A Epice of Pleasure

20 Sep 2006

My friend Arthur (may his name be praised for generations!) once did me the honor of inviting me to the delightful Epices Kaneko, tucked away in the back streets of Azabu. I was sufficiently impressed to schedule a return visit with a friend to check on my first impressions of this sweet little refuge of slow food with fast service.

You’ll find it a little difficult to get to the front door (MAP), but stick to the task and you’ll be well rewarded. Featuring produce from Yamaguchi Prefecture, Epices Kaneko is the sort of place for a quiet conversation or even a long, lingering one! It’s a little like visiting a friend’s house, knowing that there’s a series of treats available but harboring a feeling of guilt that you should be thinking about the friend not the food.

There are 3 menu options - a light version (don’t ask me what it’s like...couldn’t bear the thought!), a Starter+Main+Dessert choice @ Y4500, and the full course @ Y6000. My friend and I decided that discretion is the better part of valor and chose the middle ground.

The Foie Gras starter (that’s entree for all civilized people!) was delightful, touched with a light fruit sauce and presented well on the plate. The organic vegetables especially chosen from the cornucopia of Yamaguchi’s harvest matched the centrepiece well. Considering the price, this is a generous serve of decadence that matched the Chablis Premier Cru we chose to lubricate the conversation.

My Pumpkin Soup was a little better than what you’d expect, and I’m still wrestling with the chef for the recipe. It somehow floats across the palate, intriguing and stimulating as it melts even the most demanding gourmand.

We chose the Roast Duck for our main course - do yourself a favor and try this delicacy. The food is obviously prepared by a chef with a passion for food (may his name be praised for generations!), and the salt-rubbed duck delights from first taste to final...lingering...mouthful. A glass of a light Langue d’Oc pinot added liquid fire to the dish, as well as the conversation.

We decided not to have the dessert but opted for cheese (we chose Camembert and Mimoret).

Epices Kaneko (I can’t find a website) has a fistful of regular customers who keep this place a bit of a secret. You should become one of them! I’d also highly recommend Epices Kaneko for a small function or memorable dinner gathering for up to 30 people. The Dark Side Club will be visiting in October 2006.

Rating: Food: 8/10; Wine: 7/10; Service: 8/10; Ambience: 7/10; Price: 8/10. Total: 38/50 (4 Forks)
Epices de Kaneko レストラン　エピスカネコ3-23-14 Nichi Azabu 東京都港区西麻布3-23-14　03-3478-7276Closed on Mondays

Basque-ing in the Atmosphere

17 Sep 2006

In the mood for some Basque and/or French provincial food? With so many establishments focusing on “French” food - meaning Parisian - in Tokyo, there are times when you’d think this is a Mission Impossible. But fear not! Try La pitchouli de Lou lou.

I ventured out to this charming little spot with a friend (The Ad Guy) known for enjoying the finer things in life. The restaurant doesn’t open until 7:00 p.m., but I’d book if I were you as it enjoyed a brisk turnover of tables and eye candy. It was sometimes difficult to keep my companion’s attention on the food and the conversation. Being our first visit, we left the menu up to the “chef”.

We tried the Home-Made Country-Style Pate (自家製田舎風パテ), followed by a Green Salad featuring organic vegetables from Yamanashi Prefecture (山梨県有機野菜のグリーン・サラダ). At this point, a note on the wine: while the selection is small and the prices very reasonable, don’t go looking for famous chateau. The point of La pitchouli de Lou lou is to enjoy the food and the company! You can go for glasses or bottles (huh! Not me...)

The next dish was Loligo Frit (小ヤリイカのフリッツ), a provincial squid fritte dish delicious with salt and the Chablis. This was followed by the piece-de-resistance, Homemade Sausage (自家製ソーセージのロースト). There wasn’t enough of this for two known trenchermen, and I ended up threatening the Ad Guy with a fork to get the last piece.

But wait...the home-made Stewed Salted Pork Back Ribs served Crumby Baked (sic!) (自家製塩漬け豚バラ肉煮込みのパン粉焼き). This is heavenly if you like Iberico Pork like I do, served country style celebrating flavor rather than presentation! Again, a battle for the last piece and I was beginning to regret offering to share all the dishes. The red wine, served in appropriate quantities (2 bottles), seemed to compliment the pork delightfully.

In summary, a good place for a reasonable two or three hours of fine food, good wine, and better company. Take a friend rather than a lover, and ask for the sausage!

Rating: Food: 7/10; Wine: 6/10; Ambience: 7/10; Service: 8/10; Price: 8/10. Total: 36/50 (3 Forks)
La Pitchouli de Lou lou (Don’t blame me for the spelling!)
Ebisu 2-23-3. Open 7pm-3am. Closed Mondays. Tel: 3440-5858 Map Japanese Website

Especially Esperia

9 Aug 2006

Riddle me this - if you’re a Chevalier de Fromage, and just received your award, what would be the first thing you’d do? Right...you’d race back to your kitchen, hastily throw on an apron, and set to making a dreamy cheese sauce for a salad. Obviously.

This is the unlikely story behind the Kakumei Salad at Esperia in Nishi Azabu. Just how revolutionary the salad might be, I’ll leave to your imagination but this is a restaurant you really should try to visit if you’re interested in first class Northern Italian cooking...and cheese.

In the last few days, I’ve enjoyed the company of some sparkling dinner companions. That’s a joy, and part of why I enjoy this Tokyo life so much. But at Esperia, all we were talking about was the food. For the first time, I asked for the chef’s omakase cheese menu as did 3 of my companions. Wine was plentiful and pleasurable. But the food - for someone just back from Northern Italy, who was expecting to be just a little disappointed by Italian cuisine in Japan, was an immediate trip back to Tarvanelle and the delights of Tuscany.

Food: 8/10, Wine 7/10, Ambience: 7/10, Service: 8/10, Price 7/10Overall: 37/50 (3 Forks)
Esperia: 03-5485-1771. Nishi-Azabu 4-11-25.

Izakaya Vin

4 Mar 2006

I’m often in a situation where I need to entertain a guest or two in a relatively relaxed environment. Now, Shibuya is full of places that offer entertainment but these are not really the sorts of places you want to take people. Either you stand out as the only people over 40 in the room, or you’re the youngest people there.

Time warp back four years ago, when Anthony Dowling introduced me to a quirky little izakaya in Shibuya called Izakaya Vin. Located at Dogenzaka 1-5-7, this place is well worth the journey of discovery into the back streets to find it. If you’re hopelessly lost, call 03-3496-2467 in Japanese!

When you think izakaya, the first thing that comes to mind is long, narrow counters reeking of tobacco smoke and filled with non-descript Japanese salarymen for whom the loneliness of the bar is more attractive than home. Put that out of your head!

Well, there is a long narrow counter on the Ground Floor (1 of 3) but that’s where it ends. Founded about 30 years ago, Izakaya Vin is focused on delivering a perfect environment to enjoy wine and bistro-esque food while proudly maintaining its Japanese flavor. Think sort of izakaya, sort of French bistro, sort of Tapas...and you’re beginning to get close!

With over 100 wines to choose from (unfortunately, very tightly concentrated on France) and some great small menu items, it’s not hard to spend hours here. Ironic really, because you might choose Izakaya Vin because of its proximity to the train station yet suddenly realize you’ve missed the last ride home.

I’ve rented all three floors before for a staff party, I’ve gone there with one, two and ten people, and I’ve dropped in by myself. On each occasion, the service has been outstanding and I’ve come away having learnt something new about wine.

Izakaya Vin is not haute cuisine, but it is - to coin a phrase - haute vin. Sometimes, the Master even condescends to give me my favorite Grande Dame champagne at a reasonable price (yes, reasonable is in the eye of the beholder...). But at the same time, you can sample Grand Cru’s (yesterday a Chablis and a Margaux), snack on a more-ish pork rillette or warm vege salad and get out of there under Y20,000 for two.

Definitely a keeper, with a lean towards taking good friends or business associates you’re close to. Not a place for a romantic dinner, but a great venue for conversation and learning more about one another.

Rating: Food 6/10; Wine 10/10; Service 8/10; Ambience 7/10; Price 7/10. Total: 38/50 (One of Terry’s Old Favorite)

Sweet! Sucre Sale

4 Mar 2006

At the suggestion of my harried dinner companion, I recently journeyed all the way (!) to Araki-cho in Shinjuku Ward. What a discovery! 2 or more very extensive blocks of restaurants (including the famous Pas-a-Pas), bars and pubs - I’ve already told my real estate agent I’m looking for something in that area when my lease comes up in June. There’s everything available from Vietnamese to COuntry music!

This delightful little place (seats 24 on my count) fronts a busy street [map] and sits cheek by jowl with the well-patronized Isshin Ramen and is only a few minutes walk from Yotsuya San-Chome or Akebono-bashi Stations.

Take a tip from me - regardless of some sites that don’t rate Sucre Sale, this is well worth a visit. Despite the fact that it doesn’t open until 7:00 pm, Sucre Sale offers genuinely good food at a reasonable price together with a well-considered wine list. The menu offers five different set course menus: Bouquet at 3,675 yen, Pastel at 5,200 yen, Olivier and Soleil at 6,300 yen, and the Chef’s Special Course at 7,350 yen. We both opted for Bouquet and I started with an Endive and Roquefort salad that was stunning...just stunning. My companion was feeling carnivorous, and chose a Pate de Campagne. Judging by the time he took to eat it, and the way he lingered over each bite, this was also a success.

Suitably charged, we moved onto the main courses with a bottle of excellent Chablis Vieilles Vignes Eric Dampt 2002 at a reasonable price (Y5,775). The Pagan went for some absolutely scrumptious Pork with a light mustard sauce while I had the pleasure of some Red Snapper with a Provencal feeling. I have to confess to not being a big fan of fish that’s been long out of the sea, but this time around I was sufficiently surprised to write a mental note to look at some more Madai next time out of the gate. We finished up with a selection of French cheeses, with the normal suspects all available.

If you’re lost for a place to eat between Yotsuya, Ichigaya and Shinjuku then tell your taxi driver Isshin Ramen in Araki-Cho. Then go next door to Sucre Sale...you won’t be dissappointed. And if my real estate agent can get her act together Update - she did!), you might just see me there. I’ll be the fat fool in the corner, giggling...

Rating: Food 7/10; Wine 7/10; Service: 7/10; Ambience: 7/10; Price: 8/10. Overall 36/50 (3 Forks).
Nao-Bld 1F 9-7　Araki-Cyo Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-0007; TEL:03-3351-8741 FAX:03-3351-8742Lunch: 12:00 - 14:00 (L.O. 14:00); Dinner: 19:00 - 24:30 (L.O. 24:30) - Closed on TuesdayAverage dinner cost: 5,000 to 7,000 yenCredit Card: JCB/Diners Club /VISA/Master/AMEX