onoji Camp Site. As we walked into the restaurant I noticed a signed picture of the disgraced Nori-pi (Noriko Sakai). While Yukio ordered the zaru soba with tempura, I opted for a buttered stir-fried beef dish, while Mikako and Reiko decided on the pork nabe set.

白糸の滝と富士サファリパークを堪能した後、そろそろ東京に戻る時が来ました。でもその前にどっか昼食をとらないっと。本当はほうとうの店を探しましたが、ほうとうは山梨県の名物。私たちはまだ静岡県に居た為もちろんほうとうの店は見つかりませんでした。でも道の途中で「大野路」という店を発見。ここに決定。ここは大野路キャムプ場の一部でした。レストランに入るとノリピーのサイン入り写真が展示してた！友達の幸男はざる蕎麦と天ぷらを注文して、僕は牛バター炒め。美香子とレイコは豚の鍋料理をチョイス。

Zaru soba / ざる蕎麦

Tempura / 天ぷら


Stir-fried Buttered Beef Set / 牛バター炒めセット

Yum! / 美味しい！


The Pork Set / 豚鍋セット

After lunch, we took a short walk and came across Totoro!

食べたあと、ちょっと散歩したら、トトロと出会った！

We made one more stop at a service area for snacks and a nature break. It was here that I found a melon bread shaped like Mount Fuji. And they were freshly baked and so delicious!

東京に帰るまに富士山が見えるサービスエリアに止まった。そこで富士メロンパン発見。焼き立ては美味しいわ！！

Oh no! We ate Mount Fuji!

あっ！富士山を食べてしまった！

New Year Welcome Party at [Kitamachi Utou] / 「北町善知鳥」で新年会

This year my friends and I held our "New Year Welcome Party" at our friend's restaurant in Ushigome Kagurazaka. The name of the place is called "Utou" which is a species of bird indigenous to Aomori Prefecture. The owner-chef is a childhood friend of Mikako. We enjoyed a course menu with an all-you-can-drink bar.

今年の新年会は友達が牛込神楽坂に出した店「北町 善知鳥」。オーナーチェフは青森出身で美香子の幼馴染です。コースメニューで飲み放題を楽しめた。

Owner-chef Ken and his wife Yuki hard at work.

オーナーチェフのケンちゃんと妻のユキ。

Even the table setting is an art.

サラダの並び方も美しいです。

We started off with a little western style appetizer featuring sausages and potato salad which included avocado as well.

最初は洋風のおつまみ、ソーセージとポテトサラダ。ポテトサラダにアボカドも入ってるのはびっくりですが、とっても美味しい。

Japanese appetizer, oshinko platter as well. I usually don't care for takuan but this had a kind of smoky flavor and I found it to be delicious.

お新香の盛り合わせ。自分はあんまりたくあんが好きじゃないですが、このたくあんが燻製してる様な感じで美味しくいただきました。

Its not food, its art!

ただの食べ物じゃない、美術品だ！

Winter favorite - oden

冬の定番 － おでん

You will be amazed to know that this is deep-fried tofu and you can't stop at eating just one. I think this might have been my favorite dish of the day.

これは揚げた豆腐。本当ですよ。一つ食べたら止まらない。今日一番好きな物だったかも。本当に濃厚で豆腐と思えない一品です。

Grilled chicken which goes really well with beer.

グリルチキン。酒のおつまみにぴったり。

Chawan-mushi　(probably defined in English as a steamed egg custard dish)

The last dish of our course menu was soba.

〆はそば。

And various friends - there were about 14 of us that enjoyed the shinenkai.

新年会に参加した友達 －全員で１４人も集まりました。